{"id":651455,"date":"2026-05-05T16:30:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/651455\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:30:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:30:11","slug":"chargers-future-opponents-refresher-before-nfl-schedule-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/651455\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers Future Opponents Refresher Before NFL Schedule Release"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/chargers\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> are one of the most interesting teams in the NFL this offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">Part of that is the hype around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/chargers\/onsi\/chargers-mike-mcdaniel-influence-nfl-draft-picks\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Mike McDaniel arriving<\/a> as a potential savior for Justin Herbert. History hints he might be the guy to finally unlock the star quarterback\u2019s immense ceiling, pushing Jim Harbaugh over the playoff hump in Los Angeles.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">Part of it, too, though, is the upcoming NFL schedule release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6r\">The Chargers\u2019 path through the 2026 schedule won\u2019t be simple. They get AFC West slugfests with rivals. As we broke down in post-draft analysis, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/chargers\/onsi\/afc-west-chargers-rivals-reloaded-free-agency-draft-chiefs-raiders-broncos\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">AFC West won&#8217;t be an easy feat <\/a>for the Chargers after some big changes for teams like the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6u\">At home, they need to deal with hopeful contenders like the Houston Texans, New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6x\">And on the road? Same story: The Chargers need to survive road trips to fight contenders like the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">No easy feat. The Chargers hope a revamped offensive line, with free-agent addition Tyler Biadasz at center, another free agent in Cole Strange at one guard spot, and rookie Jake Slaughter at the other, equals a vastly improved unit. And they also hope the defense can survive the loss of coordinator Jesse Minter, replaced by Chris O\u2019Leary.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"73\">On paper, the Chargers are built to survive a tough-looking schedule. And teams with a top quarterback like Herbert should always be in the mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"76\">The upcoming NFL schedule release should happen in mid-May. Ahead of that, here\u2019s a quick review of the Chargers\u2019 upcoming opponents.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NFL schedule info for Chargers<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01kqwa74n0y2pngmrb9x.jpg\" alt=\"The lockers of Los Angeles Chargers\" title=\"The lockers of Los Angeles Chargers\" width=\"8640\" height=\"4860\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7j\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Los Angeles Chargers | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Chargers 2026 home opponentsDenver BroncosKansas City ChiefsLas Vegas RaidersArizona CardinalsHouston TexansNew England PatriotsNew York JetsSan Francisco 49ersChargers 2026 away opponentsDenver BroncosKansas City ChiefsLas Vegas RaidersBaltimore RavensBuffalo BillsLos Angeles RamsMiami DolphinsSeattle SeahawksTampa Bay BuccaneersChargers 2026 NFL draft picks<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/01kqwa9hmhqep0xjhpgr.jpg\" alt=\"Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Akheem Mesidor\" title=\"Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Akheem Mesidor\" width=\"6992\" height=\"3933\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"89\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Akheem Mesidor | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Round 1 (22): Akheem Mesidor, EDGE, MiamiRound 2 (63): Jake Slaughter, C, FloridaRound 4 (105): Brenen Thompson, WR, Mississippi StateRound 4 (117): Travis Burke, OL, MemphisRound 4 (131): Genesis Smith, S, ArizonaRound 5 (145): Nick Barrett, DT, South CarolinaRound 6 (202): Logan Taylor, G, Boston CollegeRound 6 (206): Alex Harkey, G, Oregon<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-25\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"91\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/chargers\/newsletter\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Sign Up For the Chargers Daily Digest &#8211; OnSI\u2019s Free Los Angeles Chargers Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Chargers are one of the most interesting teams in the NFL this offseason.\u00a0 Part of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":651456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-651455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=651455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/651455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/651456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=651455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=651455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=651455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}