They first said it during training camp, insisting they had the potential to be special and to do something exceptional as a team.
Chargers players repeated that mantra every step of the way, through setbacks and comebacks and everything in between. The team was unified, they said. More resilient than in the past. More determined defensively and deeper offensively.
Their confidence and assurance built as they shrugged off losing two of their first three games and pulled off victories in hostile settings in Cleveland, Seattle, Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
They also won in the hostile setting they call home, where visiting teams’ fans continued to dominate the atmosphere at the StubHub Center in number and in noise.