This season, the Los Angeles Chargers have made me feel every emotion known to man. I’ve felt the highest highs seeing Justin Herbert sling the ball perfectly into the arms of his receivers 40 yards downfield, and the lowest lows watching the defense, inevitably, throw it all away. Win or loss, every game has raised my blood pressure enough to take 10 years off my life.

The NFL is approaching Week 6. The Chargers will play at least 13 more games this year.

I have been a Chargers fan for as long as I’ve been watching football. As a kid, there was something exciting about watching them play. You would see LaDainian Tomlinson break away for a big run or Phillip Rivers lob a pass into the end zone to Antonio Gates, all while guys like Eric Weddle and Antonio Cromartie held down the fort on defense. Were they the best team in football? No, but the San Diego Chargers were my team. I decided from a young age that, no matter what, I’d stick with them through thick and thin, until maybe, one day, they could win it all. 

This may not have been the best decision. Now in Los Angeles, the Chargers have disappointed me year in and year out. It’s not like there hasn’t been a reason to get my hopes up. For a decade and a half, the Chargers have had an array of talented players that are certainly capable of winning the Super Bowl. But no matter what, they have always come up short.

I know many fans think the Chargers are cursed, and yes, sometimes it’s hard for me not to feel that way too. I cannot count the number of times where they’ve had a big lead late into a game, only for them to squander it in the most unfathomable way. For that to happen to a team once would be enough for fans to lose their sanity, yet I can’t go two weeks without feeling that degree of anger and disappointment. There have been many Sundays that end with me slamming doors and throwing pillows on the floor in frustration. At this point, I’ve just come to expect it — so as to not be upset yet again.

In spite of all of this, there has to be a real reason why the Chargers keep losing. Why, despite finally seeming to get their act together, they can’t come through in the end. Is it the players? It’s hard for me to believe that. Every season the Chargers’ roster is seen as one of the most formidable in the league. Last year, for instance, they had six players who finished in the “NFL Top 100,” and still got bounced in the first round of the playoffs after blowing a 27–0 lead.

To figure out the Chargers’ main issue, we have to take a trip back to 2017. This was a big year for the team, as it was their first year in LA with new Head Coach Anthony Lynn at the helm. Unsurprisingly, the Chargers got off to a rocky 0–4 start, convincing me the Chargers would perform poorly once again. However, a miracle happened. The Chargers won 9 of their final 12 games and were just a game away from making the playoffs. Slightly disappointing, yes, but it showed me that, perhaps, Anthony Lynn could guide us to the promised land.

The next season was even better, with the team finishing 12–4 and tying for the best record in the American Football Conference. The Chargers had the most Pro Bowlers of any team in the NFL, and Lynn finished second in Coach of the Year voting. It was the most elation I had ever felt as a Chargers fan, and I was convinced this was finally the year we would win the Super Bowl. Sadly, in true Chargers fashion, it was in fact not the year we’d win a Super Bowl — instead losing badly in the second round to the Patriots. “It’ll be okay,” I thought, “we can come back next year.”

But they didn’t come back the next year. Instead, they collapsed to a pitiful 5–11 record, losing game after game by a single score. The Chargers’ game plan became so obvious that even casual fans could figure out what play they were going to run next. Even with Rookie of the Year Justin Herbert coming in the following season, they only managed 7 wins. Soon, fans like myself made their voices heard, pleading with the team to get Lynn fired. Finally, the Chargers listened.

In 2021, Chargers fans had hope again. Brandon Staley came in as the new coach and led the team to a 4–1 start. Pundits were considering him to be a Coach of the Year candidate, and the team again a Super Bowl contender. Life was good.

But once again, the Chargers were figured out by opposing teams. In 2021, they missed the playoffs after a heartbreaking loss to the Raiders in the final game of the season, and after making the playoffs last year, they lost in a brutal 31–30 heartbreaker against the Jaguars.

If you’re a Chargers fan like me, just know it’s not your fault. There’s nothing you or I can do to break the alleged curse put upon them by the football gods. I know it’s frustrating to watch this team lose every week, so much so that you can’t help but think there has to be something you can do. But there isn’t. The talent is there, in fact, it always has been. It seems there’s really only one thing that can be done. Something that seems to happen so often fans see it coming from it a mile away.

The problem is the coaches. It’s time to fire Brandon Staley.