NFL Power Rankings, Week 7: Steelers, Buccaneers make emphatic leap

After defeating the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1, the Los Angeles Chargers have been unable to find another victory. They’ve been incredibly close and even took the Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints to overtime but in each of those games, they lost by three.

One-score games have become the norm for them. They beat Cincy by a field goal (thanks to a miss from Randy Bullock at the end of the game) and their other losses outside of New Orleans and Kansas City included a 21-16 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Panthers and 38-31 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That seven-point loss to Tampa Bay was their most lopsided game which is a testament to the Chargers talent. They’re right there and entering their bye week, they have only lost to teams with winning records — beating the only losing-record team they have faced in Week 1.

They can hold their heads high about that as they enter the bye week looking for a way to salvage the season. Los Angeles can also boast about the way their young quarterback has played as Justin Herbert has held his own all season — even standing out as the best signal-caller on the field when it was him against Drew Brees and “Inspector Gadget” Taysom Hill of the Saints.

So far, Herbert has completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 1,195 yards with nine touchdowns and three picks. He looks to be the real deal and should be the face of their franchise for the next 10-plus years.