The Chargers are 0-4 to start the 2026 season.
The Chargers were expected to be one of the league's better teams this season; instead, it's been quite the opposite. Los Angeles looks dormant and lost, especially on offense.
Nothing seems to be going right for the Chargers, and their playoff hopes are quickly fading. However, weirder things have happened in the NFL and to this organization.
Only one team in NFL history that started the season 0-4 made the playoffs: the 1992 Chargers.
The 2026 Chargers will look to become the second.
"Only one team in NFL history has ever started 0–4 and then gone on to make the playoffs (the 1992 Chargers, who went 11–1 the rest of the way)," Dan Gartland of Sports Illustrated wrote.
The 1992 Chargers did the impossible,
and the 2026 Chargers will look to become the second and defy all odds. Because if they don't, history is not on their side.
"No team has ever reached the postseason after starting 0–5."
The 1992 Chargers finished the season going 11-1 and lost in the divisional round of the playoffs. The five other times they started 0-4, they missed the playoffs entirely.
The last time the Chargers started the season 0-4 was in 2017. They missed the playoffs entirely, going 4-12 in the season. As things stand, that's the road Los Angeles will go down.
Nothing seems to be clicking for the Chargers' offense right now. Justin Herbert has struggled, the wide receivers haven't consistently delivered, and the offensive line remains shaky. If it's not one thing, it's another.
The Chargers will look to avoid a 0-5 start as they prepare to face the Broncos in Week 5.
The last time the Chargers went 0-5 was in 2003.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: Only one team has overcome an 0-4 start. Can Chargers be next?
