Ever since the Chargers moved to Los Angeles, people have noted that they enjoy very little home-field advantage due to how often their relatively small fanbase is drowned out by cheers for opposing teams.
That hasn’t stopped the Chargers from winning their last two home games, including Sunday’s 47-42 thriller over the Browns, and their 4-1 record is tied for the best in the AFC. On Monday, head coach Brandon Staley discussed some of the things that could lead to growth on the fan front beyond the winning record.
Staley pointed to stars like Justin Herbert, Mike Williams, Keenan Allen, Joey Bosa, Austin Ekeler, and Derwin James playing an aesthetically pleasing style of football as reason to think the team’s appeal can grow in the Los Angeles area.
“I think that most people that watch the game like to see a lot of people touch the ball,” Staley said, via Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times. “They want to see that continuity where it’s not just one person that’s dominating the ball. They want to see a team that can score a lot of different ways. And then I think people show up for stars in pro sports. Our team has a lot of them in terms of guys that the average fan is going to say, ‘That person stands out to me.’ We have them in all three phases in the game. The last thing that people are going to show up for is playing [like] a complete team. We want to have a team that’s capable of beating people a lot of different ways.”
The Chargers will be in Baltimore before a Week Seven bye. Their next home game will come against the Patriots in Week Eight and we’ll see if Staley’s pitch leads to a different makeup to the crowd at SoFi Stadium.