The Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Chargers renew their hostilities in Week 5. Both teams are 2-2 and in the thick of the very clustered AFC playoff picture in the young season. It’s a big home game for Kevin Stefanski’s Browns, who are hoping to shake off an ugly loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
In the early years of the series between the two franchises, it was an even matchup. The Browns won five, lost five and tied one with the Chargers in the first 11 meetings, dating from the AFL-NFL merger in 1970 through the 1986 season.
Since the franchise returned to action in 1999, the Browns are 3-9 against the Chargers, who moved from San Diego to Los Angeles following the 2016 season.
Last year’s meeting was one of the more painful ones for Cleveland. The Browns blew a 42-35 lead with just over three minutes to play. Chargers QB Justin Herbert threw for 202 yards and two TDs in the fourth quarter alone, leading a furious comeback that saw the Chargers score four touchdowns to Cleveland’s two in the final period.
Those scoreboard fireworks were a long way from one of Cleveland’s odder victories in the series. Brandon Weeded and Trent Richardson bested Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates, 7-6, back in 2012 in one of the least entertaining games in NFL viewing history. The Browns scored on the opening drive and then picked up more than one first down on a drive just one more time all game. Yet the Chargers were even more sluggish offensively, pulling off just three plays all game that gained more than 10 yards.
Cleveland’s last win in the series was a memorable one. On Christmas Eve in 2016, Hue Jackson’s winless Browns picked up their first win of the season when Northeast Ohio native Jamie Meder blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Chargers.
