2016 San Diego Chargers Schedule: Full Listing of Dates, Times and TV Info

No matter what happens on the field, the 2016 season could be one of the most memorable in San Diego Chargers history.

Most expected team owner Dean Spanos to have announced plans for a move to Los Angeles by now. As part of the Los Angeles Rams' relocation to the City of Angels, the Chargers received the first option of refusal for relocating to L.A. as well.

Given the team's inability to build a new stadium in San Diego, the Chargers looked to have no future in their current home. Then, Spanos announced in January the team would stay in San Diego for this year with an eye toward staying.

Either 2016 will be the Chargers' final year in San Diego after 56 seasons, or it will represent ownership committing to the city for the long haul. With so much drama off the field, the team's work on the field will almost be an afterthought.

Here's a look at San Diego's regular-season schedule for next year.

Schedule

Here is the entire 2016 Chargers schedule:

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	TV Info
1	Sept. 11	at Chiefs	1 p.m.	CBS
2	Sept. 18	vs. Jaguars	4:25 p.m.	CBS
3	Sept. 25	at Colts	4:25 p.m.	CBS
4	Oct. 2	vs. Saints	4:25 p.m.	Fox
5	Oct. 9	at Raiders	4:25 p.m.	CBS
6	Oct. 13	vs. Broncos	8:25 p.m.	CBS
7	Oct. 23	at Falcons	4:05 p.m.	Fox
8	Oct. 20	at Broncos	4:05 p.m.	CBS
9	Nov. 6	vs. Titans	4:25 p.m.	CBS
10	Nov. 13	vs. Dolphins	4:05 p.m.	CBS
11	BYE
12	Nov. 27	at Texans	1 p.m.	CBS
13	Dec. 4	vs. Buccaneers	4:25 p.m.	Fox
14	Dec. 11	at Panthers	1 p.m.	Fox
15	Dec. 18	vs. Raiders	4:25 p.m.	CBS
16	Dec. 24	at Browns	1 p.m.	CBS
17	Jan. 1	vs. Chiefs	4:25 p.m.	CBS

Analysis

The luck of the draw wasn't entirely kind to the Chargers this year. Outside of its opponents in the AFC West, the majority of San Diego's toughest games away from home. Hitting the road to take on the Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Texans won't be easy.

While the Panthers likely won't get another historic season from Cam Newton, they should still be one of the NFC's best teams. Atlanta also looks likely to take a step forward in head coach Dan Quinn's second season. Meanwhile, the Colts and Texans were the two best teams in the AFC South in 2015, and little should change in 2016.

When you throw in what will be a difficult AFC West, the Chargers could be in trouble. Even the Oakland Raiders could be a playoff contender in 2016. The team finally has some stability on the field by building around Derek Carr, Amari Cooper and Khalil Mack.

Although San Diego shouldn't repeat last year's 4-12 record, the Chargers' difficult schedule does them few favors.

Pivotal Matchups

Oakland Raiders—Weeks 5 and 15

Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

The Oakland Raiders haven't finished higher than third in the AFC West since their trip to the Super Bowl in 2002. While the franchise has been an example of how not to build a team in the proceeding years, Oakland is finally putting it together.

The Raiders already had a talented young core featuring Khalil Mack, Derek Carr and Amari Cooper. This offseason, general manager Reggie McKenzie supplemented the team's promising talent with ready-made contributors.

Bleacher Report's Alessandro Miglio gave Oakland an "A" grade for its free-agent signings so far:

"

The Raiders have had a ton of cap space for a few offseasons now, but they hadn't made many big moves. That is no longer the case.

Oakland brought in some big-time talent, signing free agency's top offensive lineman away from the Baltimore Ravens. The Raiders bolstered the other side of the trenches, too, giving stud pass-rusher [Mack] a partner in crime in Bruce Irvin on the other side.

Sean Smith should help a cornerback corps that has been an issue over the years, too. Finally, this is obviously the year of the punter extension as the Raiders locked up Marquette King for the next five years.

"

If the Chargers want to climb up in the division standings, they'll likely have to go through the Raiders to do so. San Diego lost both of its matchups with Oakland last year by a combined 11 points.

A 23-point fourth-quarter outburst came too late to save the Chargers in Week 7, when they lost 37-29. The second game, however, hits on a point head coach Mike McCoy made during a live chat with fans at the NFL Scouting Combine, per Ricky Henne of the team's official website:

"

So I ask myself how do I fix some of our problems? We made a number of new changes to the staff, and we are vigorously hard at work to improve. As a team, we have to do a better job of winning the close games. We were 3-9 in games decided by eight points or less. That is a great example of the importance of every single play during the game. We had a lot of opportunities to put the game away earlier that we didn't, or we didn't make a play when the game was on the line. We must do a better job of that.

"

San Diego fell 23-20 in overtime to Oakland in Week 16. The team trailed for the first time with 4:47 left in the game following Michael Crabtree's touchdown reception. The Chargers were unable to get into position for a game-winning score, settled for a field goal and eventually lost in the extra frame.

The Kansas City Chiefs were 5-3 in regular-season games decided by eight or fewer points last year, while the Denver Broncos were 9-3 in the same situation.

The Raiders and Chargers will likely keep things tight in their two meetings in 2016. San Diego will need to turn its fortunes around against Oakland if it hopes to be in the playoff discussion.