SAN DIEGO -- The Los Angeles Rams and Chargers were so atrocious last season that both teams fired their head coaches: Jeff Fisher and Mike McCoy, respectively.
There’s nowhere to go but up for these two franchises.
However, one team is closer to reaching the postseason than the other, and that could play a significant role in which organization takes the early lead in winning the hearts of NFL fans in the battle for L.A.
And that team is the Chargers, for a couple of reasons.
You could just start with the simple fact that the Rams have not been to the postseason in 12 seasons (2004), while the Chargers made the playoffs as recently as 2013.
And then you look at the most important position on the field: quarterback. The Chargers have an aging-but-still-talented signal-caller, Philip Rivers, who has made 176 straight regular-season starts and five Pro Bowls.
The Rams are expected to roll out Jared Goff, last year’s No. 1 overall selection who was a healthy scratch to start the regular season and finished with an 0-7 record as a starter in his first year as a pro.
No doubt, Goff is talented, but it will be up to new Rams head coach Sean McVay, the young offensive mastermind, to get the most out of the Cal product, and that will take time.
The Rams have a fast and physical defense, and one of the game's best running backs in Todd Gurley, but they will go through a transition as Goff learns the pro game, and that likely means more losses in their future.
The Chargers averaged 26 points per contest in 2016 and should light up the scoreboard again in 2017. L.A. fans can at least show up to the stadium knowing the offense of the team they're rooting for will make it into the red zone and put points on the board.
Along with Rivers, the Chargers have a top-flight running back in Melvin Gordon, a No. 1 receiver in Keenan Allen and a talented tight end duo in Antonio Gates and Hunter Henry.
Defensively, the Chargers have two talented Pro Bowl cornerbacks in Jason Verrett and Casey Hayward, and a young, improving defense led by edge-rusher Joey Bosa, nose tackle Brandon Mebane and inside linebacker Jatavis Brown.
The Chargers held a lead in 15 of the team’s 16 games this past season, including six games in which they led in the fourth quarter but lost.
Dating back to the start of the 2015 season, the Chargers have a 7-17 record in games decided by eight points or fewer.
New Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn’s tasks will be to create a long-term and daily practice regimen that lessens the injury risk for his players, to do a better job than McCoy of managing in-game situations, and to bring some swagger and belief to a team that struggled to close out games the past two years.
If Lynn can achieve that, the Chargers will compete for a postseason berth and take a step toward carving out a niche in the ultracompetitive pro sports market of Los Angeles.