The Chargers open 2026 with two straight home games at SoFi Stadium, then face a brutal October: at Buffalo, at Seattle, Denver at home, and at Kansas City before the Week 7 bye. Jim Harbaugh’s third season is built around a back-loaded stretch of prime-time games and a division finish, with the Chiefs at home in Week 17 and the Broncos on the road in Week 18.
Los Angeles went 11-6 in 2025, reached the playoffs as the No. 7 seed, and lost 16-3 at New England in the wild-card round. The Patriots visit SoFi on Sunday night in Week 12.
Games That Will Define the Chargers’ Season
| Wk 6 at Chiefs | The first Kansas City meeting comes at Arrowhead right before the bye, capping a four-game stretch against Buffalo, Seattle, Denver and the Chiefs. The rematch at SoFi is the Week 17 designated game. |
| Wk 10 at Ravens | The Chargers’ first standalone window of the year doesn’t arrive until Monday night in Baltimore. Everything before it is a Sunday afternoon kickoff. |
| Wk 12 vs Patriots | A Sunday night rematch of the wild-card loss in Foxborough. New England went on to reach Super Bowl LX; the Chargers went home after one playoff game for the second straight year. |
| Wk 17-18 | Kansas City at home, then Denver on the road. The Chargers haven’t won the AFC West since 2009, and the schedule puts both of the division’s recent kings at the very end. |
How the Schedule Sets Up
The Chargers get Arizona and Las Vegas at home to start, which is about as soft an opening as an 11-win team can ask for. Then the calendar bites: back-to-back road trips to Buffalo and the defending champion Seahawks, Denver at home, and a trip to Arrowhead before the Week 7 bye. Coming out of the break the schedule eases with a crosstown game against the Rams at SoFi, Houston at home, and the Jets, before a December that includes Tampa Bay, Las Vegas, the 49ers on a short week, and Miami.
The division decides everything, and four of the six AFC West games sit in Weeks 14 through 18. For roster context heading into the season, see our NFL roster cuts tracker. Full league schedules and flexible-scheduling rules are published by the NFL.
The Bottom Line
Eight home games, a Week 7 bye after the hardest stretch on the schedule, no prime-time kickoffs until mid-November, and the Chiefs and Broncos waiting in the final two weeks. Harbaugh’s third Chargers team has consecutive 11-win seasons behind it and a playoff win still to find. Bookmark this page; results and Week 17-18 details are updated throughout the season.