Are the chargers the best Super Bowl sleeper in the NFL? | Bleacher's report

Because they are only the second most popular and talented team in their city and arguably the least popular and most talented team in their division, the Los Angeles Chargers continue to go unnoticed. .

But the Super Bowl Bolts are like the real deal, starting with Philip Rivers.

Of course, as we are in 2018, it almost always starts with the quarterback. If you have a good one, you usually have a chance.

The Chargers have an excellent and he plays the best football of his career in the Hall of Fame.

That alone is a blow to the Bolts as at least a second-ranked Super Bowl contender. But when you consider the talent around Rivers, you might wonder why the Chargers are not among the favorites.

Five teams had significantly better Super Bowl odds in Sunday's games, and the Chicago Bears also had stronger championship odds despite a significant lack of experience with a second-year quarterback and a head coach. first year.

Does not anyone trust a team that has the reputation of shooting themselves in the foot? If that's the case, maybe Sunday's dominant victory over the Arizona Cardinals will help.

Nobody expected the Chargers to lose to Arizona, but it was just feared an accident after falling to 7-3 with a daunting home defeat against the Denver Lower Broncos. It was the first time this season that Los Angeles was losing a match that it was supposed to win.

Defensemen Denzel Perryman and Corey Liuget are now on the injured list and the Pro Bowl halfback probably injured, but the Chargers came back from a 10-0 deficit in the first quarter to demolish the 45-10 Cards. .

Rivers completed a NFL-Register 25 consecutive passes to start the match and finish with the highest percentage of completions in the history of the league (96.6) among the quarterbacks with more than 10 attempts. He also threw three touchdowns in a performance without interception.

He is just the fourth player in the history of the NFL to have completed more than 90% of his passes for more than 250 yards in a game, and the Chargers became the sixth team of the season to win a match with 35 points or more.

Indeed, it was more than Rivers. The Chargers edged the Cardinals 414-149 and became the first CAF team this season to record 30 first tries or more in attack, while giving up 10 first tries or less in defense in one game. Joey Bosa, who was getting healthier, had a pair of sacks and was under a lot of pressure in his second injury game, the young defenders (Derwin James) and the old (Casey Hayward Jr.) shone, and Gordon scored 6.1 yards per run, scoring twice despite hamstring and knee injuries.

This reminded us that the Chargers were loaded. Rivers, Gordon, wide receiver Keenan Allen, Austin Ekeler, alternate receiver, secondary receivers Tyrell Williams and Mike Williams, Bosa, James, Hayward and Melvin Ingram III are all launched. Although one new knee injury could cost Gordon some time, Ekeler has an average of 5.8 yards per run. They are built to survive his absence, just as they survived Bosa during the first 10 weeks of the season.

So, if the New Orleans Saints, the Los Angeles Rams (both 10-1), the Kansas City Chiefs (9-2) and the New England Patriots (8-3) are considered as the first-class favorites to reach the Super Bowl LIII, has this game statement earned shippers the title of "best of the rest"?

The only other teams in a 8-3 L.A. ranking are the 8-3 Bears, the Houston Texans 7-3 and the Pittsburgh Steel 7-3-1. But Chicago and Houston have not established quarterbacks like Rivers, Houston has not convincingly defeated a quality opponent and the Steelers face off against unimpressive performances against opponents under .500.

The Bears and Texans have defensive leaders at Bosa in Khalil Mack and J.J. Watt, respectively, but their quarterbacks were among the top 12 in terms of Sunday's odds. Pittsburgh does not have a defensive superstar and his quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, is not as well rated as Deshaun Watson and Mitchell Trubisky. Big Ben is more accomplished than Rivers and the aforementioned sophomores, but he also kicked off a playoff in the end zone Sunday against the Denver Broncos.

The rankings of Rivers smugglers, at 115.7, rank third in football, behind Drew Brees of the Saints and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs. And he ranks among the top five in terms of percentage achievement, yards per attempt and goal-to-goal ratio.

And yet, the Chargers could continue to generate less hype than teams like Chicago, Houston and Pittsburgh, perhaps because they have a limited number of fans while they play in a home stadium. Provisional after moving San Diego last year.

The fact that they are the only marginal contender at the Super Bowl (except perhaps the Minnesota Vikings) who do not lead their division could also be a factor, and it should be acknowledged that the Bolts did not defeat the Western leaders of the AFC The leaders in their last nine tries.

It was a declared victory, but it was not a signature victory. The Chargers have played only two games that could have allowed them to win wins against signing (they were lost (against the Chiefs in the first week and the Rams in the third week).

But that could be about to change. If they manage to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh next Sunday night, they will likely be considered the best Super Bowl candidate by the AFC outside of Kansas City and Foxborough. And if they can finally get the K.C. monkey back two weeks later Thursday Football, we might have to consider shippers as a main title claimant.

Because shippers have mocked us many times before, includingYou are allowed to beware of this team unless or until it kills Pittsburgh and / or Kansas City. But for the moment, after their fourth defeat in seven games, it's impossible to ignore what the other team is doing in Los Angeles and in AFC West.

Brad Gagnon has been covering the NFL for Bleacher Report since 2012.

Follow @Brad_Gagnon