The 2017 season was the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

' 48th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), their 58th overall, their second in the

Greater Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

and their first under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Anthony Lynn Anthony Ray Lynn (born December 21, 1968) is an American professional football coach and former running back who is the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played ...

. It was the Chargers' first season in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

since their inaugural

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

season, when they were in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

, as the team exercised its option to move back to the city and join the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

on January 12, 2017. The 2017 season was the first of three seasons played at

StubHub Center 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 Dign ...

prior to the new stadium in

Inglewood Inglewood may refer to: Places Australia *Inglewood, Queensland * Shire of Inglewood, Queensland, a former local government area *Inglewood, South Australia *Inglewood, Victoria *Inglewood, Western Australia Canada * Inglewood, Ontario *Inglewoo ...

being completed in 2020. The Chargers, despite an 0–4 start, finished the season with 9–7 record and improved their 5–11 record from last season after a week 13 win over the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

. Their season finale win over the Raiders helped the Chargers finish with a winning record for the first time since

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. However, they missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season — the Chargers finished in a four-way tie with the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

for the two Wild Card playoff spots, but the Titans and Bills claimed the Wild Cards based on tiebreakers.

Offseason

Transition to Los Angeles

On January 2, 2017, Chargers' head coach Mike McCoy was fired along with the majority of his coaching staff. On January 12, 2017, Chargers' owner

Dean Spanos Dean Alexander Spanos (born May 26, 1950) is an American businessman who is the owner and chairman of the San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He is the son of Alex Spanos, who purchased majority interest in the ...

announced during a press conference the decision to immediately return the San Diego Chargers to

. Spanos had a deadline of January 17, 2017, to decide if he wanted to return the team to Los Angeles. The Chargers were chosen by the league in 2016 as the second team to be allowed to relocate to Los Angeles with the

and play at

SoFi Stadium SoFi Stadium ( ) is a domed multi-purpose stadium in Inglewood, California, U.S., a suburb of Los Angeles. SoFi occupies the former site of the Hollywood Park Racetrack and neighbors the Kia Forum and Intuit Dome. Opened in September 2020, the ...

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

. Until the new stadium was compleated in 2020, the Chargers played the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons at the

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

. The Chargers transitioned from San Diego to new headquarters in the Los Angeles area throughout the offseason, although social and fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative. The team held their mini-camp in San Diego, with the final day on the field at the old practice field coming on June 15. Former players

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He played in the National Football League (NFL) as a wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers (1978–1986), Los Angeles Raiders (1987&nda ...

, Nick Hardwick and Jacques Cesaire showed up on the final day, as did fans. Trucks moved equipment up the road after the final practice. Front office people continued to work in San Diego until the team's lease expired later in the summer then the team completely moved to their new headquarters in

Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...

Signings

Releases

NFL draft

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: at Denver Broncos

Rookie kicker

Younghoe Koo Younghoe Koo (; pronounced ; ; born August 3, 1994) is a South Korean-American professional American football, football placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2020 after lead ...

's game-tying 44-yard

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...

attempt in the final seconds was blocked by the

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

's Shelby Harris, and the Chargers lost 24–21. An earlier attempt by Koo was successful, but it was called off after the Broncos had called a timeout right before the snap.

Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins

In their first Game back In

since

Koo missed a game-winning 44-yard field goal attempt as time expired in a 19–17 loss to

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Week 3: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 4: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The Chargers play a home game at

against the

NFC East The National Football Conference – Eastern Division or NFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). It has four members: the Dallas Cowboys, New Yo ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. Notably, this home game turned out to be a 'road game' for the Chargers as Eagles fans took over StubHub and turned it into, as dubbed on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, "

Lincoln Financial Field Lincoln Financial Field is an American football stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the home stadium of the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) and the Temple Owls football team of Temple University ...

West". In the end the Eagles won 26-24 over the Chargers. With the loss, the Chargers' record dropped to 0-4, last place in the

AFC West The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, ...

Week 5: at New York Giants

In a back-and-forth game against the Giants, the Chargers proved victorious after rallying to score 10 unanswered points to retake the lead. Four plays after Giants star receiver

Odell Beckham Jr. Odell Cornelious Beckham Jr. (born November 5, 1992), commonly known by his initials OBJ, is an American professional American football, football wide receiver. He played college football for the LSU Tigers football, LSU Tigers and was selected ...

suffered a season-ending broken ankle, Philip Rivers delivered a 10-yard touchdown pass to Melvin Gordon with just under three minutes to go, and the Los Angeles defense prevented New York from responding. With the win, the Chargers earned their first win of the season, also snapping a 9-game losing streak that dated back to their previous season in San Diego.

Week 6: at Oakland Raiders

Week 7: vs. Denver Broncos

With their first home victory as the L.A. Chargers, Philip Rivers went 15/26 for 183 passing yard and 2 touchdowns, shutting out the Denver Broncos. It was their first home win in Los Angeles since December 18, 1960.

Week 8: at New England Patriots

Week 10: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 11: vs. Buffalo Bills

The Chargers handily routed the Bills, partly thanks to Buffalo's now-infamous decision to start rookie quarterback

Nathan Peterman Nathan Michael Peterman (born May 4, 1994) is an American professional football quarterback. He played college football for the Pittsburgh Panthers following a stint with the Tennessee Volunteers and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the fif ...

, who threw five interceptions to the Chargers defense in the first half alone before being pulled for previous starter

Tyrod Taylor Tyrod Di'allo Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies and was selected by the Baltimore Rav ...

. With the win, Los Angeles snapped its 2-game losing streak to improve to 4–6.

Week 12: at Dallas Cowboys

NFL on Thanksgiving Day Since its inception in 1920, the National Football League (NFL) has played games on Thanksgiving (United States), Thanksgiving Day, patterned upon the historic playing of college football games on or around the November holiday. The NFL's Thanks ...

Philip Rivers threw three touchdowns in the second half, and Dak Prescott threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, one of which was returned 90 yards by rookie Desmond King for a touchdown, for a second straight win. With the win and the Chiefs losing on Sunday, the Chargers ended up one game out of first in the AFC West. This was the first time since 2010 that the Chargers had worn the alternate powder blue jersey introduced in 2007 against an NFC team and the first time ever it was worn on the road.

Week 13: vs. Cleveland Browns

The Chargers, for the second straight year in a row, faced a winless Browns team. Former Browns kicker Travis Coons, signed off the Chargers' practice squad in place of an injured Nick Novak, kicked four field goals in the game. Keenan Allen caught a touchdown, and the defense forced two fourth-quarter turnovers to seal the game. With the win, along with the Chiefs' loss to the Jets earlier and the Raiders beating the Giants, the Chargers moved into a three-way tie for first place in the AFC West.