The Los Angeles Chargers have had the worst home-field advantage in the NFL since they left San Diego, and that apparently got to the point last week where they had to operate as if they were playing a true road game.
The Chargers had to use a silent snap count against the Minnesota Vikings last week because there were so many fans of the visiting team at Dignity Health Sports Park, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. They almost had to do the same when hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier in the season but never actually resorted to it, and they are hoping they won’t have to use the silent count against when the Oakland Raiders come to town on Sunday.
Oakland is 6-8 and eliminated from the playoffs, so there’s a chance their fans won’t travel as well as they would have. However, it would not take much for them to outnumber Chargers fans.
Chargers players have openly expressed concerns over the environment at home games in the past, and the team is hoping that will improve a bit when they move to their new stadium in Inglewood. That may not be the case, as the venue will be attractive to traveling fans and the Rams are clearly the more popular NFL team in Los Angeles.
