Strength of schedule: Cleveland Browns 2021 Opponents whose stock has risen
By Colin Damms
2. Los Angeles Chargers
The Chargers have a lot of things going their way this season. For one, they have managed to avoid devastating injuries to key players, something which helped to derail their hopes of progress last season. They’ve also looked more cohesive under new head coach, Brandon Staley.
But perhaps most important of all, the Chargers have found a remarkable talent at quarterback in Justin Herbert, someone who already appears more than capable of fast-tracking the franchise’s ambitions of contention.
Herbert and the Chargers offense had a bit of a slow start in their first two games of the season, but he still managed a touchdown in each and was big in securing a win in a rough opener against the Football Team. He has also made some throws that collectively make everyone just go “wow.”
Against the Cowboys, he had some big throws downfield, and especially against the Chiefs, he showed both guts and quality in executing clutch drives against a high-quality opponent in a hostile environment.
Herbert is the real deal, he’s got some nice weapons around him, and he finally has an offensive line that is not a liability or a danger to his health and well-being. And, of course, having a defense helps him as well. The pressure is off to maintain leads the way they had to last season, and Staley’s expertise for the Rams is evident so far with the Chargers again.
They made Patrick Mahomes look out of sorts last week, and though they’ve let up some points they’ve not been put away in any game yet. The Chargers are standing out early, in a strong AFC West, and now present a really dangerous, playoff-caliber threat to the Browns rather than a difficult but manageable team in transition.