2. A trio of long trips
The Chargers will once again lead the NFL in total air miles in 2025 with 37,086. The Chargers will fly 2,000-plus more miles than Rams, who are second on the list.
The Week 1 game in Brazil makes up a good chunk of those miles, of course, but keep in mind the Bolts also have to play the Giants, Dolphins and Jaguars on the road.
The trip to New York, which comes in Week 4, is around 5,500 miles round trip. The pair of trips to Florida take place in Week 6 (Miami) and Week 11 (Jacksonville).
The Dolphins trip adds more than 5,000 air miles to the tally while the Jaguars trip is just under that amount.
The good news? The Bolts get all of their lengthy road trips done by Week 11.
It will help that the Chargers have a mini bye in Week 8 before their bye in Week 12.
3. A winning road record?
The Chargers home slate is a gauntlet as six of the eight games at SoFi Stadium feature 2024 playoff teams. The Chiefs also fit that category for the Brazil game.
But if the Bolts want to reach the playoffs in 2025, they will likely need to take care of business on the road.
The Chargers play the Raiders, Jaguars and Titans away from home, all teams that picked in the top six spots of the 2024 NFL Draft. Of the Bolts eight road games, only two (Broncos and Chiefs) are against playoff teams from a year ago.
The Chargers strength of schedule is tied for the 11th-toughest (along with the Chiefs) as the Bolts 2025 opponents combined to go 151-138 (.522 winning percentage) in 2024.
But if we split that between home (including Brazil) and away, the difference is stark.
The Chargers home strength of schedule is at .634 (97-56) while the road data is at .397 (54-118).
Plus, the Bolts could see a pair of rookie quarterbacks in New York's Jaxson Dart and Tennessee's Cam Ward on the road.
The Chargers went 6-3 on the road in 2024. They might need a similar record to go dancing again in 2025.