Chargers accused of not being contenders despite beatdown of Steelers

Outside of fans and those in the locker room, few seem to believe in the Los Angeles Chargers right now.

The Chargers are 7-3 and right in the thick of the playoff race with Justin Herbert playing like an MVP, considering the state of the offensive line in front of him.

But exiting a primetime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and largely controlling their playoff fate in the AFC West still doesn’t have some onlookers convinced.

NFL reporters at ESPN, for example, have far too many questions about the Chargers to consider them a contending team:

“Does this win prove that the Chargers can contend despite their many injuries? No. If the Chargers were playing this version of Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers every week, then this answer might be different. The Chargers still struggled to protect quarterback Justin Herbert; he was sacked five times and pressured 12 times Sunday. But they benefited from Rodgers' errant throws and his receivers' dropped passes, which didn't put pressure on the Chargers' offense.”

There are some valid concerns about the Chargers, no doubt. They’re gambling that a former first-round bust like Trevor Penning can come in after the trade and stabilize an offensive line that has lost the best tackle tandem in the NFL to injury.

Still, it seems odd to knock a quietly very good Chargers defense for flustering the Steelers offense. It’s not a one-game thing, either, when considering, say, the fact that the Chargers rank fourth in the NFL in third-down conversions surrendered at 34.17 percent.

And through it all, Herbert has the offense converting 47.55 percent of its third-down tries, too, second in the NFL. If the line keeps improving, the cast of weapons in the passing game is strong and running back Omarion Hampton will be back sooner rather than later.

There are fair questions about the Chargers, of course. But with an elite quarterback and a playoff berth, anything can happen, so they certainly classify as contenders.

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert — Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

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