The
2020 season was the
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
' 51st in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), their 61st overall, their fifth in the
Greater Los Angeles Area
Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...
, and their fourth and final season under
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...
Anthony Lynn
Anthony Ray Lynn (born December 21, 1968) is an American football coach and former running back who is the assistant head coach and running backs coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played in t ...
. It also marks the Chargers' first season playing their home games at
SoFi Stadium
SoFi Stadium () is a 70,240-seat sports and entertainment indoor stadium in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, California, United States. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack, from Los Angeles International Airport an ...
in
Inglewood (which the team shares with the
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
), after using
Dignity Health Sports Park
Dignity Health Sports Park is a multi-use sports complex located on the campus of California State University, Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. The complex consists of the 27,000-seat Dignity Health Sports Park soccer stadium, the Dignity ...
in
Carson
Carson may refer to:
People
*Carson (surname), people with the surname
*Carson (given name), people with the given name
Places
;In the United States
* Carson, California, a city
* Carson Township, Fayette County, Illinois
*Carson, Iowa, a city
* ...
as their temporary home stadium for the previous three seasons. This is also the Chargers' first season since
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
with new uniforms, which were unveiled on April 21, 2020. The uniforms are somewhat similar in design to the ones they donned in their inaugural season in 1960.
After mutually agreeing to part ways, this was the first season since
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
without quarterback
Philip Rivers
Philip Michael Rivers (born December 8, 1981) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons, primarily with the Chargers franchise. He played college football at NC State and was sele ...
on the roster and the first since
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
without Rivers as the starting quarterback. Rivers led the Chargers to six playoff appearances, starting every game since September 11, 2006. Backup quarterback
Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Diallo Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Virginia Tech, leading the Hokies to the 2009 Orange Bowl as a Sophomore ...
was named starter, but following a medical mishap prior to week 2, he was replaced by rookie
Justin Herbert
Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon, where he won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and was named ...
. After a 45–0 loss to the
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...
in Week 13, the Chargers were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention for the second consecutive year. However, despite this, the Chargers rallied and won their last four games, bringing their record to 7–9, improving on their
5–11 season from the previous year.
At the conclusion of the 2020 season, the organization announced that Lynn was
fired as head coach.
This season was highlighted by a string of blown 4th quarter leads. 8 of their 9 losses were by a deficit of 10 points or less. Despite the disappointing season, quarterback Justin Herbert was named
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
The Associated Press NFL Rookie of the Year Award is an annual award given to the top offensive and defensive first-year players in the National Football League (NFL) as adjudged by the Associated Press (AP). Winners are selected by a nationwide p ...
.
Offseason
Signings
Departures
Draft
Undrafted free agents
Despite signing a plethora of UDFAs (undrafted free agents), all were released during the initial roster cuts.
Staff
Final roster
Preseason
The Chargers' preseason schedule was announced on May 7, but was later cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
Regular season
Schedule
The Chargers'
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
schedule was announced on May 7.
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 2: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Justin Herbert
Justin Patrick Herbert (born March 10, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Oregon, where he won the 2019 Pac-12 Championship and was named ...
made an unexpected start after Taylor suffered an injury before the game.
Week 3: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 4: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 5: at New Orleans Saints
The Chargers face Drew Brees and the Saints for the fourth time. The Saints trailed earlier and made comeback attempts. At the conclusion of the fourth quarter, Michael Badgley attempted a game-winning field goal, but the ball hits the upright, resulting in both teams tying and going into overtime. Wil Lutz kicked a 36-yard field goal and the game continued. When Rookie quarterback, Justin Herbert, elected a 4th down conversion, his pass was completed, but Marshon Lattimore and Demario Davis stopped the Chargers from getting a 1st down, resulting in a Chargers' loss.
Week 7: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 8: at Denver Broncos
Week 9: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Week 10: at Miami Dolphins
Week 11: vs. New York Jets
Week 12: at Buffalo Bills
Week 13: vs. New England Patriots
With the shutout loss against New England, Los Angeles fell to 3–9 and was mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.
Week 14: vs. Atlanta Falcons
Week 15: at Las Vegas Raiders
Week 16: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 17: at Kansas City Chiefs
Standings
Division
Conference
Notes
References
External links
*
{{2020 NFL season by team
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
Los Angeles Chargers seasons
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...
Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...