Analytics writer gives Chargers the best chance to go worst to first in a NFL division
Last year, an NFL pundit wrote: “If I’m a Chargers fan, I’m not worried about the Chiefs all that much.”
He wasn’t alone, as the Chargers were a trendy pick to win the AFC West as they were coming off a Wild Card berth a year earlier.
In 2018, the Chargers were predicted to finish with 13 wins and a division title by at least one publication.
History shows the Chiefs won the last two AFC West titles and are the Super Bowl champions. That’s why Chiefs fans found it funny the Washington Post looked at which last-place NFL team has a chance to win a division this fall and put the Chargers at No. 1.
Neil Greenberg wrote: “To determine which of the eight teams that finished in last place in their division last season is most likely to be this year’s stunner, we will simulate the season a 1,000 times using the weekly preseason point spreads released by BetOnline, which are then used to determine each team’s projected win-loss records and chances of winning the division.”
After crunching the numbers, Greenberg said the Chargers have just a 10% chance of being crowned AFC West champs. But that’s better than the other last-place finishers in the NFL last season.
He wrote in part: “The Chargers won only five games last year but they weren’t as bad as they looked. Based on their points scored and allowed, we would have expected them to win almost eight games, which would have been the second-most in the division behind the Kansas City Chiefs.”
Talk of a Chargers divisional championship, no matter how remote, was comical to Chiefs fans. Here is what some were saying on Twitter:
