SAN DIEGO

A question of unrivaled consequence has descended on this picturesque seaside city: Should the good citizens root for or against the Chargers, the football team that abandoned them a season ago but didn’t go really all that far.

In years past, the team’s surprising success would be cause for widespread celebration. Fans would proudly wear team jerseys and caps, bars would overflow with viewing parties, and the team would dominate water-cooler talk. The Chargers went 12-4 in the regular season, beat the Baltimore Ravens on the road in an A.F.C. wild-card game, and now have a chance to topple the New England Patriots in Foxborough, Mass., on Sunday in the divisional round.

But ambivalence has dominated San Diego’s cool ocean breeze of late. After a long, messy fight over funding for a new stadium in San Diego that was never built, the Chargers left for Los Angeles in 2017, forcing legions of jilted fans to decide whether to follow the team north, or wash their hands of the beloved Bolts.

Last year, the team began with four losses and missed the playoffs by a game, which made it easier for bereft fans to move on. Talk radio hosts trashed the team, an angry fan flew scathing banners over the team’s new home in Carson, about a 45-minute drive south of Los Angeles (without traffic), and one restaurant owner gave out free tacos after every Chargers loss.