NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: 49ers, Texans make statements as contenders

24. Los Angeles Chargers (24)

One week after finishing on the wrong end of an upset at home during a loss to the Denver Broncos, another Week 6 matchup at home against a Pittsburgh Steelers team down to their third-string quarterback seemed like a dream matchup for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Turns out, this Chargers team may not have what it takes to be a legitimate contender in the AFC after the team came up short against the Steelers, making it four losses over their last five games.

After starting the year off on a hot note by putting together an impressive win over the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles seemed to pick right up where they left off to end last season when the Chargers earned a trip to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Obviously, the Melvin Gordon holdout arguably turned out to be a bigger distraction than Los Angeles realized, but this still isn’t an excuse for the Chargers since the team could be sitting at 4-2 instead of 2-4 entering Week 7.

Up until last season, the Chargers were known to be a playoff-caliber team that always came up just shy of earning a spot in the postseason, and even though there’s still plenty of time remaining in 2019, Los Angeles seems to be heading in that direction once again.