Shawne Merriman says Chargers are legitimate contenders after 2-0 start

Former NFL star Shawne Merriman said Tuesday that the Los Angeles Chargers have the ingredients to be serious AFC contenders after a 20-9 road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders that pushed the club to 2-0.

Merriman pointed to coaching continuity under new head coach Jim Harbaugh and retained offensive coordinator Greg Roman as a stabilizing influence for quarterback Justin Herbert, who threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns in Monday night's game at Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 15, 2025. "If anybody didn’t believe they were going to be contenders, not only in the AFC West, but in the AFC in general, you haven’t been paying attention," Merriman said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

Merriman noted that Herbert is benefiting from a stable coaching staff after years of turnover. Herbert's previous seasons with the same offensive coordinator came in 2021 and 2022 when Joe Lombardi was the OC and Brandon Staley the head coach. Under Harbaugh, the Chargers kept Roman on as offensive coordinator from last season into this one, a development Merriman credited with allowing the offense to be more consistent.

"Now, you have a team that’s not relying on Justin Herbert to win anymore," Merriman said. "If he plays well, great. If he doesn’t, they can still win. The fact that you have the quarterback with the biggest arm in the National Football League that can win games for you is a bonus. But this team is physical on both sides of the football. … This is a big, strong, physical team – that’s their DNA."

Los Angeles' balanced performance in Week 2 included an emphasis on run and play-action looks that helped limit the Raiders to one touchdown. Merriman also praised the Chargers' defensive play, pointing to a turnover and timely stops that kept Las Vegas from mounting a sustained comeback.

Merriman contrasted the Chargers' early-season form with a struggling Kansas City Chiefs team that began the season 0-2. He said the Chiefs can no longer be expected to rely on quarterback Patrick Mahomes to compensate for roster limitations indefinitely.

"This is not a knock on the Chiefs at all, but you can only rely on Patrick Mahomes for so long," Merriman said. "Travis Kelce may go down as the greatest or top three greatest tight end of all time, but he’s just like the rest of us. He’s getting older. He can’t do what he used to do five years ago. Xavier Worthy went down with a shoulder. They don’t have a deep threat right now. They can’t run the football effectively. But the Chiefs are still a good team. The Chargers are just better, and that happens in the division when people get better around you and you don’t."

Special teams and complementary defense helped Los Angeles pull away in the second quarter, and coach Harbaugh's game plan has drawn praise for emphasizing physicality and balance after offseason roster work. Merriman said the Chargers' construction — with depth around Herbert and an emphasis on physical play on both sides — gives them a more sustainable blueprint for wins than teams that continue to lean heavily on a single elite passer.

The Chargers are scheduled to open their home slate Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Harbaugh's team will seek to build on back-to-back victories as it enters the early division schedule and prepares for a stretch that will shape playoff positioning in the AFC West and beyond.

Merriman, who played for the Chargers early in his NFL career and remains a frequent commentator on the team, framed his assessment as based on both immediate results and structural changes. "Jim Harbaugh won at every program, organization he's been to the last several years," Merriman said. "This is Justin Herbert’s first year having a stable situation where he’s had the same head coach, same offensive coordinator, you know, same, same, same. He hasn’t had that since he’s been playing with the Chargers."

The Chargers' early success raises expectations in Los Angeles and across the AFC West, where the team seeks to challenge the long-standing dominance of Kansas City. The coming weeks will test whether the Chargers' early balance and coaching continuity translate to sustained contention over the course of the season.