The ‘Fight For L.A.’ between the Chargers and the Rams looking like it might just go national

Published 12:00 am Sunday, March 11, 2018

SAN DIEGO — Probably it will not happen, but, for the love of the Kardashians and Kimmel, the odds are growing that it will.

The Los Angeles teams could meet in the next Super Bowl, meaning the “Fight For L.A.” is about to become the fight for NFL supremacy.

Scoff if you will, but chew on this: On many betting lines, the teams of L.A. are now divisional favorites.

The Chargers had a Kansas City problem, which Kansas City is in the midst of solving. The Chiefs, who have won the past two AFC West crowns and beaten the Chargers eight games in a row, are trading quarterback Alex Smith and their best pass defender, Philip Rivers nemesis Marcus Peters.

While Kansas City will not be a pushover, clearly it has shifted to a longer-term approach.

Likewise in the NFC West, which the Rams won last year, longtime bully Seattle is shedding playmakers to cope with a tighter salary cap that id often the price of success.

No Super Bowl has paired teams from the same city or market. The New York clubs, in 52 chances, have never met there (the Jets have played in only one), nor did the Raiders and 49ers in their 39 years sharing the Bay Area, or the Rams and Raiders in 13 years as L.A. neighbors.

Site of the next Super Bowl is an Atlanta dome where the grass is as fake as a Hollywood set.

Odds on the Rams to win the Super Bowl are 20-1, but forecaster R.J. White says the Chargers, at 25-1, are more enticing.

“The Chargers had the second-best scoring defense in the league behind the Jaguars and were fifth in the AFC in point differential,” White told CBS SportsLine. “They’ll have a lot of winnable home games plus road dates against the Browns, Bills and their division rivals, the best of which is breaking in a new quarterback. This could be the year.”

San Diegans heard as much in other years, only to see the Chargers thing happen.

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