Early air miles
Aside from the game in Brazil, the Chargers have three road trips this season to the East Coast against the Giants, Dolphins and Jaguars.
The Bolts will see two of those teams early on as the team will travel to New York in Week 4 and then Miami in Week 6. (The Chargers are at home against Washington in Week 5).
While the Chargers might have preferred these games to be a tad more spaced out, you won’t hear any complaining from Harbaugh’s squad.
As for the Jacksonville game? That is in Week 11, just before the bye week.
Mini bye in Week 8
Games between the Chargers and Vikings can get a little wacky. (The 2023 edition featured a 28-24 Chargers win and included four lead changes as each team put up exactly 475 yards of offense).
The teams will meet in primetime in 2025 on Thursday Night Football at SoFi Stadium.
The storylines here will be aplenty, especially considering that J.J. McCarthy will likely be under center for Minnesota. McCarthy led Michigan to a national title in 2023 when Harbaugh, Jesse Minter and a handful of other coaches were in Ann Arbor.
The benefit of a Week 8 game on Thursday? The Chargers then get a mini bye before heading to Tennessee in Week 9.
Key November games
Speaking of that Titans game, the Week 9 date in Nashville kicks off a four-game stretch that will be critical to the Chargers playoff chances.
The Bolts are at Tennessee before hosting Pittsburgh on Sunday Night Football (Week 10) and then going to Jacksonville. Then comes the bye and a Week 13 home date against the Raiders.
The Titans, Jaguars and Raiders all hope to be much improved from a season ago when they each picked in the top six spots of the 2025 NFL Draft.
Put another way, this is the time for the Bolts to pick up some wins and make their playoff push. They’ll need to make some hay here because their December schedule is a gauntlet.
Back-to-back Super Bowl opponents
Welcome to December, here come the Eagles.
The Bolts will host the defending Super Bowl champs on Monday Night Football in Week 14 at SoFi Stadium.
As we’ve mentioned before, this will be a measuring stick game for the Chargers, who want to play with the same physical dominance that the Eagles displayed last season.
The Chargers could turn some heads here with a win at SoFi Stadium.
Of course, things don’t get any easier as the Chargers then head to Arrowhead in Week 15 to play the Chiefs.
And yes, it’s another trip to Kansas City on a short week, just like in 2022 and 2023.
This is undoubtedly the toughest two-game stretch on the entire Chargers 2025 schedule.