Niner Noise
FanSided

NFL power rankings: Final post-Super Bowl LII standings around the league

By Peter Panacy

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 04: The Philadelphia Eagles celebrated defeating the New England Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII at U.S. Bank Stadium on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
24 of 33
Next
CARSON, CA – OCTOBER 01: Brandon Mebane #92, Kyle Emanuel #51, Corey Liuget #94 and Joey Bosa #99 of the Los Angeles Chargers look on after a Philadelphia Eagles touchdown during the second half of a game at StubHub Center on October 1, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
CARSON, CA – OCTOBER 01: Brandon Mebane #92, Kyle Emanuel #51, Corey Liuget #94 and Joey Bosa #99 of the Los Angeles Chargers look on after a Philadelphia Eagles touchdown during the second half of a game at StubHub Center on October 1, 2017 in Carson, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

. Previous: . Los Angeles Chargers. 10. team. 13.

While the home crowd at StubHub Center wasn’t exactly a good indication, fans of the Los Angeles Chargers should be pretty excited about the upcoming season.

After all, the Raiders and Broncos both regressed. And the Chiefs are making a massive switch under center. Putting things bluntly, the AFC West is up for grabs.

The Chargers have two of the most prolific pass-rushers in the NFL today, EDGEs Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. This tandem combined for 23 sacks last season and should be enough to put plenty of fear in L.A.’s opposing offenses in 2018.

Sure, quarterback Philip Rivers is aging and will eventually need to be phased out. But not yet. The good news is protecting him should get much easier, especially with the return of 2017 second-round guard Forrest Lamp, who sat out his rookie season due to injury.

The Chargers also have over $24 million in cap space. While that’s not quite enough to make a lot of big splashes in free agency this offseason, it should help land a few key depth pieces along the way.

L.A. is in an intriguing situation, and that’s enough to give the team a bump up in our NFL power rankings.