The 2017 Los Angeles Chargers shouldn't have worked. Honestly, for the first month of the season, they didn't. They were a team without a home, playing in a soccer stadium in Carson that sat barely 27,000 people, most of whom seemed to be rooting for the visiting team. It was awkward. It was quiet. It felt like a preseason game that never ended.
Moving from San Diego after 56 years was a mess. Fans were bitter. The "Fight for LA" marketing campaign felt forced. Then, the actual football started, and they lost four straight games. 0-4. Usually, that’s where the story ends for an NFL team, with everyone looking toward the draft and the coach updating his resume on LinkedIn. But this 2017 squad was different. They became one of the most statistically dominant, yet heartbreakingly inconsistent, teams to ever miss the playoffs.
You had Philip Rivers, who was essentially a human lightning bolt of frustration and talent, hucking the ball to Keenan Allen during one of the greatest comeback seasons we've ever seen. You had Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram—the "Jack and Coke" duo—terrorizing quarterbacks. By December, nobody in the AFC wanted to play them. And yet, they stayed home in January.
The Stubborn Brilliance of Philip Rivers
Philip Rivers in 2017 was a vibe. He was 36 years old and suddenly commuting from San Diego to Orange County in a tricked-out SUV that functioned as a mobile film room. People mocked it, but it worked. He threw for 4,515 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Rivers didn't care about the optics of playing in StubHub Center. He just wanted to win. The 2017 Los Angeles Chargers offense was built on his ability to manipulate the line of scrimmage with that weird, sidearm delivery that looked like he was throwing a shot put.
Keenan Allen was his primary weapon. After missing almost all of 2015 and 2016 with a kidney injury and a torn ACL, Allen went on a tear. He finished with 102 catches and 1,393 yards. During a three-game stretch in November, he became the first player in NFL history to record at least 10 catches, 100 receiving yards, and a touchdown in three consecutive games. It was clinical. He wasn't the fastest guy on the field, but his route running was so precise it felt like he was playing a different sport than the cornerbacks trying to cover him.
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Then there was Melvin Gordon. He wasn't efficient—averaging 3.9 yards per carry—but he was a workhorse. He racked up over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 12 total touchdowns. The offense was balanced, dangerous, and somehow, still prone to the most "Chargers" mistakes imaginable.
Defense Wins Games (Except When It Doesn't)
While the offense got the headlines, the 2017 Los Angeles Chargers defense was the real reason they turned the season around. Gus Bradley took over as defensive coordinator and brought that "Seattle South" Cover 3 scheme. It fit perfectly.
Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram were monsters. Bosa had 12.5 sacks. Ingram had 10.5. They were the first Chargers duo to both hit double-digit sacks in the same season since 2006. They weren't just sack artists; they were disruptive on every single snap.
The secondary was surprisingly elite, too. Casey Hayward was playing like the best corner in the league, earning a Pro Bowl nod. Trevor Williams, an undrafted guy, stepped up when Jason Verrett went down and played out of his mind. They finished the year allowing the third-fewest points in the NFL. Think about that. You have a top-five defense and a future Hall of Fame quarterback, and you still don't make the tournament? It's wild.
The Kicking Nightmare
If you want to know why the 2017 Los Angeles Chargers missed the playoffs, don't look at the roster. Look at the uprights. Special teams were a disaster. It started in Week 1 against Denver. Younghoe Koo—who eventually became a Pro Bowler elsewhere—had a game-tying field goal blocked. The next week against Miami, he missed two more, including a 44-yarder at the buzzer that would have won it.
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They cut Koo. They brought in Nick Novak. Then Novak got hurt. Then they had Travis Coons. By the time they settled on someone who could actually kick a ball through the yellow poles, the damage was done.
The Chargers lost nine games by eight points or less over the 2016-2017 period. In 2017 alone, the kicking game arguably cost them three wins. If they go 12-4 or 11-5, which their point differential suggested they should have, we’re talking about them as Super Bowl contenders. Instead, they were a footnote.
A Season of Streaks
The rhythm of the season was nonsensical.
- Started 0-4.
- Won 3 straight.
- Lost a heartbreaker to Jacksonville in overtime (a game they had won twice if not for penalties and turnovers).
- Destroyed Buffalo (Nathan Peterman’s 5-interception game).
- Obliterated Dallas on Thanksgiving.
That Thanksgiving game was the peak. Millions of people tuned in to see the Cowboys, and they saw Philip Rivers carve them up like a turkey. It was the moment the national media realized, "Oh, the Chargers are actually good." They won six of seven games in the middle of the season. They were the "team nobody wants to see in the playoffs."
But the NFL doesn't care about momentum if you don't have the wins. A Week 15 loss to Kansas City basically sealed their fate. Even though they finished the season 9-7, winning nine of their last twelve games, they lost the tiebreakers. The Titans and Bills got in. The Chargers stayed in LA.
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The StubHub Experience
We have to talk about the stadium. The StubHub Center (now Dignity Health Sports Park) was a 27,000-seat soccer stadium. It was tiny by NFL standards. The Chargers tried to pitch it as an "intimate" experience. It wasn't. It was an away game every week.
When the Eagles came to town, the stadium was green. When the Chiefs came, it was red. It was a bizarre atmosphere for a professional football team. Yet, the players kind of thrived on the "us against the world" mentality. They knew they weren't the kings of LA—that was the Rams' job that year—but they played with a chip on their shoulder that made them dangerous.
Lessons From the 2017 Los Angeles Chargers
What can we actually learn from this weird year of football?
First, kicking matters more than GMs like to admit. You can have an elite pass rush and a Hall of Fame QB, but if your kicker has the yips, your ceiling is capped. Second, the 0-4 start is a death sentence, even if you’re the better team for the other 12 games. The margin for error in the NFL is razor-thin.
The 2017 Los Angeles Chargers finished with a +83 point differential. For context, the Buffalo Bills made the playoffs that year with a -57 point differential. That is a statistical anomaly that still haunts Chargers fans. It was a season of "what ifs."
If you're looking back at this team for fantasy research or historical context, remember that this was the year the Chargers proved they could survive a relocation, even if they couldn't quite conquer it. They established a defensive identity that lasted for years and saw the peak of the Rivers-Allen connection.
Actionable Insights for NFL History Buffs
- Study the Point Differential: Whenever you see a team with a high point differential miss the playoffs, look at their special teams. The 2017 Chargers are the gold standard for this.
- Evaluate the "Post-Hype" Bounce: Keenan Allen in 2017 is the blueprint for why you don't give up on elite talent after injuries. His Comeback Player of the Year campaign was a masterclass in technician-style wide receiver play.
- Watch the Buffalo Game: If you ever want to see a defense completely dismantle a rookie quarterback, watch the 2017 Chargers vs. Nathan Peterman. It remains one of the most lopsided defensive halves in modern history.
- Acknowledge the Coaching: Anthony Lynn doesn't get enough credit for keeping that locker room together after the 0-4 start. Most first-year coaches would have lost the team; he turned them into a powerhouse.
The 2017 season was the beginning of a new era that never quite reached the heights it promised, but for a few months in late autumn, the Chargers were arguably the best team in football. They just ran out of time.