In this episode Dan and Jake breakdown the Chargers Week 1 victory against the Kansas City Chiefs discussing one of the biggest games for Justin Herbert, what the win means for the team moving forward and answering voicemails from the Chargers Unleashed Hotline. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Teair Tart, Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, Derwin James, Andy Reid, Quentin Johnston, Derwin James and more – tune in!
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Chargers Unleashed Hosts: Jake Hefner (@JakeTHefner) and Dan Wolkenstein
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Chargers players discussed include Justin aHerbert, Derwin James, Joey
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rest of the Chargers coaching staff. The LA Chargers 2024 draft class: 1
OT Joe Alt 2 WR Ladd McConkey 3 LB Junior Colson 4 DL Justin Eboigbe
5 CB Tarheeb Still 5 CB Cam Hart 6 RB Kimani Vidal 7 WR Brenden Rice
7 WR Cornelius Johnson
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What’s up? It’s Trey Harris here. Wires here for Los Angeles Chargers and you’re tuning in to Chargers Unleashed. [Music] Welcome to another edition of Chargers Unleashed. Jay Kapner and Dan Walenstein here with you from the LA Football Network. This is your first time tuning in to the show, make sure to hit that like, subscribe button on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Podcast. Dan Walenstein, can you hear me now? There is no audio problems this time. Why? because Jake Hefner is back from vacation. I apologize for this episode specifically coming out when it is as I know that with all the hype that was going on over the weekend with the Chargers victory in Sao Paulo over those Kansas City Chiefs as Dan Walenstein had put out in the short in a very silent voice. Imagine the euphoria. The euphoria that was going on over the weekend for the Chargers was palpable. It was loud. You could hear it. Justin Herbert took over the game as the Chargers slayed the giant that they have failed to slay in the last four seasons. Dan Walenstein, I apologize once again. I was on vacation, but funny stat, I’ve gone to Hawaii twice uh in just less than a year and my record in Hawaii when the Chargers are playing is undefeated. So, are you moving there? You know, that for the for the betterment of the entire fan base. was a funny it was a funny conversation that just so happened to come up with the guys from uh Chargers chat who had originally sent me a text saying you know hey we’re technically we’re 1 and0 in this scenario and I said and I happened to mention I’m like hey we’re two and0 actually when I’m in games in Hawaii and they said so are you moving there like get the hell out of get the hell out of California so that’s an expensive move I’m sorry I just can’t afford it so anybody who wants me to leave and get the hell out of you know California to to save the Chargers record In this case, I I I just can’t do it. I’m sorry. Goofund me for Jake Hefner to get the hell out of California to save this Chargers team and the fan base getting them a Super Bowl victory. It will happen. But Jake, I’m doing damn well. I am doing damn well. I feel a little under the weather, but this Chargers game got me hyped. Let me tell you, we got a ton to go through. Voicemails off the hook. Literally 10 voicemails Chargers on each hotline that we will be getting to here today. 10 of them. So familiar voices, but Jake that just happened like I I pinched myself the next morning. I checked the stats again to make sure that it was real life. It was not a dream. Justin Herbert put on that Superman cape. went from Clark Kent to Superman just as much as Patrick Mahomes did did slash does and more and put this team on his back single-handedly at times willing his team to a victory. Now, there were a lot of players who played well, none more so than number 10. None more so deserving than number 10 for all the flak he had gotten for the last few years, last few months, especially after that playoff loss. You can tell when you saw some of the reactions from some of the players after the game, they wanted this game for him. And so there’s a lot of excitement there. But off the top, Jake, I think the the best part of us, Jake, is uh the Chargers team kind of felt like a sleeper. A lot of folks were thinking, well, same old Chiefs, same old Chargers, one and0 for the Chargers, one and0 for the Chiefs, excuse me, 0 and1 for the Chargers. But before we talk about the sleeping giant that was the Chargers, Jake, let’s talk about our friends over at Sleeper. Yes. Want to remind everybody that the NFL season is here. We’re now heading into week two, which means that you now have a chance to win up to a thousand times your cash on daily fantasy football with Sleeper. Football has never been more exciting than it is right now with players like CJ Strad, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. Good God almighty, what a game last night. Pick on the stats for these stars like touchdowns, passing yards, receiving yards, fantasy points, and more for up to a thousand times payout on Sleeper. Get your picks in right now and you could win big. Just make sure to use the promo code Chargers LFB and you’ll get up to a $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply. See Sleepers terms of use for details. Currently operational in over 25 states. Check out Sleeper today. A cool 131 67 passer rating for Justin Terbert. Three touchdowns, no interceptions. 25 of 34 for 318. It’s not that impressive. No interceptions. A cool 30 something yards rushing. Who cares? The best rush of the day didn’t even count. Absolutely trucked a few folks. And Justin Herbert was absolutely slinging it. The best throw he had of the day didn’t count. a dot to Keon Allen. Somehow he dropped it, which he never does. Justin Herbert was in his bag and then some. And there were so many other fireworks in this game that were so fun. 323927586 is the number to the hotline. The Chargers unleash hotline. Jake, we got 10 of them. So, let’s do like 334. Perfect. We know our reactions. You and I are trying to temper them because I don’t want to blow a gasket on this freaking microphone. So, I’m going to do first voicemail here. We’ll do three back to back to back, then we’ll get into kind of the the hottest topics of this game and then continue on. So, first voicemail of today. We’re trying to do as much as we can for you Chargers fans because damn it, we all you all deserve this. First voicemail. Hey guys, uh just wanted to uh drop a quick note. Um love the pod. Um, Jake, I don’t know if you remember this, but you uh you really liked my last phone call. I was I gave receipts and details as to why I thought the Chiefs were going to struggle this year, and basically every single one of those things came true last night, and the better team won. It wasn’t a fluke, the better team won. Um, look forward to hearing you guys uh with a reaction pod. Uh, hope you guys having a great Saturday morning. Bye-bye. Dan, I I have to apologize again to you because when you put up your short, you had to to whisper because your kids were asleep and you probably had like so much pent up emotion because I remember the last time that I was in Hawaii, you went ahead and just went live with a reaction video. It was huge after that Cincinnati game and it was like, I got all these feelings. I need someone to talk to about it. I don’t have anybody right now. So again, I do apologize. I wish I could have gone live with you at that very second and of course, you know, get a chance to talk to all the Chargers faithful for voicemails and reactions just like this. It’s nice when you know, you can predict things to happen. And kudos to that to that caller for doing certain things. Look, Dan, despite the fact that the the Chiefs were coming into this game without Rasheed Rice, despite the fact that they lost Xavier Worthy in the first three plays of the game, the Chargers didn’t shut out Patrick Mahomes. There was still Mahomes magic all over the damn place. Whether it was from miracle tossups over a wall of Chargers players that somehow Ju Guu Smith’s Shuster comes down with or it’s the big plays that you and I were talking about during the preview episode that you couldn’t allow to happen. One to Hollywood Brown, one to uh Taekwon Thornton, one to Travis Kelce. Patrick Mahomes, you have to give respect to him. Totally. You have to. And this is why these guys are never ever out of it. They played an incredible game even despite all the elements against them. And on that third and 14 play before Justin Herbert iced the game, you just started feeling it because the Chiefs had just gone down, kicked a field goal. They’re down by six at that point in time. And you’re thinking to yourself, “Holy [ __ ] it’s third and 14 for the offense. The the Chiefs defense by Spags is going to come up with a stop. You’re going to have to give the ball back to Patrick Mahomes.” We’ve seen that movie time and time again and we know how it ends. But Dan, despite all those things that happened for the Chiefs, Justin Herbert said, “Not today. Not today.” And it was just in it was in beautiful fashion the way that it happened for Justin Herbert who had a tremendous night to take that last play and run with it and to honestly up Philip Rivers for the slickest first down by a Chargers quarterback that you have ever seen. That just put the cap on what was such a great night for him. He was locked in. He was precise. He was decisive. He chose to run the football, which is something that I was I was asking for it to be another facet of the offense. I thought his decisions of when he ran were tremendous. It was a huge difference in the game. Justin Herbert was in his bag on this one. And if this is the Justin Herbert that we are going to be seeing throughout this season, it’s going to be dangerous. It’s going to be dangerous. And and you touched on something that I think Chargers fans might have lost sight of because, you know, the way that that first half ended, which is a little bit of debacle we’ll get to, and then that second half starts, right? Three plays, one yard, punt immediately. You’re like, “Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. We’ve seen the story. But then after that, to end the game, right? We talk about same old Chargers, charger ring, whatever. To end the game after that first series, the Chiefs go down 11 plays, 80 yards, touchdown. Chargers respond. 12 plays, 74 yards, over 7 minutes of clock. Touchdown. Go up 12 to 20. 12 to 20. Chiefs do Chiefs things. Come back again. Seven plays, 65 yards, touchdown. 18 to 20. Chargers offense again. Comes back. 11 plays, 74 yards, 7 minutes of clock. Go up 2718. She’s come back again. Field goal. Chargers ice it. Seven plays, 29 yards. So, this wasn’t like they needed things to happen. They went and took it. And this Chargers offense was carried by Justin Herbert. And there were so many aspects of this offensive line. We’ll talk about defensive line, the receivers, the tight ends, the running game at times, the coaching was unreal for this game. All of that stuff is moot if you don’t have a slinger like this in that game. And you watch other NFL games across the NFL. There aren’t many dudes like this. There’s maybe three, four, maybe. You could talk about those two that we watched last night at prime time in Baltimore and Buffalo. crazy Momes obviously you could put Joe Burrow in there in my opinion other than that he’s the prototype he’s a prototype and the dimes he was throwing were unreal calm cool collected cool the other side of the pillow next voicemail Jake good morning Jake uh just wanted to keep this Hello after dark. This real short at least I’ll try to uh any Reservoir Dog fans in the house? He sounds like the radio host of K Billy Super Sounds of the 70s. Love this voice. JT um really I was getting tired of the whole discourse I was taking place on Twitter about how Jim Harbaugh and Joe Ortiz how they’re frauds and how how they’re cons and all this random ass [ __ ] And I’m like, this fan base complained and begged and whined for two people like this ever since Marty Shot and Hammer was fired. And now that they finally or this fan base, the team, the organization finally has those two people in charge, not even two years into their their contracts, we already won for their heads. So, I always thought that whole [ __ ] was [ __ ] Excuse my French. We um you said a we pardon my French. We we No, we do not speak French. But no, trust this. Trust the coach. Trust the GM. Wenstein ain’t under the weather anymore. They’re the ones who get paid millions and millions of dollars to do this. That’s why people on Twitter are sitting on their couch raging Twitter fingers. So anyway, great game. Um, good to finally get that monkey off their back, right? Uh, it’s a it’s a big accomplishment. Couldn’t have asked for a better game. I mean, they never trailed at all, which is kind of [ __ ] insane cuz wire to wire, by the way. Wire to wire. You don’t see that considering it’s the Kansas City Chiefs. Um, you always expect that team to always have a lead sometime, you know, during the game. Um, and yeah, I mean, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful job on the O line. Run blocking, you know, need some work, but it’s getting there. Um, it’ll get there. Greg Roman with a [ __ ] masterclass of a of a game plan. Keep that [ __ ] going, man. You’re going places. [Laughter] So much there. We’ll get to most of that throughout. Shift the order around, Dan, because a lot of that was focused on Greg Roman. Okay, pull up the Greg Roman slid. Let’s focus on Greg Roman for a second. Uh, hey, maybe it was me being in Hawaii. I didn’t Are we talking about Discourse before week one? We shouldn’t be talking about it after week one because he hit the nail on the head. What did Greg Roman do with the Greg Roman of last year? Holy [ __ ] [ __ ] Greg Roman gave himself some weapons is what he has. I mean, yes, play calling is different, but the whole different narrative when he got dudes who are healthy and man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Dan, even even just taking even if you took Greg Roman from late last year, you know, once that all those elements are like finally in a rhythm at certain points of the regular season. This is a Greg Roman who, yes, obviously you have your weapons and yes, you have players like Quinton Johnson contributing on top of Keenan Allen and Lad Mcconi, but I love the way that he was getting Tyler Conklin involved in this, having him in on a direct snap play in order to get a a first down conversion. The tight end sneak obviously with Justin getting involved more in the run game is huge. That’s going to change a lot of different things. But the Will Dley special, by the way, always count on one. I I remember texting Dan and this was on that drive after the Chiefs had scored their final field goal before the Chargers iced it. And Dan text me, he’s like, “Okay, we just need one first down.” I’m like, “No, actually we need two because this is they still have the two-minute warning and all three of their timeouts.” And then you got the one first down very quickly because the first play of that drive, as Dan said, was the Will Dley special pick up an immediate 10 yards. That was critical because he hadn’t really been involved at all throughout the game. and nobody is paying attention to him. He was wide open for that throw from Justin Herbert. But to the bigger point of things, there’s one of the best things that the Chiefs do is that they are so well coached and that they are so good at making adjustments from half to half. You take that 11 seconds at the end of f the first half that they run that play and they’re able to get their field goal unit on there. That’s a 59yard field goal. 59 yards so easy. They were ready for it with no timeouts. So, at that m moment, you thought, okay, that’s a little bit of momentum. They’re probably going to make some adjustments in the second half. Again, same old story. What are the Chargers going to do? Because we’ve seen this story before. We’ve seen the Chargers with a two-score lead over the Chiefs in previous years, and we’ve seen them lose that lead and lose the games because the Chiefs will just gradually end up making a play here and there, and that’ll all end end up adding up at the end of the day and they’ll end up securing a win. Well, Jake, the Chargers were literally on the other side of that last year. They had that free kick, Cameron Taker, 57 yard against the Broncos. Yep. You thought you felt that tide turn at that moment. They get that free kick. They get the ball back. Second half like it changed the entire complexion of that game and everyone thought we all did. Here we go. And then three and out. It’s a wrap. It it looked it looked like the same damn blueprint that we have seen whenever the Chargers have played the Chiefs over the span of the last four years. And to Greg Roman’s credit, even though at times the offense wasn’t flawless, he didn’t flinch. He didn’t flinch. And yes, this is where Justin Herbert comes into play because again, his decisiveness and the way that he was locked in, his accuracy, where he was able to put the ball. I mean, Jesus, even some of the balls he was throwing across his body to make some of these passes that were just ridiculous. But I thought Greg Roman called a fantastic fantastic game spreading the ball around. Still not necessarily deviating away from the run. We’ll talk about that in a little bit. But just in general, this team on both sides of the ball was prepared to play. They came ready, man. And they were not going to let this one go. The only stain really was that end of sequence, end of half to end the first half. And really, it was it was really one play. You want to call it two because they had that delayed game. Should have been a timeout. Omar and Hampton didn’t stay in bounds. Like that was the blunder, right? Other than that, like they play that game about as effective as you can. You’re talking offensively? Yeah. Yeah. Like this offense looked pretty darn good. And again, you’re going up against a Spagnolo defense that has given you fits for years. And we all thought, we all saw what happened last year, right? Interior pressure. All you got to do, they’re going to dial up some crazy blitzes. Oh, here they come. Here comes Drew Tranquil. Great. Here, which they did. which they did, but you started to see what happens. And Jake, you and I talked about this, and it’s fitting now we have this the slide up with Johnston, Allen, and Lad. For a Chargers team to succeed, they need to have weapons that can separate and or a run game and or protection. If you don’t have any of those, you are hosed. And that was last year. They had nobody tal last year. They didn’t have protection. You saw what happened with the interior all all off season or all season. Fast forward, Kenan looks like 28-year-old Keenan. Always open. Lad picking up right where he left off. Always open. So those two by themselves chilling whenever they wanted. Thanksgiving dinner. And then Quinton with a casual two touchdown. Should have been three. Should have been three, but it was two touchdown. He came back after the drop to continue his productive game. He didn’t let that unravel him, which I thought was huge. By the way, Quinton Johnson ends up with a cool five receptions, 79 yards, two touchdowns. Two touchdowns already. By the way, you saw Trey Harris get in there. Talked about Tyler Conlin. They have weapons now for him that can separate and can win. Players make plays. And so this could have been the exact same script as last year, but they got some players now, too. They got a healthy Justin Herbert now. But damn was it good to see Keenan Allen, Lad McConi, and Quinton Johnson go out. And you and the way they kicked that off with Quinton, that drag route, broke a tackle, turns it up field. That was the ball that Justin throws across his body, by the way, to get that touchdown. That’s That’s what you like to see. You the there were a couple plays like, “Oh, that was 2024.” But for the most part, they were putting Quinton in position to succeed, the thing that he does best. Yes. This is where Quinton Johnston does his best work. CTCU and Michigan back when Jim Harbaugh was coaching still. It was the exact same damn play. Quinn Johnson torched Michigan to upset them in that game. Those rub routes, the drag routes, the underneath. Jim Harbaugh knows. Yes, Jim Harbaugh knows exactly what is best for Quinn Johnston. and three big crossing routes in this game against the Chiefs. Quinton Johnston killed it. And he’s going up against McDuffy in a lot of those. You go back and watch a second time. Like this wasn’t like he was going up against some scrubs. It was a great start. Great start for Quinn Johnston. Yep. Deserves his flowers. And how does it not just get emotional for you to see Keenan Allen Slayer who just comes up and leads the team in receptions with seven for a casual what was it 68 yards and a touchdown. But the best thing about this is Dan is the guy who’s in the left of this picture. That formation before Keenan Allen catches that touchdown. It’s Lad and Keenan right next to each other lining up before the snap. We got the tease of it in the third preseason game when Keenan Allen finally signed back with the Chargers. I can’t wait to see what this now trio, but these two specifically in Keenan Allen and Lad Mcconi and how they’re going to rotate, who’s going to take what route because as we said with the entirety of this wide receiver group, there’s so many guys that are interchangeable as far as what they can do at different positions with different players. You have this type of versatility now. and Justin Herbert. Yes, to your point, for the like the thousandth time, Dan, as weapons, this wide receiver group showed out, showed up, and gave Justin Herbert the ability to do what he did in that game. He does. And a healthy Justin Herbert has weapons, which I think is the most important part of this. Next voice from LJ. See what that’s say. Ole. Can it be from Boston? Oh god. Yes. I didn’t actually get that when he was singing. Holy [ __ ] Last night. But first things first. Here we go. You just can’t stay out of the line of fire, can you? Did I see you wearing a manscape t-shirt? Yeah. I had bad dreams of you on a beach in your thong speedo with your Brazilian wax walking around going, “Hello, ladies. Are you from Tennessee? Cuz you’re the only 10 I see.” I’m going to let that simmer. Oh my god. [Laughter] I wonder where Bob from Boston. I just just s just thinking of these things like again I’m trying to think like what did I say? What did I do now? Yes, I wore a manscape shirt. Yes, they used to be a sponsor of us way back in the day. My back hurts. Yes, it’s a good product. I’m dying. Damn. I get enough flack already from Dan talking about my short sleeve hoodies. Now I have to have Bob from Boston talking about me wearing a Manscape shirt. I’m all sweaty. God, I had my heart attack three months after the surgery. I looked down and I noticed they had only mowed half the lawn. Forget that it took me three months. Thank you for putting Bob from Boston’s voicemail in the initial block because actually maybe not. Maybe not. We may not finish the show now that you put his voicemail in the initial block. I got out my razor. I clean things up. Judy’s Manscape. Good lord, man. If I send you a better bowel movements.com t-shirt and offer you $5, you’re going to wear it, Dad. Damn. Man, you can’t even eat anymore. Now the charges. They sign Slater. Yeah, he’s out for the That’s all he says to you. He just says you can’t speak anymore, but Jake wearing Manscape shirts. How dare you? I’m having bad dreams. Let he lets you off the hook, man. You’re the elite 10. I see. I’m start calling you Nashville from now on. This is amazing. Quenton Johnson down. Injuries all over the place. Then boom, they get it together for the Chiefs win the opener. Quenton, two TDs. You know, I like a mentally tough team. When not so smart Tart [ __ ] slapped Mr. Taylor Swift, who egged them. We’ll get to that. We’ll definitely get to that. He scored. I thought, there it goes. Not tough enough, but they pulled it all together. Great quarter plaque play, great line play. They found their discipline. Lots to like this year, man. And Keenan Allen sure did not look too old out there. Now, I’m going to sit back, have a Brazilian cocktail, play some samba music, and celebrate the changing of the god in the ASC West. Jake, better movements.com. Who needs to wear a shirt when you have Bob from Boston doing plugs on the show? Jeez, what are you talking Brazilian? I thought he was going wax. That’s what I thought. Thank god he said cocktail. I was like, “Oh, no. Don’t do it.” And yes, man. Who wants to look hideous? You know, it’s like we do have a responsibility to, you know, keep some things in check. I know it’s gross and it’s tough sometimes for what we have to deal with, but damn, you need to do something. Not the best one yet. Um, that’s close. That that definitely contends with that definitely contends with number one. Uh, again, I real I never know. I could be getting I I get [ __ ] from Bob from Boston for the color of the paint in my office. Now I’m getting [ __ ] from Bob from Boston for the shirts that I’m wearing. Next week it’s gonna be Bob from Boston talking about the color of my teeth. I don’t know what the f It’s I’m like it’s the that’s the best part about Bob from Boston is that I can’t I am never prepared for all the way down left field. All the way out of left field. Uh the takeaways aside from the manscaped and Brazilian wax that he was talking about. Gotta go to Tennessee. It’s hot. It’s hot and humid there. I just came from a hot place, Hawaii. I don’t I don’t need I don’t need any of that. Um Damn. Yeah, we’re just going to let this one die. All right. Very good. Very good voicemail from Bob from Boston. Thank you so much once again. He is he is the mascot of Chargers Unleashed 100%. We are unhinged. 29 minutes. Um Jake, I think we got to talk about it. the the swift slap in the face or you mean sorry the tart slap in the face that got swift he’s pissed for years to come. A quarter of the population who was up in arms about it and then the other 75% of the population saying that’s football and honestly Kelsey probably got what he deserved. Um literally asked for it. It’s not like he hasn’t done that before to other players. Yeah, this anyways. Yes, that if there was one if there was in the moment I was split because one I’m like oh so stupid. Oh, it was a stupid play. The other part but the other part of me was like finally finally someone just says to hell with it. Got lucky because it’s open-handed. I’ll take it. Mhm. But damn, did he redeem himself throughout that game from the first defensive snap through the end of the game. Yeah. Pressures, batted balls, impact performance by interior defensive line that we just don’t we’re not used to seeing. And everyone was questioning like, “Oh [ __ ] we’re hoes. No puna Ford. Can Tiar Tart be that guy?” That was about as imposing and menacing of a defensive line performance without even getting to the quarterback. He was an absolute menace that game and single-handedly kept his Chargers team’s hopes alive. Batted balls when it matter most. Two-point conversion probably gets in there if it’s not batted down. And honestly, defensive line batted ball is like cheat codes. It completely derails drives. Other than Justin Herbert, was he the MVP of that game? Like, it’s hard to say otherwise. It is. Um, you know, after Tart delivered the slap herd around the world and said, “Okay, I can’t use my hand like that. I get it. I get penalized. I can’t do that anymore. I’ll use my hands in different ways.” To your point, Dan, when was the last time that you talk about a defensive lineman for the Chargers batting down balls? How many times has Chris Jones done that to the Chargers? How many times has it happened to the Chargers? Remember, there was I can’t remember if it was last year or the year before where the Chargers literally led the team and batted balls against by opposing defenses. Yeah, it was insane. and tiarat to come up numerous times throughout this game with plays like that. It was a huge difference defensively. It just absolutely can demoralize an opposing offense where you have the play and someone gets their hands up and totally blows it up. Tiar Tar came up big. Tiar Tar came up big and I and I know that he’s he’s relishing in the moment. You could see it with the Instagram post and everything like that. Hey, it’s football. It’s a game. He smacked the guy who had his helmet on. I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen other players rip the helmet off of an opposing quarterback and try to beat them over the head with it with it. Give Give me a break. He got penalized. He’ll probably end up getting fined. But hindsight, get over it. Hindsight, Chargers fans would gladly all start a GoFundMe to pay for that one. I almost guarantee it. I guarantee it. Yes. Again, I’m not saying it was the right thing to do because it wasn’t in that moment. He got baited by Travis Kelce and he took the bait and he paid for it because the Chiefs ultimately ended up getting a touchdown on that drive. So, it’s not things that Tiretard should be doing period. Not condoning anything like that. At the same time, hey, to the victor go the spoiled, but after the game, after the game, you know, you know, in that locker room, there was so much either said or unspoken about what that meant to that team and like that and that’s a statement literally and figuratively. It is Dan it’s the it’s the response from everything else. It’s not like the only thing that Ty Tart was known for was that slap to Travis Kelce. It was it was a bonehead play but then how does he respond? He responds by using his hands in big big ways to totally take out Kansas City’s offensive drives. Yeah. performance by Ter like the defensive line in general I thought was good. You didn’t see much pressure on Mahomes and again that’s because I think that’s kind of a a blueprint for Mahomes. You don’t want to try to get too much pressure with him other than with four or else he’s going to make your he’s you’re going to die by it. I did not like seeing the loss of containment but again like it’s easier said than done I think. But there were some stuff where I’m like come on like make him stay in the pocket for 45 seconds. Don’t let him do that. talking to you, Bud Dri, at the beginning of that game. O, that hurt. And again, like some of that stuff is just Mahomes being Superman. Like, you just know it’s coming. There’s nothing you can do. Yeah. And by no means was the defense flawless in any of these circumstances. Again, talk about Mahomes gave up technically, you could say four big play. No, excuse me, that’s sorry, three. You have the one at the end of the half to Taekquin Thornton that gets him into field goal range. Then you have in the second half just completely losing Hollywood Brown which again you just can’t stop Mahomes when he’s playing like this. That was a fourth down play. Khalil Mack is literally right in his face. Gives him a shove right after the throw. But it’s a [ __ ] dart to Hollywood Brown. And then somehow how do you lose Travis Kelce who at that point in time with no Rashid Rice with no Xavier Worthy that he is your still your number one guy and in that moment you just leave him wide open on the sideline to go for a 36-yard touchdown. No, there there were breakdowns in the secondary throughout this game and Mahomes just did Mome things. So yeah, you still have to clean up some some things, but um I thought for the most part in terms of the Chargers, especially during the beginning of the game, containing, not allowing the big plays, playing disciplined. I I I thought they did a tremendous job. Jesse Mter deserves a lot of flowers for that type of performance because he mixed a lot of things up. You took away the run game, Dan. You did not allow the Chiefs team to be balanced. Yes. And once you’re able to get that little bit of a cushion, you know, the Chiefs, they couldn’t rely on anything like that. They couldn’t they they couldn’t get into rhythm at at times other than Mahomes digging them out of the hole, which he did, but a credit to the to the Chargers defense. They did what they needed to do. Held them to five for 14 on third down. Granted, they went three for three on fourth down, but five for 14 is how you’re able to play that game. If they don’t get off to that start where they get what I think was like first two were punts, field goal was the next one. If you don’t give your ch your team a chance to go up against this team, like you’re you’re doomed. Mhm. Also, Tulie led the team and pressures had two quarterback hits. Derwin James should have had a sack. Basically had Mahomes. Yep. until he does a miracle ball flip that goes over the conveniently goes over the head of three Chargers and drops into the hands of Juju Smith Schustster. I thought that Jesse Mentor schemed it well. He brought pressure from different places. We said this a lot last year, but relish the time that Jesse Mentor is the Chargers defensive coordinator. Yep. Shout out to Deshawn Han. Don Henley had himself a game as well. I think he had he definitely had the sack on Mahomes which I know is so bittersweet for him. Like that was so refreshing considering what happened last year when we had that opportunity. Dan Henley was everywhere and he’s like that sideline to sideline superstar that defense that you need when you go up against a player like that. Uh Derwin James was doing Dur James things. I mean he was I think he’s the highest rated defensive grade on the entire team. Kayla Murphy out there doing things. Dante Jackson, Tarheep. Still Dante Jackson did get lucky on that one drop cuz that was easily going to be a touchdown, but we’ll take it. For the most part, like they played pretty darn disciplined. I do wonder, do they need reinforcements at the edge position? Could they get more pressure from the edge? We’ll see. But I’m not sure if that was the game to gauge that. I don’t think it’s I don’t think it’s a fair game to gauge that. Now, we talked about the Chiefs offensive line and maybe that was a weakness that you could exploit. And in some respects, even though that the Chargers only ended up getting two sacks, um, you know, really both in coverage by especially the great one by Deon Henley and not falling for the fake out from Patrick Mahomes, you still got the rookie Josh Simmons to what was it? I can’t remember if it was two penalties that he ended up getting for false starts. few false starts, four pressures. I think he didn’t give up a sack. I mean, credit to him for what he had to deal with on He had at least one holding call, too, didn’t he? Yep. Um, and they were they were definitely focused on that side because they they keyed in on that’s why you saw a lot of Bud Dupri out there because they had Khalil Mack on the inside. So, they were trying to overload the left side of that line with Joshua Simmons and Kingsley Sua Matia who ended up having a rough game himself. Dan, believe it or not, we got penalties that were called on Jawan Taylor in Brazil. Holy [ __ ] there’s competent refereeing out there, isn’t there? Jawan Taylor getting called for false starts that we haven’t seen in like the past 10 years. Holy [ __ ] Amazing. Amazing. Um, no, just in in general, I thought that Chargers defensive line and the defense in general did what they needed to do and they played a solid, disciplined, at times, save for a few things, mistakefree football for the most part. Yeah. Yeah. Um, more voicemails, Jake. 323927586 is the number to the hotline again. 323927586. Come join in on the fun. Next voicemail. Uh what’s going on guys? It’s DP Kicks Rock here. Um I just want to say I cannot wait to wake up in the morning and watch turn on ESPN and how they’re just going to glaze Patrick Mahomes and totally overshadow what Justin Herbert did today. I will say um didn’t do that this time. like and and thank god the Chargers won that game because there were some of those moments in that game where you’re going to see on Sports Center for years if Mahomes wins. Totally. Some of the plays he was making were just ridiculous. And like yes, they were ridiculous. Like that was vintage Patrick Mahomes doing Patrick Mahomes things. Like literally instead of one play like every game, this was like five plays in one game. It was like, but of course, but again, Justin overcame that. This Chargers team overcame that. And so, surprisingly, I understand why this is expected to just be like the, oh, you know, the this is how epically great Patrick Mahomes is, but the Charger squeaked by. Like, that’s not what you heard. I thought Justin got his fair share and the right amount of flowers for this 100%. I mean, I’m telling you that this guy is the real deal, man. And I’m all summer I sat here and I’ve listened to everybody critique him, especially this was definitely right after the game was over for sure. I love this. Bum Ryan Clark. Oh boy, he’s having a rough few days. He had a rough week last week, didn’t he? [ __ ] is that guy? Boom. I mean, how this game was tailored to the Chiefs is a whole different conversation, but Justin Herbert doing it himself to end the game. I mean, this is beautiful, folks. I mean, I do. These guys, they look good, man. Amaran made some mistakes. He’s a He’s a kid, man. What can you expect from him? Yeah, those things are going to happen. But Justin [ __ ] Herbert, remember that [ __ ] name. Dude, one of the one of the best things about the third and 14 play is, and I’m sure we I’m sure we all get it, is that, you know, when you’re watching it on any type of network, there’s a little bit of a tape delay. So sometimes, especially if you’re you’re looking at your phone for any updates, you you sometimes get those little Twitter drop downs from me, you know, whether it’s Chris Rim or Daniel Pa or Eric Smith that are covering the game live. Dan, the tweet that I saw right before the third and fifth play, Eric Smith’s tweet drops down and it just says Justin MFN Herbert and I’m like, what? What the [ __ ] just happened? And I’m waiting to see what happens. And then the run takes play as it was just insane. again just everything that had built up to that final moment to ice the game because you take away the run out and and Justin Herbert was still phenomenal was still phenomenal but it’s the fact that when you talk about guys that are in that category like the Patrick Mahomes or the Josh Allens or the Lamar Jacksons or the Josh or the Joe Burroughs that you see those moments where they will their team or they put it on their own back to take out the opponent. Like we’ve seen Justin Herbert lead comeback drives before, but nothing was this dramatic with it because again it’s the Chiefs and you just you they will find ways to they will find ways to adapt and they will find ways to force that the offense that they are playing against into making mistakes. They will get the ball back. They will give it to 15 and somehow or another 15 is going to come up with a play that is going to make them win. Justin Herbert said, “Fuck that. Not today.” And the fact that it was just done on a again a third and 14 play where you just think, “Okay, well, here comes the pass. You’re going to probably drop seven into coverage here.” Chris Jones with its boneheaded play, but I’ll take it. It’s just You’re used to the Chargers doing that. Yes. And and how many times do you see it where it’s like Patrick Mahomes ends up getting the impossible scamper for 20ome yards. Lamar Jackson had an insane one last night that he got against the Buffalo Bills that he ended up converting a first down for. You don’t see those type of dramatic moments from the quarterback where they say, “I’m going to do this myself.” And instead of throwing it and waiting for that dramatic pause while the ball is floating through the air hoping that someone’s going to be on the receiving end and it’s going to be past the sticks. No, Justin Herbert rolls out and says, “I got the wheels. I got the wheel. I can beat this.” And again, image on the screen. Just you can’t you can’t get any more dramatic than this. No. Turn that. Now the it is now the best first down signal in the history of Chargers quarterbacks. Like that’s got to that’s got to be a logo. Put on a shirt. Put on a shirt. Put that outline on a shirt. Jake, we need to talk to our LFP folks. You Hey, you said hanging in the Lou. So I’m telling you, you know what? I You know what? I probably had the first glimmer of maybe they can actually do this after that first series in the second half went bad because I think all of us knew what was coming eventually. Chiefs are going to bring the house. The Chiefs are going to dial it up. Chiefs are going to bring the internal pressure and this Chargers offensive line’s going to implode and Justin Herbert is going to get flat on his back. Game over. When I saw this particular play happen and the way that it was designed and prepared for is when I felt good. It was that last touchdown to Quinton and I think it was like it was only like a 15 yard throw. But as soon as that ball was hiked, Justin is almost sprinting backwards like he knew I’m giving myself time. I’m not doing this three-step stay in the pocket thing. I’m either gonna run out, throw it, or do something else, but I’m not getting sacks in the middle of the pocket. And when you’d see him run back like that, give himself some time. Quinton separates beautifully, hauls in for the touchdown, that’s when I was like, they were ready. Like, they knew what was coming. And shout out to the offensive line, which we haven’t really talked about much yet. Good lord, was that refreshing. Now, folks were scared, especially the guy below me right now when we heard the Mai Beckton news of him not feeling great. And you saw it. The guy was literally on a ventilator getting oxygen. Like, he needed it. He was going through some stomach bug stuff, like apparently had a fever, the whole nine. He gutted it out. I thought Zin had a good game. Boseman had a great game. You saw a bunch of stunts go through that. You’re like, “Oh, this is where they get a couple got through, but there was never that backbreaking one. There was never the ones where it mattered most where you see this team constantly squander. Joe Alt was an absolute wall. Wall. I saw a few people talk about this during the game and I was like, I don’t know, man.” But they might be right. Maybe Joe Alt never leaves the left tackle position again. And it’s insane to say that with a Rashan Slater. Yes. Yes. I’m not taking anything away from Joe Alt’s performance at left tackle. Absolutely not. And I won’t. But one game in, we’re going to forget how good Rashawn Slater is. Just just think about this for just think about this for a second. I get it with because we we cannot predict the future. and depending on what the recovery is for Rashawn Slater, you know, I’m not going to discredit this as an option and say that that’s not a possibility, but let’s just see that come to fruition first because I still remember that I I remember how good the offensive line looked when they had Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt book ending at tackle. I haven’t forgotten that. I also remember how long essentially, you know, we always talk about left tackle being the most important position, rightfully so, and how long it took just to get Rashawn Slater over there. It’s nearly been longer that you’ve had stability at the right tackle spot. And when you have defenses loading up the way that they are going up against turnstyle right tackles, look at how Philadelphia has built their Super Bowl team in the trenches. good that offensive line has been not just solely from the left tackle position, but I mean like imagine Rashan Slater and Mai Beckton together on the right side with Joe Alt on the left side, but Slater’s never played right tackle. And I get it. Neither neither had Joe Alt, but the standpoint from taking him in his rookie year and seeing how good he was at right tackle like this this is Joe Alt 2.0 and yes, this is him back at his natural position that he college. What I’m saying if he does if he does what he did yesterday all season, he’s not going back to right tackle. He’s not. Which that’s not necessarily that’s not saying that’s not really a bad thing, right? Right. Like we’ll see. It’s a good problem to have. A topic for a different discussion. Yeah. Because you have you still have a lot of changes on your offensive line. Not in the tackle department, but it was crazy to think about before the game that Rashawn Slater is not going to be left tackle, but then after that I’m like, h I could see it like in a world where if he continues down this path of just absolute bullyball, I mean, stonewalling Chris Jones like no one else does. I mean, he made it look so easy. That’s it was un Drew Drew Tran was the only Chiefs player that ended up getting sacks in this game for them and that was coming through the stunts and pressures that he came up the middle on delayed blitzes. Outside of that, Dan, focusing more on the entire offensive line, I was very surprised. Yeah, I knew that this was a huge concern for a lot of people, including myself, because we hadn’t seen this starting five out there. How are you going to do without Rashawn Slater? What’s Mai Bettton gonna look like? We get the news the morning of the game that he’s on, you know, he’s battling an illness on Instagram with the beans and rice stuff. Yes. The first play that he exits the game, Justin Herbert has the run of a lifetime, but of course, it’s Jamari Sawier who came in to replace Specton who ended up getting called for the hold on that game. So, there was definitely some inconsistencies, but remember I said we’re going to learn a lot about this Chargers offensive line through the first three weeks of the year. What did you learn week one? I thought Zion Johnson and Bradley Boseman did pretty well. Pretty well. Namely, I I’ll highlight one play. How about the fourth and one conversion that Omar and Hampton ends up picking up when he runs to the to the left. They stacked that offensive line because they had Scott Matlock go out wide basically as an extra offensive lineman. Matlock, Alt, Zion, they all did their jobs in getting Omari and Hampton across that line and going for four yards. I thought collectively considering the way not just who the Chiefs have on the defensive line because they got some guys. Caroftus. You saw the pressure from Drew Tranquil. Chris Jones definitely notable, but it’s who they’re playing against. It’s Spags. We’ve seen this. He is so creative when it comes up to dialing pressure. And yes, this is part of the offensive line. And yes, part of it is Justin Herbert’s reaction to the pressure, but I thought, hey, that’s a good test by them in first week of the season. Yeah, I mean Joe Alt, Mai Beckton, both to me were elite. I mean, that was a great start. Joe Alt 91.4 pass blocking grade. Mai Beckton 88.1 pass blocking grade. Again, you’re going up against a Chiefs team that defense that is known to just make offensive line look silly. Like that’s what they do. And sure, like Trey Pipkins, Bradley Boseman, Zion Johnson at times let some things go, right? You saw a couple things in the interior. You saw a couple people get by Trey Pipkins. It was never the heartbreaker. It was never the gut-wrenching play. And I think this Chargers team schemed accordingly. You saw Omari unhelp a ton. You saw Will Dissy in there. You saw a bunch of folks in there that were making it hard for them to get through. And shout out to Greg Roman, man. Shout out to Justin Herbert for just knowing what’s coming and scheming around it. And that’s what having competent weaponry that can get open quickly. We talked about like, oh, I don’t know if Keenan Allen and Lad Maki can work together. Well, which they’re both great football players, but damn, did that look good. Give Give me more. Give me more. Give me more. This whole idea of l Well, you know, the slot is lad lad’s position now. That’s not how they’ve drawn up these plays when they’ve had them both out there. And now they have two more so Yeah. and even more so on the same side. Like the the separation that both of them are getting. Again, they’re two of the best at their position in doing so. I have not seen folks look that wide open against a Chiefs team. Yeah, like Justin looked like he was just chilling and that just doesn’t happen. Doesn’t happen often. Next voicemail. Got a lot here. Let’s get to these. What’s up, Dan Jake? All I got to say is where you at, Ryan Clark? Can’t wait to see more of y’all this season. Bolt up, baby. [Laughter] All right, let’s talk about it. Um, go ahead. Not just one day for Ryan Clark. He had two rough days and not and only one day was relating to the Chargers subject matter. Uh, we all heard on Thursday kickoff before the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles start off the season. We heard Ryan Clark’s thoughts on one Justin Herbert and in so many words basically just using the Texans game as a tunnel vision type of perspective to basically say that in the biggest moments for Justin Herbert to come in clutch he has failed to do so and he’s and he has not been great was his own words that he used Um, Justin Herbert must have heard that. I’ll just say this, taking the Emanuel out type of approach when you’re talking about Justin Herbert um, has now failed twice. Maybe I wouldn’t recommend it to certain other people when it’s that narrowly focused and that, what’s the word I’m looking for? Stupid. I mean, I was trying to be more respectful, but let’s just go with that. Let’s go with that for the time being. Uh, that and then the altercation that he had with Peter Shreger, not of all people of all people to question. Yeah, it was it was it was a rough day for Ryan Clark. And then I quote tweeted it because he obviously shared a completely different opinion on Chargers uh quarterback Justin Herbert after the game. talking about like Justin Herbert showed his entire assz tonight and talked about how great he played. Hey, look, we all we all make mistakes. I just don’t think that you would have expected that from him. Yes, I expect that from other commentators that I have listened to for plenty of years that have minded perspectives. I kind of like Ryan Clark, but that was I had a lot of respect for Ryan Clark. Honestly, it was a bad week for him. I really did. It’s It’s been a rough two days. And I was actually looking forward to seeing him on Get Up this morning, but no, he was uh he was up pregame for Minnesota Chicago tonight on Monday Night Football. No get up, just dip out. Before we get to our final thoughts here, Jake, let’s roll through some of these voicemails again. Hey guys, this is Angel from Anaheim. All I can just Hey, Anaheim. Hey. is wow. Huge credit to the offensive unit as a whole, you know, going blow forblow, keeping pace with Kansas City. But Justin Herbert, man, on that last possession to seal the game to me that felt like him saying to the league on that uh if you think you can just toss me aside, disregard me, you’re uh for a a rude awakening. So, you know, just huge props to the offense there. But what I’d love to hear your guys’ thoughts on was how you would evaluate our defense. You know, I feel I can’t say I was disappointed per se with it being our opener and playing against Mahomes. You know, how that man can make wine from sewage water. So, I feel like you have to kind of temper your expectations. But even then, credit to the defense. They planted their feet. They hung tough on the on their final drive, holding them to just a field goal, which I thought was huge. So, kudos to them. But, you know, I just love to hear you guys’ thoughts. But, I mean, overall, what a hard fought, sorely won match. And, you know, it was just great. Yeah, I thought I thought overall, again, we we talked about it earlier, but Jesse Mentor had this defense ready to play at all different levels. We talked about the defensive line and Tiier Tart and uh and Tulie and what they were able to contribute. We know we talked about Derwin James. Dan, how about Troy Dy? Troy Dy showed up big time in a couple of key plays. Had a big hit. Didn’t mind seeing that one at all. No, didn’t mind seeing that. Now, to Patrick Mahome’s credit, he ended up delaying his own hit a couple series later, which he is going to get himself in trouble with that. I mean, hey, sometimes, you know, you die by the sword. Yes. Uh but probably won’t because we know what the officials do whenever whenever someone generally farts in the direction of Patrick Mahomes. We know what usually happens. But Dan, I thought uh Dante Jackson had had a very good game, especially in the in the first half. I thought he even almost came down for an interception. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, “Run that back. Give me that one one more time.” And of course, the Chiefs kind of thought the exact same thing and they quick snapped it so that it didn’t matter. Um, but you know, outside of the the three big plays that they gave up in the secondary, which you know, no, those are going to be fixed. And some of those are just Mahomes doing the things that he does and extending the plays and you can only cover certain receivers for so long. The healthy one pissed me off. Yes. I I I Yeah, because you should never ever ever lose sight of him. It’s like, you know, that he is the best option, especially with two of his biggest wide receivers already being out for the game. you know that that’s the primary and it’s probably why Hollywood Brown ended up going over a 100 yards in receiving for this game. But still defensively you did what you needed to do. I Dan I remember my score prediction. I thought it was going to be low scoring. I had what was it 20 to 17 charges 27 24 Chiefs. You keep Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs at 21 points, three points in the first half until the 59 yard with no time left like and you end up hanging 27 on them. I That’s great considering, you know, what Patrick Mahomes does to opposing defenses. That’s a huge win. Next place, Mel. What’s up, fellas? Um, just got done watching this game, man. I’m hyped up. This team, I was at that Texans playoff game last year as a Chargers fan. This team’s just different. Quinton Johnston catching passes. I just feel like they’re using him in a different way. Maybe, maybe not. Um, just Keenan Allen back dotting him up. Herbert finally has the guys that can give him separation. All he needs to Oh, you already know he can to th to th to th to th to th to th to th to th to th to throw it in the bread basket. He just needs 0.5 millimeters of separation and he’ll give it to you. We finally have that. Um the defense I mean the defense will great. Honestly, it’s Patrick Mahomes and Angie Reed the best. I I feel like that’s kind of the tail, right? Like when you go when you see some of the plays that that dude’s making like that that flip play that he did where he’s literally horizontal throws it backwards sideways like whatever the hell he was doing somehow it goes over the head of three Chargers players ends up as a like what the deep pass that he threw at the end of that like come on man like you got to just as frustrating as it is to have to do you have to just tip your cap. That’s why he is the way he is. That’s why he has every single highlight on Sports Center. But they still did it. That’s that’s the point. You had Mahomes magic sprinkled out everywhere in this game from him. And at the end of the day, it didn’t matter. And that I think is what is the best thing to come out of this game was this wasn’t an off game. The the Chargers found a way to win an ugly whatever. You know, Chiefs were on. Yes, they didn’t have Xavier Worthy, which was unfortunate for them, but Mahomes was carrying him. Their defense didn’t matter for the Chiefs. Kelsey didn’t matter for the Chiefs. Yeah, they were still in it till the end. Like in my opinion, you could have given the the you could have given Patrick Mahomes the Chiefs receiving core of last season and he still would have been able to do something. That’s just what he’s capable of. How many games they win last year with that receiving core without Rashid Rice? Didn’t they only lose like three? You only lost You only lost two games. the the game to Buffalo and the game that Patrick Well, technically, yeah, but the game to Buffalo and the game that Patrick didn’t even play in because it was the regular season finale and you’re not playing your starters because the game didn’t matter. You just beat that team. You just beat that team. Next voicemail. The best they could do. There’s some broken plays and like y’all said LA uh last week, I hope you don’t get any easy plays. We did give them some two easy plays in the second half. the Hollywood Brown and the Travis Kelce catch. But I don’t know, man. Other than that, that Dline Tiar Tart came to play, man. Tiar Tart, we he really stepped up to um fill in that void for Puna Ford. And I love it. These guys step up when the time is big in this gym hardball culture. And I love it. It’s a huge difference from that playoff game last year. I remember getting ridiculed walking out of Energy Stadium and I told every Texan fans there, we will be back and we are back. Thank you fellas. And just wanted to say one more thing. Thank y’all for all your hard work through the season um through the offseason. Um I love listening y’all uh week in week out and bolt that baby. Peace, man. Thank you. That I was 100% sure I was getting FTR. I thought that that was coming honestly too because we have the Raiders game on Monday Night Football that’s literally on the horizon. But no, thank you very much for that. We really appreciate that. Honestly, uh Dan and I just love doing this because it’s just fun talking about football, but more importantly talking to you guys in general. We just love talking football. Doesn’t matter to who. Uh we just have fun doing it and that’s what makes it fun is you know doing it collectively and having these type of shows and this platform to do it and so very much appreciated. Thank you. Thank you. So, some final thoughts as to get to these last voicemails to you, Jake. One that we haven’t really touched on much. Um, see if you go where I think you’re going to go. How many of these kinds of games did we see this Chargers team win historically? Historically, you go to last year, if you will, but generally speaking, the Chargers don’t win this game. No, they just don’t. I I can think of a few off top my head like the one in Pittsburgh, the one in Kansas City, the one in Cincinnati last year. I was Yep. Like literally, you’re you’re on the edge of your seat because nobody can make a damn kick. And then again, Justin Herbert hits Lad McConi twice, sets up JK Dobbins for the ultimate run to seal that game. That was I think the I don’t know how long it had been. Again, those games that you mentioned. Yes. Pittsburgh, Kansas City. Um but in general, nobody back. Yeah. Nobody generally thinks of the Chargers turning into that team that can overcome and get out of their own way. Even Even with those games you referenced, it didn’t like turn the tide. Even though the next morning after the Cincinnati game, the whole idea from everybody that was talking about it was the Chargers didn’t charge her. I think a lot of people were saying that the Bengals bangled. Like it was like literally like both the opposite. Yes. The the last time that we’ve heard that term was the shellacking that the Raiders gave the Chargers in prime time on Thursday Night Football just a few weeks before Tom Telesco and Brandon Staley were relieved of their duties. That was the last time that you really heard that. Why? Because Al Michaels talked about it and it was in prime time and everybody just really kind of hit that one home. Um, but to see this happen against the AFC Conference champions, three-time Super Bowl winning team, perennial, has owned this AFC West for nine straight years. The last time that the Chargers beat them was four years ago. [ __ ] yeah. Get that bad taste out of my mouth. And and and I think that’s where the storyline of this season is going to be. Can this Chargers team have a winning record against playoff teams? If they can have a winning record against playoff teams, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with and will be in the playoffs. Your divisional games in general are going to be an exact measurement of that and the last five weeks of the season are going to be a measurement of that. Again, you got games against the Chiefs, which you just got won. Broncos twice, Chiefs twice, obviously. You got Commanders coming up. You’ve got the Vikings coming up. You got the Steelers coming up. You’ve got the Eagles. You got the Cowboys. You got the Texans. There’s a lot of big hard tough games. And you just won arguably the second toughest on your schedule. Oh, yeah. Because it wasn’t in SoFi. you get you get through this next couple weeks. I don’t even get there. But I’ll just say this. You come out, you come out of this division run, these first three games with a two in one record, you’re feeling good at with the with the very least at least a two in one record, you’re feeling good about what’s taking place. You don’t have to worry about the Chiefs now until December. Trust me when I say it’s going to be a very, very different game. not necessarily in the score, but the Chiefs are probably going to have their full complement of weapons back being Rasheed Rice, Xavier Worthy, you’re still going to have um oh my gosh, why am I forgetting their rookie Jaylen Royal Royals out there? So, trust me, they’re still going to be tough to contend with. And in Arrowhead, by God, I had them splitting up. I don’t even have them winning that game, but trust me, it’s going to be a very different team, but I still expect the Chargers to come ready to play. The Chargers won that game. They won the game that you were dreading. They won the game that you were like, “Well, they got to win in spite of like chalk it up as an L. They got to figure out a way.” Like, they just won that game. And Justin Herbert kept Superman on the bench with his own cape. That was the best part, watching Patrick Mahome just sit there. How many times have we seen Justin Herbert just have to stand there, hands on his shoulder pads, dreading what he’s seeing? Seen it happen plenty of times during the Chiefs. You’ve seen it happen in previous games. How many times has Patrick Mahomes gotten the opportunity to deliver that blow to a po to opposing to opposing teams? See Josh Allen couple years ago when you leave Mahomes 11 seconds on the damn clock. Crazy. So it’s good to be on the receiving end of something like that for a change. Justin Herbert, my god in heaven. Now I got some Pokemon that tonight. Ryan Clark can suck my dick. Nick Ray can get it too. Herbert has never had a signature win ever in his career. F that. You the final end of drive. You know he did the same pile of slide on sheets contenders. Well, guess what? Now defense can look like look like Swiss cheese out there. I also have a massive headache. This game stressed me the hell out. Anyway, no [ __ ] 1 and0 in S Paulo. You know what that means? Super Bowl. Just I don’t know. Maybe. Anyway, we have the Raiders next week. Um rocking the Paloo pants. Can’t wait to see that against um the Black and Silver. Either way, until next week. 10. That’s it. Everything is great. I’m going go to bed, baby. Bye. Where did he say he was moving to? what just happened. Chargers winning does a lot to certain people where it’s just, you know, comprehend everything. He kind of sounded like Jim Harbaugh at the podium where he’s like, you know, it was like a rocket ship, man. You know, that’s what I got out of that was just genuine excitement for a Chargers win. Who cares if you [ __ ] slur your word? By God, the excitement takes over, the adrenaline takes over, and that’s what you get. Uh, there was a lot in that voicemail, by the way. Yeah, I I won’t say anything else other than if if we’re talking about FTR, obviously, Raiders week is now coming up. Um, Dan, that’s going to be when we get to the breakdowns, that’s going to be an interesting one to break down because, hey, grudge to the Raiders for starting off their season with a win on the road. Gina Smith throwing for over 300 yards. Brock Bower is basically just picking up where he left off last year going over a 100 yards. Ashton Genty, which we, you know, we just got the news a little bit earlier that Denzel Perryman has a high ankle sprain and he’s going to be out for a couple weeks. I would much rather like to have Denzel Perryman in going against a runheavy scheme by one Pete Carol. But we’re going to have a lot to break down on it. We’re going to have a lot to break down on it. And I, you know, the as much as we get up for Raiders week, they get up for this week, too. And they get to have their home opener technically going for number one in the division. They want the revenge, too, which is wild to say after at week two of the season. But yes, the Chargers got a chance to sweep the or the Chargers swept the Raiders last year. They definitely get to come to play. So, it’s going to be a very competitive name game when we break everything down next week. I’m gonna try this to waste one more time. It doesn’t work. We’ll have to punt it. Okay, man. We did it, man. Hey, man. Tony, we did it. Like, I I from the get I always said we were going to go three and 0. I said that from the getgo against our our divisional rivals. Pump that chest. Hell yeah. Pump that chest. On that [ __ ] I said we were going to go three and 0. Hopefully, we go 6 and 0. I I’m not doubting anything anymore. Um, man, I I’m glad Herbert had his game, man. I mean, I know he always does, but I mean, this was he he he just he deserved this one, man. I’m happy for him. I’m I’m I’m happy for Keenan, too, man. I was I was kind of scared for him because I didn’t I didn’t want anyone to call them washed, and people were calling him washed. They know who they are. I I love them, man. I love both of these guys, man. Um, I’m I’m glad that Marshon was out there, too, help giving some advice to to Mariam, but man, I I’m just I’m I’m out here in Colorado right now. I’m from Colorado. So, man, this is just insane. Like I said, we’re still going to go three and 0 and and hopefully we continue that. But, hey, man, I’m just I’m I’m happy for the guys. I’m happy for everyone, especially for Herbert, man. Just just bolt up, man. Thank you. Two things, Dan. Number one, what confidence juice are you drinking? Because I drink six and0, 17 and0. You know, I knew we were going to go three and 0. You know, very cavalerely, we’ll probably go six and0. Just Hey, keep keep this on the docket. Give a damn. We’re probably going to go six and0. Hell, we might even go undefeated. You know, why not? Who knows? But whatever confidence you’re drinking, I I need that, too, honestly, because credit to you, sir. Own it. you got one out of the three so far. Let’s I hope you’re right. Secondly, we really have not talked about Amari and Hampton at all, Dan. Um, and I know that it’s kind of like a mixed bag as far as his debut. Obviously, what he the caller was just pointing out the uh unfortunate play that he ended up running out of bounds which caused the Chiefs to have enough time to go down and kick a field goal right before halftime. But in general, Dan, I actually really liked what I saw. I did too from from Orian Hampton. He had a couple of very strong runs that were very similar to what he had in the preseason in terms of just carrying bodies and not going down. And that’s what he’s about. But Dan, more importantly, go back and watch him when he’s not getting the ball cuz there was a couple plays in there where he laid some wood in pass protection. He was very, very good, I thought. Now, obviously, you’re expecting a little bit better, but again, this is a Chiefs defense that is normally very good at defending the run and making opposing offenses on one-dimensional. So, it does not bother me one bit. No. About the opening performance of Amari. I liked what I saw. I liked what I saw. I did, too. So, there were a couple slash there’s a couple slashes in there. You’re like, whoa. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Like he was one foot away from getting breaking one. Mhm. And like that’s going to happen. You’re going to see that happen and you see that head of steam, man. Like that third and one or fourth and one. He just gets so much power when he’s running through that line, which is why he’s just he’s not the guy that you’re going to take down with the with one tackler. He’s going to make others work to get him down. So, I I really liked what I saw from Omar Hampton. Last voicemail. Jake. Hey, Jake and Dan. It’s me. The faceless fan back again. Uh, it’s halftime right now. The game’s not over. Half. Oh [ __ ] Okay, here we go. Uh oh. Okay. So, what is he gonna say? Half. Oh, you asking me? Okay. I thought that was a dramatic pause. He’s probably going to say something of the of the ilk of like, yep, it’s like, well, that’s probably going to be the player that’s going to make a difference in this game. Same old Chargers making mistakes to give the Chiefs opportunities. Let’s see if I’m right. Um, I just got to say really quick that I don’t know if Jim Hoba was uh like [ __ ] I’m not going to sorry. Uh, I don’t know if he was just twiddling with his thumbs. I don’t know how the hell we just got a delay a game and then Greg Roman calls an outside run for Amarian Hampton. I love Amarian Hampton. I’m not placing the blame on him. That’s not his fault at all. You pull an out. I’m calling both side run. That’s absolutely that’s I love it. The the first the first negative charges points mail we got. First of all, thank you for letting some steam out and calling during halftime of this game, but it’s going it’s going exactly the way that I thought it was. Insane. You’re an idiot. Stop eating donuts, Greg Roman. Sorry. Nothing wrong with that at all. I love donuts, too. Donuts are great. Jim Hobalt and Greg Roman throwing away the last [ __ ] 50 seconds of that game because they’re morons is inexcusable. Okay, some of this is true, but some of this is hilarious. It’s so much better when we can laugh about it later. I say my prediction was pretty good. Those guys are [ __ ] veterans, you know, head coaches and OC’s. There’s no excuse. So if anyone on Twitter decides to [ __ ] [ __ ] on Omar Hampton, they’re idiots. That’s not his fault. It’s Jim Harbaugh’s fault first off and then Greg Roman’s fault, which Jim Harbaugh said as much. Yep. Jim Harbaugh took himself as the reason why it happened that he should have coached him up more. Yes. If it was an inside run play probably wasn’t going to happen. So Greg Roman’s at fault too. Fault. Second off. And of course there’s more. We just hit second off. Okay, got it. Of course they [ __ ] make the field goal. Duh. So, I mean, thankfully we get the ball back. We’ll see what happens. But, oh boy. Imagine if you called in after that series. Jesus Christ. It’s already started, guys. It’s already [ __ ] started. The narratives are already starting. So, let’s hope we win this game. And, you know, this is just an over this is just a classic Chargers fan being super passionate and way too emotional about the Chargers and being filled with with his past traumas. So bull tough. That’s it. Look, I think we need to like somehow quit and Tarantino this and put that back at the front. Like not today. Not today. Um, no. Because you know what? I like I like it because it’s uh it’s maybe that’s what we’re used to living. That’s what we’re used to. I get it. Look, I right here, man. I mean, I’ve always said, and I said it for the longest time during the Staley Tolesco era, it’s just like, look, until things change, what evidence do you have that things are going to get better? And I and I get it just from that standpoint, but my god, coaching just [ __ ] matters. And in football, every team, some more than most, unfortunately, end up just having the better luck of the draw or are able more importantly to overcome mistakes. That’s where coaching comes into play. Yep. The Chargers thankfully have that. And to make that whole even conversation even worse, imagine Dan how he was feeling after the Chargers first drive of That’s the thing. Imagine if he called in after that to compound it everything cuz I get it. Honestly, I was thinking the exact same thing in the back of my mind. I’m like, absolutely. Those are the type of plays I got I got text message from you. Oh yes. I said that though that’s the type of plays that’s probably going to end up making a difference in the game because especially for the Chiefs, that’s what always ends up happening. there’s there’s always a way that they find certain abilities to make teams make mistakes and make them beat themselves. And the Chargers and Justin Herbert more specifically said not today. Not today. So, the last the last thought that I have on this, which this is a fantastic episode, this is all that I would hope for and more. And I don’t remember the last time I laughed this hard after a victory. This was great. So, thank you. And I do apologize if I have dropped a number of fbombs throughout this show. And I know that some callers have been hesitant to do so. So I apologize if you hear me being the one that’s dropping it. But look, again, we’re all in our collective elements and excitement and emotions are high. And why not? Why not? The thing is, as I close this out, talk about hopeium, optimism, tether to reality, all that kind of stuff. This was the type of game that was not won before. And so when everyone says, “I’m going to go with what my eyes tell me,” your eyes just showed you a Chargers win over the Chiefs tackling adversity. Like that that is now behind us. That is now a fact to be brought into these next segments as we go forward. So it definitely shifts the narrative a bit and we’ll see if this Chargers team can continue down this path. We’ll get to the Raiders pregame as we get through kind of previewing the game, but that’s a monumental massive win. Players, coaches, franchise, that was big. That was Jake. Anything else before we wrap this thing up? This was so much fun. Interesting stat, Dan. last time that there was I can’t remember if it was the Chiefs specifically or that you had a representative of the AFC West that starts off the league where all three other teams in the AFC West. I think it was the Chiefs. It’s the first time for the Chiefs since 2002 where every team in the AFC West has won their first week of the season and they have lost. First team dating all the way back to 2022 or 2002, excuse me. That’s wild. That is a wild stat. And you just slayed the giant of the NFL and beat the team that you have not been able to beat for four years. And you do it in dramatic fashion like that. Yep. It go off game. There was no turnovers in this game, Dan. Remember that. There was no turnovers in this game. Nope. Feels good. Damn, it feels good. Chargers win 2721, 1 and 0 coming back from Brazil. Next up, Las Vegas Raiders. Jake, you and I will talk about it. Let’s do a live show for that. Let’s try to do a live show for that because I know everybody’s going to be jacked to 11 for Raiders week, obviously. Let’s try our best to do a live show for that one. Would love to get the opinions of everyone out there leading up to Raiders week. Monday Night Football is going to be huge. Um, yeah. Battle for first place in the AFC West in only week two. Let’s go. 3239027586 is the number to the hotline. If you want to be a part of the show, please give us your thoughts, your feelings, your reactions. We’ll be more than happy to play them for you and all of Chargers fans to listen to. Uh, for Jake, appreciate all of you guys for tuning in. You can find him at Jake TF. You can find myself at DanWports. If you haven’t done so already, hit the like and subscribe. Helps out a ton. Tell a friend, pat him on the back, say bolt up. And um yeah, this is FTR week, folks. FTR Jake will talk about it later, but until then, this was amazing. We appreciate all of you, and we’ll talk to you next time on Chargers on YouTube. [Music]
