In this episode, Jake and Dan discuss the week 8 victory against the Vikings on TNF. Joe Alt back in the lineup make a huge difference! Jesse Minter’s defense looking familiar, are The Chargers returning back to form?
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Chargers Unleashed Hosts: Jake Hefner (@JakeTHefner) and Dan Wolkenstein
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Chargers Unleashed Podcast, and Blueprints, are weekly Chargers
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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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Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] This is your Chargers linebacker, Don Hley, and you’re tuning in with Chargers Unleashed. [Music] Welcome to another edition of Charters Unleashed. Jake and Dan Walenstein here with you from the LA Football Network. This is your first time tuning in the show, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple podcast. Dan Walenstein, it is good to be back. I know where you’ve been. Not everybody else is know knows where you’ve been, but uh it’s been a minute since you and I have gotten a chance to pow-wow about some Chargers football. Uh I tried to do something of my own accord, and when you mix me with technology when I’m by myself, obviously things just choose not to work properly. Uh and that’s what happens. That that’s what happens when when things like this take place. See what you you you go, you know, off to your 10 year anniversary some time with family and internet just fails for me. That’s okay. All the internet was brought to Palm Springs apparently for my 10 year anniversary trip. It was amazing. Uh apologies again. Was not able to to join last week. Um I had some some things that were um in quite honest more important. Uh 10 years. Crazy. And Jake, hold on a second. Time out. Yeah, first off, we we are live folks in the chat. Hi, good morning. What are we drinking? Let us know. Um we did not get a chance to do a show last week. I burned all of the voicemails and I will. Oh, got it. Yes, they are absolutely gone from that last uh come out from the Indianapolis game just to be specific. Yes. Um lots of bad in that and um we’ll talk we’ll kind of touch on it a little bit as we get to this in terms of like what was at stake in this game. Uh but Jake, I think the most important thing for us to discuss at this very moment, Matthew Doll in the comments. Congratulations to Jake bringing in a new Chargers fan in the earth, Jake Hefner. put it on social media after the Chargers victory. So, it’s a victory Friday in more than one way. Jake, manto man, we know we’ve talked about this for years. I can’t tell you how excited I am personally for you and to see you become a dad and to watch this new Chargers fan come to life. I cannot be more excited for you and the family, dude. Congratulations. Everyone in the chat, blow Jake up on Twitter. Here in the chat, Jake, congratulations on being a dad. Uh it is the absolute treat and it’s the best. Thank you, man. I really appreciate it. Uh yeah, you and I have talked obviously privately and offline about this. Um this has been this has been a hell of a journey for my wife and I. Uh 5 years we have been trying. There’s been several procedures that uh she had to go through in order to for us to get to this point. Um literally a year ago, we were almost at the point of giving up. Uh, and then we got a very good recommendation for a different doctor that we ended up having to switch to and thankfully they took a completely different approach in how they uh took more personal care of my wife throughout the process. Um, and thankfully we’re here. So we are just about to enter week 27. Week 27. So, January 28th is the estimated time of arrival for my daughter, and I could not be more excited. I just I just got chills. I’m telling you, being a girl dad is the best. Uh these comments are amazing. Uh Jeremy, congrats, Jake. Welcome to the No Sleep Club. Uh congratulations. I’m kind of used to no sleep anyways because I got I’ve got three cats and they’re all pains in the ass for different reasons, but they always seem to affect me specifically. They leave my wife alone. It’s almost I’ve told my wife the oldest one either wants to like literally has a plan to off me because he’ll always like walk right behind me if I’m coming downstairs or like I’ll he’ll try to trip me or I think he literally is smart enough to where it’s like I want to wake this guy up so that I can have his spot on the bed. I’m going to piss him off enough to where he has to leave and so that spot is now mine. So, I haven’t slept properly in 8 hours. I don’t know, maybe since I was in Hawaii in September when I finally got vacation away from the cats. So, no sleep club. I am I’m a DA card carrying member fully. Yes. Gilbert Diaz, four shots of espresso, splash of milk, baby. High potential of going 4-0 these next four games and getting everyone back healthy. BTFU. So, Jake, you said it’s week 26. Uh, it’s week 26 and we just passed. So, we’re about to enter week 27 coming. So, I would say, let’s call this the week 26 recap episode. Jake becomes a father and the Chargers blow out, dominate the Minnesota Vikings 37-10. Victory Thursday, victory Friday. Hell, victory Sunday at this point feels great. Mini by charts getting healthier. We got some good news on the injury front about Durma James about Tarheep Still in company. Lots to discuss. The Chargers Unleash Hotline was absolutely I’ll just say excited. Excited, I’m sure. We’ll get to that in a bit. And to set the stage for this one, this was a very uh let’s call it testy last week or so in in Chargers fandom, I believe. Uh who is this team? What is this team? How far can this team go? Should we have confidence in this coaching staff? So many questions and rightly so. The Chargers come out in the absolutely beautiful throwback navies. The Super Chargers come back. Wasn’t that so good? the the dichotomy of the uniforms that you had the week prior against the Colts and seemingly the way that you played mimicked the color of the uniforms that they wore in that game and then to come out 5 days later try to flush it as fast as you can and in the San Diego throwbacks and look like that. Uh, you know, I tried to give the yellow uniforms a shot. Maybe it’s because they matched up with the yellow pants, but I’d be all right with burning those suckers at this point. I actually like the I like the yellow ones, but I loved these Navies. These got to be permanent coming up here the next few years. They are too clean. You saw everyone on social media talking about them. And the Chargers played their best football of the season, arguably of the Jim Harbaugh era, considering all of that was at stake. in that game from start to finish. I should say from the third play to finish, Charge got lucky with that pick six possibility. There was ever a physical manifestation of that old saying like how it started, how it’s going like that. That was it. Yep. But the Chargers team from the jump, offense, defense, special teams, coaching, adjustments, rookies, veterans, sacks, pressures, interceptions, touchdowns, rushing attack, all of it, everything was on full display. And just when folks started to have that inkling to look at the draft for for FY26, who’s everyone? The Chargers reel us all back in with a 37-10 stomping to the point where I think Chargers fans, Chargers fans actually felt bad for that quarterback over Minnesota. Actually felt bad. But I did what I love most about this Chargers coaching staff and you know you know Jim Harbaugh and company feed off of opponent’s misery like you imposing your will on another grown ass man and making them look that sad, literally that sad, that frustrated, that hurt. That is what gets this play of this team juiced, man. And they just kept it going from the jump, Jake. 37-10. Lots to talk about. The hotline’s lit. Before we get to that, let’s talk about our friends over at Sleeper. Want to remind everybody that the NFL season is here. Obviously, we’re we’re in the midst of week eight, which means 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 Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Justin Jefferson. Pick on stats like these for stars like touchdowns, passing yards, receiving yards, fantasy points, and more for up to a thousand times payout on Sleeper. Get your picks right and you could win big. Just make sure to use the promo code Chargers LFB and you’ll get up to $100 match on your first deposit. Terms and conditions apply to sleeper terms of use for details. Currently operating in over 25 states, check out sleeper today. Where do you want to start? The floor is yours, my friend. Uh, how are we feeling this morning? I think Joe Alt makes a big [ __ ] difference. How about that? I I guess that’s I guess that’s the start of it, Dan. Um, you know, you come off of that Indianapolis Colts game where you just felt like you got owned, lambasted, blown out, just everything that the Colts wanted to do against you was was theirs for the taking. And they made it look easy. They made it look easy. Coming into this game, Dan, we were even wondering what the hell has happened to the Jesse Mentor defense. And we’ll get to that in obviously just a big second. But the the biggest thing has been since that Denver Broncos game in week three, Justin Herbert has taken the most pressures, the most quarterback hits than any other quarterback in the NFL. And you needed some continuity on your offensive line because once again, here we go. Your offensive line is ever changing. There’s another different combinations. You’ve had different guys going out even after the Joe Alt injury. And so you’re hoping for some stability and you got the uh you got the sense from Joe Alt talking that the plan was for him to come in and start on Thursday, which thankfully he did. And then you even got word that Trey Pipkins was active for the game which you’re like, okay, you’re getting that offensive linebacker and and then you get the news that Bobby Hart is still starting. We’ll get to that in a second because that ended up actually being a little bit of a positive. But Joe Alt coming back then, it’s it just really can’t be understated how big this is for this team for number 10. And it’s it’s t it’s it’s moments like this where you just want to punch yourself in the face because we should be seeing Joe Alt on the right side. We should be seeing Rashawn Slater on the left side. And you could arguably have the best left tackle, right tackle tandem in the league if both of these guys were in there. And again, it’s just one of those type of things where you it’s, you know, those whatif moments that you’re just hoping that when it comes to next season, everybody can stay healthy. You can solidify this offensive line. But Joe al coming back, Dan, wow, just what an impact. And I think that it was felt throughout a majority of the rest of the offensive line. I was very impressed with just in general how the Chargers offense was able to operate. You have a score like this, an offense like this that reminds you of what they’re capable of doing. I thought Justin Herbert’s decision making in terms of utilizing his legs was very, very good. Jo even got rolled up on that same ankle that he hurt and just went right back into the game. Like Joe Alt is tough as nails, man. As tough as nails. Um, but yeah, you think number 10’s happy to have his blind side protector back there for this season? Yeah, let’s let’s chalk that up to a big time yes. The Joe All effect uh is real and there is no more evidence than that football game. Rewind to that Colts game, fast forward to that Vikings game. It’s a different movie, literally. And so I call it the Joe the Joe Alt effect. And you hear the term like force multiplier, like that is the definition of it. Not only does Joe Alt improve the offensive line and protecting Justin Herbert, he improves the run game, he improves the pass game, he improves the confidence, he improves the morale, and then damn it, he improves just the toughness of this team. And you watch what this offense does with him against, mind you, a very good Minnesota Vikings defense. Like, don’t forget that. Nine for 13 on third down, three for four in the red zone, 212 passing yards, 207 rushing yards, 39 minutes of possession, and 37 points. And honestly, it could have been mid-40s easy. The Chargers team didn’t punt. Yes, a lot of that is Justin Herbert. A lot of that is Kamani Videl. A lot of that is Lad and Aronda Gadston and the crew. Like, we get it. But Joe Alt, I’m not saying that he is the truck versus the trailer as much as Justin Herbert, but he is a damn truck. He is pulling the trailer of this team. And for those, myself included at the time that were pounding the table for wide receiver and you saw Malik Neighbors go after Joe Alt. Imagine what this team would look like right now without 76. He is that dominant, that important. Everything everything of that offense was because of 76. Absolutely unreal. Uh folks in the chat, you know how this goes. You got any questions, comments, topics, thoughts, put in the comments. We’ll do our best to go through them. Jake, the hotline was fun. Was it fun? The hotline was fun. I’m excited for I don’t know. I’m excited to to hear this. 323927586 is the number to the hotline. Again, you can leave a 30 secondond voicemail or so and we’ll try our best to get it throughout the episode. Uh Jake, let’s get to some of these voicemails here and we’ll kind of weave these in and out of the episode here today. Uh first voicemail. Let’s hear what they have to say. What’s going on guys? This is John here. Um had a couple days think about the game after that Colts game which I didn’t even watch. I simply was ready to give up on the team. Yeah, I’m telling you, the vibes are high now. They were literally opposite this time last week. And there was a sliver of hope left. And this this Vikings game was the game where they they either lose me or they they get me back in and and damn it, they they brought me back. I’m We’re so back, baby. Let’s go back in. And it’s it feels good to watch my team blow out a decent team. Not like a bad team, but a decent team with a decent quarterback. Everything just went right tonight. Been a while since we’ve seen a game where we didn’t punt the ball at all. And um man, everything was just perfect. It was the perfect game. Best game of Jim Harball’s era. Hey, all right. It’s hard to argue otherwise. Sliver of hope restored. There’s a lot in there, Dan, that I want to take away because so much of that is true. You know, you the vibes after the Indianapolis Colts game were so bad because you think to yourself, if you take that four game stretch after the Chargers went 3 and0 in the division, you’re 49 seconds away from a Justin Herbert Superman drive to where you could be over. And the only team that you beat in that four-game stretch is a team in the Miami Dolphins that’s won one game in the season. like you squandered an easy part of your schedule against the Giants and Jackson Darts rookie start against the Washington Commanders when you took a 10 lead when they didn’t have Terry McClary and then they got you for 27 unanswered points and then you just absolutely get bumrushed by the Indianapolis Colts and you’re it’s not just one thing that’s depleting you. This entire last month of the Chargers has been self-inflicted mistakes, dumb penalties, offensive line troubles, defense, and Jesse Mter where you’re thinking to yourself like what happened from week two of the season to go on this type of a stretch where the defense is looking just unrecognizable, undisiplined, communication completely off, special teams all of a sudden is starting to fail you. like you really feel like the wheels are coming off everywhere. You got players in and out, injuries, you have no run game essentially and you’re just like at your wit’s end real quick. Girthy guitarist, this is where you’re at. I was supposed to go to that Thursday game for my birthday, but I canceled the flight after the Colts loss and seeing Denver beat New York. That’s where this Chargers fandom, a lot of it was. It’s like, I’m not I’m not built for this. Yeah. And and so even Lab Manki said it after this game, like everybody was fed up. Like you needed something. You need you needed some type of a spark. and maybe having the short week to get that game, that Indianapolis game out of your system as quickly as possible was just the right type of medicine because this looked like a Jim Harbaughled football team that we are accustomed to seeing where you’re hitting on all three phases of the game. Something in complimentary football that you felt that they haven’t played since the first week of the season. offense just looked like it could do whatever it wants. It was a big night for rookies in this game. Aronda Gatston, Trey Harris, RJ Mickens. It was great defensively. You get Khalil Mack playing more than 12 snaps for this game. Yeah, looks pretty damn good. Second or technically their first real game of Khalil Mack, Ooway, and Tulie playing together. Looks pretty good. All got a sack. Able to bring some of those corner blitzes. that looked more aggressive. I felt like Jesse Mentor wasn’t just sitting back in his usual sh soft shell zone defense for the entirety of the night. I You talk about feeling bad for Carson Wentz, man. Like I thought that was quarterback malpractice for the fact that he came in there with that arm brace, came into the game injured and just getting knocked around and put on his ass for the entirety of the game. Like I know JJ was the emergency third quarterback, but for the love of God, for the sake of any type of quarterback’s health, like what are you doing? Kevin Oonnell, that was nasty. Like, this felt like a game where this should be the trend moving forward for the Chargers. Now, it’s not always going to look like this. You’re going to play different opponents. We know that the NFL is a the NFL gods are fickle when it comes to wins and losses in one week to the next, but this shows you what they can do. And I hope that this is really the turning point of the season where you get these last four games out of your system and this is the spark that sends you for this next stretch because you got a pretty easy upcoming schedule here before you get back to the contenders. This is where you need to start get to get things to roll. But you know what? Real quick, I don’t even want to talk about easy stretch, right? And I hope this Chargers team remembers that New York Giants game because that was supposedly an easy stretch. And maybe it was a blessing in disguise that happened then, right? Maybe you can never overlook an opponent. But if there was a game in which Jim Harbaugh or fans can point to and say, “This is why I was brought in. This is why we wanted Jim Harbaugh. This is the identity we want this team to have.” That was it. You saw a physically imposing dominant performance in the trenches by superstars coaching at a premium. And even with guys still out, this Chargers team dominated. Absolutely dominated. And and the headline will be the offense, right? And we’ll talk about offense first. We’ll talk about the defense here in a bit. We talk about the Joe Alt effect. Kamani Videll just looks like a different player this year. And you see some of the the patience, the physicality, the pass protection that he’s providing this year. Bouncing off tackles, arm tackles do nothing. Spin it off of them. Churning legs. Second 100 yard game in three games. I mean, I’m not sitting here saying that he’s a Marin Hampton by any means, but thank goodness we are seeing the Kamani Vadell glowup show because this remember when Greg Roman said, imagine Justin with a running game. Yeah, we saw it with Amarian and now you’re seeing it continue with Videl with of course the return of Joe Alt, Tucker Fisk. I’m telling you, go back and watch. I was waiting for you to bring that up, dude. He is making defenders miserable, blowing folks up. Trey Harris outside with the blocking. Aronda Gatson actually with some blocking prowess. Got to get Mlock like this blocking scheme of this Chargers team. Again, it’s the tertiary guys who are helping, right? The run game was huge and you saw especially in that second half, man. It was like taking candy from a baby every time. And there’s a sequence, I forget exactly when it was, but there’s I wrote down there’s a sequence where Vidal goes for believe it was 18 and then 21 in those two consecutive carries. Well, before that, there was the second half to start off the second half. He had inside runs start to drive seven yards, nine yards, nine yards back to back to back, then gets the dump off to gain nine on third down. Like there’s a four play sequence where he just dominated. I think that was Yeah, I think that was the first drive of the second drive. First drive of the second half and then again to your point, third offensive drive. Ball goes broken tackle, gain of 18, bounces off defenders, sheds arm tackles, no big deal. And then again, 23 physical yards. Patient, bouncing outside, breaking tackles again, spin move, Tucker Fist making it look easy, opening up carpool lanes. And he would have had another rushing touchdown. Quinton missed a block down there at the goal line. Got to the one instead, but the offense overpowered. And it was Kamani Maidell, Oronda Gatston again. It was Trey Harris. We saw Lad Makoni and Keenan getting anything they wanted aside from that one crazy drop by Lad where it like literally hit him in the face. Like I don’t know how that even happened. You saw on the sidelines like what just happened. It was so weird. It’s like a little My best friend who has Lad McGonkey on his fantasy team literally texted me right after that. He’s like I swear to God I’m cursed. It’s like because there was nobody around Lad on that pass. And even you’re watching that game like wait what? Lad really dropped that one. I’m like, “That won’t happen again.” And sure enough, it didn’t happen again. No. Uh Dan, what are the one of the other stats that you brought up a few minutes ago? Three of four in the red zone. Let’s not forget this was a Chargers offense that was there’s they’re still technically bottom of the barrel when it comes to red zone offense this year. And that’s just wild when you have number 10 at quarterback and the weapons that you have. So, you needed to get better there. and being more efficient in that category obviously is going to be huge when you can start scoring touchdowns putting those up on the board uh as opposed to field goals. It just it’s a night and day difference. It is a night and day difference. And Dan, it has been 27 minutes and 45 seconds that we have now been on this show. And you have not gone off on your Aronda Gatston II rant yet because you didn’t get a chance to talk about it during the Indianapolis game when he had his huge huge game and he coupled that up wanted people to not forget that that wasn’t a one-off. This is now becoming a trend. So, Dan Wenstein, if you had not watched our draft coverage, day three recap of the NFL draft, there was no pick that Dan was arguably more excited about than the former Syracuse tight end Aronda Gaston second. You know, I went back, actually, literally last night, I went back to our tight end rankings show pre-draft just to make sure that I wasn’t crazy. And I believe I had Aronda Gatson ranked either sixth or seventh on my list of top 10 items. Just above me. Just above me. And actually, you you may have had him outside the top 10. You were going back and forth and then you had him barely outside the top 10. But yeah, let’s see there. That’s how much I But you But you liked him. But you liked him. Um, on that episode, I had talked about the archetype and I talked about the Coulson Lovelands, that physical the presence, right? The stature. You look at the tight end that they tried to bring in that went to the Broncos, Evan Ingram. Evan Ingram, same size. And then you look at the production of Aronda Gadston in college. And yes, he’s a tight end, former wide receiver. You’ve heard all the stuff, right? But he’s a big slot. And I talked about it on the episode of the tight end rankings of like this is the archetype. This is the style that this Chargers team is looking for both Michigan days as well as here with the Chargers and you’re seeing it come to fruition and I at the time it was like dude I don’t even care about the blocking aspect which gas is actually getting better and better that aspect. Justin Herbert with an athletic freak at tight end is a cheat code. and Gatson. My favorite part this entire game was watching Gatson clap back at the linebacker in coverage after and you see later on he’s like talking to his his teammates about like how he’s yapping doing the little hand signal. Fifth round gem Aronda Gadston. Was it five catches or six catches for 77 yards? Something like that all in the first half just stealing souls. You see the chemistry building. Um, this is one of the finer moments of mine. I was like, I effing told all of you guys this and here we are. Um, yeah, it’s exciting for me. It’s bittersweet. I love watching Gats and most importantly, Justin Herbert loves having him on his team. All of his teammates talked about how much he impressed during training camp, OTAAS, preseason. It was just a matter of time. And the fact that he is now putting up these numbers without playing two of the games. I mean, he’s a top three tight end in the NFL for the season and didn’t even play the first couple weeks. I would know Jake by fantasy team. I’ve got Tucker Craft, Tyler Warren, and Ronda Gatson. And now I’m like, how am I not going to start Aronda Gatson? What do I do? I’m I’m looking for trades. Yeah, you better be looking for trades. You better be looking for trades. Uh Dan, this is just such a fun development to watch, especially just over the last two weeks. You know, you you honored Antonio Gates, uh you know, with that ceremony during the Colts game. Remember I told you that Aronda Gats was going to be an extract from that game, albeit for not for the Chargers getting their asses handed to him in that game. But he was one of the bright spots, very few. And then for Thursday Night Football to kick off National Tight Ends Week, let’s not forget about that. That that is this week. To have him come up with a follow-up performance like that, Justin Herbert just going right back to him. It just goes to show you that like, yeah, we can have all the lads and the third and Kanans and everything like that, but Justin Herbert does not play favorites. If you develop chemistry with him, if you develop rapport with him and and he develops trust with you, he’s going to find you. And the fact that one of the biggest things that we talked about when we had uh you know broke down Aronda Gatson’s tape down and this was one of the same reasons that they brought in Trey Harris in the draft was the contested catches and not only that you mentioned it converted wide receiver Gatson has mentioned that he likes to run every single route that’s out there. Why? Because he’s used to doing that. So, here’s where you can put those tight ends in mismatch situations that just are not fair for opposing defenses. It’s just been a great thing to watch over the last couple of weeks and you’re just you’re wondering how how far it can go. I love the fact that Aronda Gatsson senior says that his son is going to continue riding the bench on his fantasy football team because he doesn’t want to jinx it. He he will he is going to torpedo his fantasy football team with his son on the roster just because he does not want to tank this trend that he is currently on. Oh man, we got some super chats here. Uh thank you so much to those Thomas Holly with $5 super chat here. So Dan calling OG2 now he’s taking most of all most or all of Conklin snaps. Yes, shout out Hanan with the $5 super sticker. Thank you. Matthew Doll says, “Unfortunately, back to not worth 10 million a year.” We’ll get to that. The fact that his Chargers offensive line might have looked a little better when he was not there. Now, again, he might be injured and he might be going through stuff and he’s trying to push through and just not working. We don’t know. But the reality is right now that Chargers offensive line look better with him out of it this week in isolation, right? Um, a couple things. One, yes, Ardan Gasson clearly tight end one. Not a question. The other part that I thought was interesting, there were some comments here I want to bring up. Um, where was it? It was the catch rate. 83% for Gadston. For comparison, second Harris was 70, Keenan Allen 69, Lad at 63, Quinton at 60. And there are some other comments in the chat about like, whoa, now the best news is that Quinton isn’t getting any targets. I don’t necessarily make a big deal out of the fact that Quinton not getting targets in terms of like Quinton’s future with the team. I I I don’t I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as to your point, Jake. Justin doesn’t give a [ __ ] and neither should anybody else. Think about this. Quinton Johnson coming into this game was your most productive wide receiver. You didn’t throw to him once this game and you put up 37 points. That’s the perspective that should be looked at here. Yeah. It’s it’s similar to like weeks one and two, right? Chargers go two and0. Quinton Johnson’s going off. Army Gatson’s not even being looked at. No one’s saying, “Oh, that means Arn Gatston is an afterthought. He’s not going to be good.” Just means he didn’t need him yet. Charge didn’t even need Quinton in that game to go off. Will they need him later? I think yes. I think yes. And Jake, we talked about it preseason the weapons that this Chargers team has. Oh, does it feel different than a year ago? Good lord. And that’s without Naji Harris and Omari Hampton playing. That’s without KLS on the field. That’s Quinton with no targets. You see how easy it looks when you have a tight end like OG2. He’s only going to get better. He’s only going to get better. Uh Jake, remember back in college last year, I believe it was 103 targets, only three drops. That’s like a 98% catch rate. Well, no, that’s not true cuz he didn’t. All the targets were caught, but he only had three drops. Not too shabby. Um, anything else I want to talk about? Kamani Videll. We talked about him earlier. Great game for Kamani Videll. Honestly, it’s uh, you talk about just someone who’s been waiting patiently for their opportunity. And then to have the game that he had against Minnesota, getting only nine carries for 20 yards against the Colts just because you put yourself so far in a hole that you really had to just abandon the run game. And then again to get back to a Greg Roman offense that looks like a Greg Roman offense with Kamani Videl who’s a former sixround pick and you look at him just compared to build from a Naji Harris and Marian Hampton to what Kamani Videl is physically. It’s it’s a it’s a great thing Dan. It really is just to see him step up that way. He was running angry. He was running like someone owed him money. He was being physical for someone of his stature coming in there and laying the blocks and protecting for Justin Herbert. And you go back and you recap that 2024 draft now of Joe Hortiz. That’s pretty damn good. We’ll go we’ll get we’ll get the defense here in a bit with a boy shining. Yeah. I mean, you it’s not always starters that you’re going to get in the NFL draft, but when you need moments like this where there’s key depth pieces where starting opportunities like this come up and when they say that whole next manup mentality, I don’t think that there’s anybody who could personify that better right now than Kamani Vidella is doing. Your RB3 just went for a buck two out of three weeks. Technically, it’s RB4 because Hanask was also out for this game. Yep. Geez. And what has been the the big talk of late for, you know, these two injuries with with Harris and Hampton going down and everybody’s expecting the Chargers to go out and get a running back for the trade then line. Come on. Mel’s making an argument right now to say you don’t need to do [ __ ] Like, I got you. Yep. I agree. Hugo Boss, what’s up, guys? Set my alarm for this, but I slept through it. Nice. But I’m glad you made it. 38 minutes late, but you’re here. That’s all that matters. Oh, man. It’s all good. Jake, let’s get some of these uh voicemails here, and then we’ll talk about some of our friends here. Pay the bills. Uh, next voicemail, Jake, you can call into the voicemail anytime. 323927586. Next voicemail. San Diego Superchargers charge. Pause it down. Look all the feels. I just wanted it to take just like five seconds for that. Cool. All right, we’re good. Damn. Where’s that team been, guys? Where the hell has that team been the right again? What is the one thing that was a force multiplier that turned that Colts game into the Vikings game? That’s where the team’s been. It’s been on the bench last few weeks. That was a performance. Damn. Not going to lie, Sunday’s game absolute garbage. I’m telling you, the dichotomy between these two weeks could not be more drastic. This is why it’s frustrating being a a fan of this team because you always come back with like phrases like this. Where the hell has this team been? Like this is what they’re capable of. You know on paper it looks super talented. You know what they can do because you’ve seen it before. You’re just wondering to yourself like how the hell do we go from one side of I’m done with this team to five days later we’re back. It’s pretty much the life of any NFL fan. But for the Chargers specifically, good lord, it happens more often than not. It’s a Billy Crystal like hello. That’s what they like. That’s right. I mean, I I didn’t even recognize the team. Didn’t recognize the defense. Nothing. Yeah. Everybody was saying Jesse Mter was washed. I was one of those people. Yep. A lot of people putting some smoke on him. I Holy [ __ ] We need to do something about these injuries, guys. We seriously need to figure out what the hell is going on. Dwin James. I mean, we had what, three or four starters tonight go down. Thankfully, most of those are okay. Looks like Jer James low an angle sprain. Tar still seems to be fine. He talked about it post game. I think Tony Jefferson was fine. Came back in afterwards. Came back. Mhm. So Beckton Beckton was the big one that you don’t know if how long that’s going to linger. And you see on the sidelines trying to get back in, but something’s not right. So we’ll see. I mean, what the hell? But you know what? This team rallied. I saw Justin Herbert in true form tonight. He just was like, you’re not taking me down. Head diving into defenders. And then come on Videll, where did you come from? This is the Videl we’ve been waiting for and all of a sudden you decide to just turn it on tonight. Just breaking tackles, twisting and turning. What is it? Is it the old uniform? Did you feel the LT power? Damn, guys. Tonight felt good. 10 days. We got 10 days before we play Tennessee. Should be an easy win. Nothing’s easy in the NFL, but 10 days to get healthy. Joel Alt. Look at the difference that Herbert plays when Joe Alt is on that line. Let’s go, boys. Hell yeah. Bolt up. Vibes there. Felt great. Dan, if there was a petition to make the Navy unis the standard, I’d sign it. I don’t even care if it relates to a win or loss record. It just looks so damn good. Yeah. Sweet jumps. The Qualcomm vibes was amazing Thursday. Chico boss. I was getting major FOMO from what I heard. It felt like a game at Qualcomm. Yeah, I agree, man. I agree. Love it. San Diego Superchargers says Jeremy L with those units. Shout out to the Chargers staff, to the marketing team, to the design team. I mean, they had that thing looking beautiful. Brad Jake is here. Bong hits for everyone. 8:45 a.m. and Brad is token. Good for you, my friend. Man, uh, that felt good. And, um, we all know the record of the previous Navies. Not Great Bob. No, not Great Bob. But you see the likes of Rodney Harrison talks about LT and Rivers and Gates and kind of the old school unis and bringing back the Qualcomm and the 8bit stuff and you had to perform in that environment with those uniforms. So you you had to and to see them put on a show like that was just I think that’s being from San Diego and seeing this team kind of go through it and seeing them reach back into the San Diego bucket and be like we see you. We hear you. We want you here. Like you’re part of this. Some of them might not want it. I get it. It’s fine. But to see them come through in that uniform, I know it’s, you know, it’s an optics thing, but like that stuff matters to people. I really think it matters to people. I mean, if they went out there and shot the bed in those uniforms just like the yellow ones, like you don’t think they’ll be salty San Diego fans just dunking on it? Yes, some people want this team to still be in San Diego. And a lot of people would love it, but like right now they’re what, 90 minutes north. it whatever. Like we’re past that right now. And now this is like I know the Los Angeles Chargers, but in my opinion, this is starting to turn into like the Southern California Chargers. And winning cures a lot of those wounds for some they’ll never heal. But with a performance like that with a retro throwback, that’s how you start, man. Like that’s how you start. It’s so fun. Jake, we’ve gone 40 minutes, right? We haven’t even talked about Keenan and Lad much. Haven’t talked about this defense. Haven’t talked about the defense at all. Keenan and Lad literally look like they could do whatever they want. Literally whatever they want. Third and Keenan’s real. Lad is always open. You see him torch rain tearrop throw by just sidelines. Throw great catch. Unreal. Absolutely smokes Jeff Okuda. The last thing I think we should talk about for the offense, a mobile Justin Herbert is something to watch. And you saw it from the jump. You saw it from the first series extend the play that third down conversion to Keenan. You saw him tuck it. You saw him extend the pocket on bootlegs. You saw him climb the pocket and either deliver strikes or rush for explosives. He was on a mission. And after that weird throw there, there there were two bad plays that he had the entire game. There was the almost pick six and then there was the kind of bad decision in my opinion, even if it was not tipped. The crossfield interception. Yeah, that gave the interception gave Minnesota some momentum back for a little bit. Other than those two things, that was about as perfect of a quarterback performance as you can see in the modern NFL. I um at the end of the day, this was an incredible performance by this Chargers offense. Blocking was great. Pass protection, run blocking, all of it. It was it was phenomenal. It was Jake. Any else on the offense, Jake, before we talk about our friends over at Brunt? Bobby freaking heart. Way to turn it around. Way to turn it around. I get it. You’re first game that you’re starting against the Colts in three years and it showed five days later. That wasn’t bad. And again, I was even wondering the exact same thing when we got the news that Trey Pipkins was active. Then all of a sudden, I hear the I see the tweet drop from Poppers saying Bobby Hart’s in the starting lineup uh for you know warm-ups. I’m like everyone’s like face pal. Wait, what? Wait a minute. Trey P is just back active. Like, what’s happening? And this is now the the level of the mindset that we have become because of the injuries and everything like that. It’s like we’re we’re elated to see that Trey Pipkins is back starting right tackle. But Bobby Hart, show me more of that. I’m down for that. Please. Uh Jake, before we get to the defensive side, we’re voicemail, let’s talk about our friends over at Brunt. Oh, Dan. When it comes to Brunt, Brunt was tired of the work wear brands out there cutting corners. You know, you had to you had to work hard to be stuck on uncomfortable boots that don’t hold up. So, they built something better. Boots that are insanely comfortable and built for any job site. For a limited time, our listeners get up to $10 off at Brunt when you use the promo code LFB at checkout. Just head on over to bruntworkware.com. Use the promo code and I sorry I said LFB I meant Chargers LFB and you are good to go. And after that order they’ll ask you where you heard about Brunt and just do us a favor and tell them that Chargers unleashed sent you. First half offense was the best offense by EPA for any team all season. No punts either. Yeah, they had like 230 yards of offense something like that in the first half. I mean that offense was humming throughout. Um absolutely insane. The other part too, last thing on the offense, I’ll say middle eight. Huge. Huge. I was waiting for you to use that term after the lad lad maki touchdown and then how they came out and started just running the ball down Minnesota’s throat to end up getting the uh tack on the field goal in the middle eight. That’s how you work the middle eight. That’s great. It’s why you see so many teams when they win the coin toss defer because they want that middle eight opportunity. 100 in the middle eight. You’ll take it, Jake. Next voicemail. Let’s get some of these. Oh man. Ah, is this Brad Spicoli? It’s either It’s either he’s having a really good time or he’s he’s choking on on something. I don’t know what it is, but hopefully hopefully it’s all right. Maybe he got some, you know, water down went down the wrong pipe. Whatever it is, I’m expecting something good out of this. I kid a bit too hard tonight. Yeah. How y’all doing? Booer from South Florida. That’s We got We did it, guys. In prime time in the in the new Supercharger jerseys. The one I’m currently wearing right now. It’s great. It’s really quiet, but who cares? We won in prime time. This is what you need to get a get back game. And you did it with M with Mai going in and out of the lineup. Your second best offensive lineman in and out of the lineup. Your heart until your defense being down there to out in the first half to Darwin James is Oronda going back to back. Trey Harris with the touchdown. And even though even though he didn’t get the sack, um at least something I was watching kind of a pressure. I wish Troy died a bit more. It’s okay though. It’s fine. We won. On to the next one. Bullet top defense. Oh, sorry. I That was not a sound I was trying to hear on the soundboard over there. Let the train roll. Okay, that’s Dan Walkenstein is opening up the soundboards. I see. Okay, another one. What is that one? [Music] Where did you get all these all of a sudden? Is this what you spent your time on your vacation doing? Like, hey, I’m going to add a new element into Chargers Unleashed. I’m going to get myself a little bit of a soundboard and add some more audio. Fire the sirens. Fire the fog horns. Give me some train sounds. Okay, I don’t care what you need. Folks are back on board. Defense. That looks familiar. that looked like the Jesse Menter defense that we are accustomed to seeing. Uh you could tell postgame, pregame from the comments of Khalo Mack that he was pretty pissed from the standpoint that he was he was only limited to 12 snaps in that Indianapolis Colts game. Now, I get it. You don’t want to rush him out too early. You’re not entirely sure what his production is going to be coming off of that dislocated elbow, but in 12 snaps, the guy gets a sack in the Indianapolis Colts game and against one of the most productive running backs in the league when you really need some help on the edge defensively and you only kept him to 12 snaps. Look at what he was doing against the run game in this game. Khalil Mack was crashing the line and just giving no lanes for running backs, not allowing anybody to really bounce outside. The combination of Tuli Ooway and Khalil Mack, they all shined in this game. And how about Justin? Wow. I mean, we heard it, Dan, going all the way back to training camp. We even heard Jesse Mentor personally highlight Justin Abogi coming into this season and obviously you didn’t get a chance to see him much last year uh for a number of different reasons, but what a way to step up in the interior. I mean, he’s taking on double teams in order to get to Carson Wentz and put him on the ground. Dan, there was one sequence, I can’t remember if this was when he got his second sack or if it was just a quarterback pressure, but literally Justin and Bodby just took the offensive line and threw him to the ground. I mean, just absolutely manhandled him. All of a sudden, you’re starting to see this Chargers defensive line take over the trenches. We’ve talked so much about Tiarra Tart and being the physical presence there where Jamari Caldwell has had those some of those moments throughout this season drive. Yeah. But with Deshawn Hand out and other guys in the in the defensive line, you’re looking for someone else to come up and create pressure. And what a hell of a way to do it for Justin Bugby. Pardon? I’m having I’m having a I’m having my own choking problem over here. So, give me a second. Yeah, the the defense absolutely dominated from the jump. Um and again, we talked about earlier like you kind of felt bad for Carson Wentz, but you know, Jim Harbaugh company were just getting off on that. You know, they were uh Jamari Caldwell from the jump absolutely wrecking shop. Uh Dion Henley, Tiger Tart as well. You know, they they made Carson Wentz’s life a living hell from the first series on. Denzel Perryman shooting the gap. He was absolutely rocked by Dan Henley and Dur that first series, too. Uh forced to punt. I think they put on three or four first possessions. Not bad. Not bad. And honestly, the fact that the Chargers defense gave up one touchdown in this game and the one touchdown they gave up, it was on a short field. It was on a short field in which they stopped him on fourth down. Benjamin St. Jqus Benjamin St. Juice had an unnecessary penalty. It was a penalty. Completely unnecessary. Elijah Mullen had it covered. The penalty didn’t matter. Dan Henley rocked. Carson went on that. Extends the series. Then they get the touchdown. That’s the only way they scored a touchdown this entire game was extended because of a penalty on fourth down and because they had a field goal that was made that they had legal procedure because there was 12 men on the field and they went from a field goal to make it 24-6 24-3 they go back to try to get a touchdown instead that like that’s all of this weird dichotomy that got to a touchdown an utter dominant performance and he talked about the trio Adafay Tuli and Cleo Mack. Those three shined. Dan, I want to highlight Cam Hart. I thought Cam Hart had a great game. His main responsibility was c covering Justin Jefferson this game. Justin Jefferson, who still hasn’t scored a touchdown since week one, by the way. But again, you’re talking about a Chargers defense who was virtually just soft zone, allowed any teams to do whatever they want. They’ve allowed explosive plays through this last four game skid. They’re coming into this with Addison, Jefferson, and a Hawinson that can definitely show up and do what they want to do. We’ve seen this Minnesota offense capable of that. I thought Cam Hart had two fantastic pass breakups covering Justin Jefferson in this game. You saw Tarhe starting to come off the uh on the corner blitz and where they were utilizing him. It just fell back to that vintage type of Jesse Menter defense with RJ Mickens coming into the lineup after Derwin James and Tony Jefferson go down to get your first career interception in this game. It’s just guys all of a sudden showing up when they needed to show up. And and once again, you can look at this as, you know, from one perspective of being frustrated to say where has this been for the past month? or you use this as the catalyst to say this was the moment that everybody came back to refocus and when you can utilize pieces like this Dan again we’re talking about Cam Hart and Tarhee still you once again you highlight this Joe Hortiz 2024 draft class you talk about RJ Mickens who was a late round draft pick this season having to step into the shoes of Derwin James and Tony Jefferson like are you kidding me that those Those aren’t easy shoes to fill in a crucial game for your team. Think about that 2024 draft Super Princess here. Ortiz hit on like six picks in 2024. That’s crazy. Like think about that for a second. Go through those names that Joe Ortiz drafted in 2024. Joe all clearly previous regime never hit on anything close to that in a decade. Joe Lad McConi, third round pick, linebacker. He’s been crippled with injuries. So, we’ll see. And that was honestly the one that I was most confident about at the time. So, we’ll see. Oh, boy. Me now in season two. Look, a different player. Tarheep, still Cam Hart look phenomenal. Kamani Videll, hello. RJ Mickens, hello. That’s seven. Well, you combined players. You combined two drafts together on that last one. But yes, I’m sorry. You’re right. That’s sick. You’re right. AJ Micks is here. I mean, that’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. You’re lucky. You’re lucky if you can find two to three Impact players like immediately on your team, let alone what Dan just uh rattled off to say that’s five in a single draft. And four of them are starters. Like, are you kidding me? That is that is a tremendous hit rate. Six guys making impact plays already in that draft class. Absolutely unreal. I’m glad you mentioned Cam Hart. The highest graded defender in this Chargers team week eight was Cam Hart. 92.4 for defensive grade 91.5 coverage grade targeted five times just two receptions for 12 yards two receptions 12 yards welcome back Denzel Pman felt him from the jump it’s different it’s a different run defense when he’s there I’m telling you I mean I will say this it’s also different when you’re going up against Minnesota’s line let’s call spade a spade to Indianapolis’s line I don’t give a [ __ ] I know. I get it because it was great to see him shoot the gap the way that he was in this game. Sure. Again, it just felt like everybody was playing pissed off and you kind of needed to be your your back was against the wall. Your only win in the last four weeks had been against a one- win team. You needed to come out and you needed to remind everybody to say, “Hey, this is who we were the first three weeks of the season. This is what we’re capable of.” And I’m just talking about defensively. Not talking offense here because I’ve said it a number of times till I blew in the face. During that four game skid, you could historically from what we’ve come to know from Jesse Mentor’s defense like that was the crutch that you can lean on to get you the ball back to give Justin Herbert another opportunity. And when you’ve seen this whole skid over this last month of them with uncharacteristic penalties, some having 14 in a game, mainly on the defense, which is just insane, uh playing with no communication, allowing explosive plays, can’t set the edge in the run game. I mean, just looking complete polar opposite of themselves. This was a return to form for Jesse Mentor and those defensive players. This was a probably the most exciting component of this game for me was watching Carson Wentz in hell. And we we so dark I know watching Carson Wentz in hell. But but listen to this for a second. We talk about the defensive front, right? We talk about production. We talk hear Khalil Mack talk about like enough talking like we need action, right? How about this for a defensive front? Tuli, Cle Mack, Justin Aborgby, Adafar Calbell. Those five guys. 20 Tart 20 pressures between those five alone. Crazy. Four sacks. Uh let’s see. 4 8 9 10 13 14 hurries. That’s just on your defensive front. That’s what wins football games. That is a Jesse Mentor defense. That’s not including the Derwin James pressure. It’s not including the Tarheep Sales subs. It’s not including it’s it that is just those five dudes getting that much pressure. Cam Hart, Cleo Mack, Denzel Perryman. I mean the list goes on. Honestly, Dante Jackson had a great game. That game was phenomenal. That is Oh, I like that. Sweet jump says wincing went. I like that. Yeah. And literally he was wincing like you felt bad. You talked about like the brace and even on that pass I did feel bad honestly man like your quarterback is literally writhing in pain. Yeah. On the field. Was it that that tip pass by Tarheep still I believe where it looked like he barely even touched his arm and then WZ is just dejected. It was awful. Dan, uh, you know, I know we’re we don’t have to necessarily worry about Chargers football today. Tom Pelisero with a tweet right now. Oh, I don’t like the I don’t like your reaction to this. Tarheep Still, who left Thursday night’s win with a knee injury, suffered an MCL sprain that is likely to sideline him two to four weeks. That’s tough. You hope it’s on. I mean, you listen to Tarhe’s comments after that game and he was he was very confident that he was not going to be missing any time. He did not think it was that big of a deal. Um hopefully it’s on the lesser side of things and so hopefully you can see him return back in in two weeks. Luckily for the Chargers in terms of their schedule, I really don’t even believe that it’s a game that you need Tarheep still or D James for that matter to win against Tennessee. And you get a little bit of you get a little bit of a mini buy here, which is good. But once again, here we go with the the Chargers injury news that you just hate to see. That’s a bummer. Super Princess, I hate to be that guy who is positive on Greg Roman, by the way. Super Princess, I hate to be that guy. Who would have thought? I hate to be that guy who is positive on Greg Roman, but our offense is ranked third in yards per game with half a team out at some point. That’s not too bad. It’s not too bad, but when you think about it in terms of I guess you have to look at it in terms of the Chargers having to play from behind in certain situations, especially in that Indianapolis game. Like they rolled the the stats for Justin Herbert coming into Thursday saying that he leaves the league in passing. Well, yeah, no [ __ ] It’s like he’s he’s had three from come from behind wins already this season. you know, goes careerhigh in the Indianapolis game, albeit in a loss, and then has another spectacular performance on Thursday, but when you can start putting your foot on other teams from an offensive standpoint, and just keep the gas rolling, like, hell yeah. Hell yeah. It looks good. Did you see um I think it was a third defensive series, uh the one that they got like the 54 yard field goal, Minnesota did. First off, Pman had the interception in his hands. He read that perfectly. Just dropped it. But did you see Tulie with that one arm no arm tackle on the running back? Oh, dude. Go back and check this out. It was sick. A little nerve-wracking at times, but like go back and watch that rewind. He’s literally getting washed out. He just turns around, not even looking at the play, grabs the running back, pulls him down for the tackle. He wasn’t even in the play. Unreal. Defense was dominant, right? You saw Tari with the blitz, batted ball, forced a punt. I mean, the We talked about the pressure from that that defensive front, right? Like it was just it was thing of beauty. Mack gets a sack, Tulie gets a sack, OA gets a sack, a boy gets sacks. I mean, it absolutely insane. I mean, Mack is, you mentioned it, wrecking shop in the run game. Crazy. The the defense just looked unreal. And then to top it off with a Mickens interception at the end, you give a bit of confidence with that secondary. That’s huge, man. It’s huge. This was as collective of a win as you can get. Feels good. You mentioned it. That stretch coming up is a big one. You talk about in my opinion, I always said 10 wins gets you in. You got five. This stretch is a great time to bank some. Yeah. If you can go three and one, like I feel pretty confident this team is in the playoffs. You go three and one, give yourself two more games to win that backstretch. Man, remember coming into this game, I think the Chargers were just under 60% of making the playoffs, and that was before their win on Thursday Night Football. Thursday night’s game was huge in a multitude of different ways. In a multitude of different ways. Brad says, “Rookies are stepping up. Sweet jumps. Will this performance transfer to Tennessee?” Again, like there have been so there have been opportunities. that Giants game was ripe for the taking and it would have absolutely shot this team off like a rocket and then it crumbled. We’re at that same point now, right? They’ve got the momentum back. They’re getting folks healthy. Vibes are good, right? Accountability in the coaching staff, accountability with the players, aside from Poseman. This is another opportunity. This is like a show me. All right, you guys are back. I will say I am pretty excited to go up against Mike McCoy. Look, like six and three given what this team has gone through would be a huge accomplishment. Pretty good. But five and four, like five and four and six and three are very different when you look at the back end of the schedule. You got winnable games here. You got Tennessee, you got Jacksonville, you got Pittsburgh, I mean, three three and one should be the goal. I mean, hell, four and0 should be the goal, but man, uh, let’s get to some more voicemails here, Jake. Next voicemail. See what they got to say. What’s up, guys? Matthew, that’s how you win a football game, baby. Let’s go. Complete football team. Great. Great performance today, man. The uniforms freaking amazing. Love those uniforms, man. Awesome. Uh Justin Herbert, shout out to you, man. Uh but come on, man. You got to start running the ball more, man. Like, this game, love it, man. You running the ball, man. Keep doing that, man. You know, if your own line sucks, run the damn ball. You know, you shouldn’t have Al Michaels telling you to run the ball and stuff. You know, you should you know better, man. You’re a runner. Come on. But other than that, defense played amazing. Uh, you know, the quarterback, yeah, Justin Herbert played amazing. Ron Gaston, and we got ourselves a tight end, guys. Woo boy, that dude’s badass. Thank you. So, great win, man. I hope Doran James okay, man. It’s so annoying to see his high ankle sprains, man. Hope he’s okay. Hope he’s not flung low ankle sprain, but still too out for too long. But great win. Um, we’ll have to see next week. Just the signs, man. But awesome win. Love you guys. Both up, baby. Talk. Yeah. Hopefully this tar still injury is not a precursor to what any news we may hear from Darwin James. Again, initial reports the day following, so on Friday was that Joe uh Derwin James had a low ankle sprain and because of the mini by week, there was talk that he may miss little to no time at all. So, time will tell on that. It’s a It’s a bummer for Tarheep still considering his vibes after that game and all things considered. Uh, and people had already put it in the chat here, but 100% Nico Reed should see the field next week against the Tennessee Titans, which Jake guy, I think it’s a I think it’s a good game for a Nico Reed coming out party that’s not the preseason. Yeah. And again folks on that choo choo train for Ronnie Gatson added soundboard. Oh man. Folks on that command I train. [Music] Are we back on the Jesse Metro train? Where we at? I mean, I don’t see how you couldn’t be with the defense performing like that. You just hope that the train doesn’t all of a sudden get derailed or, you know, go over a rock and the train falls off the tracks or pushing the Delorean to 88 miles per hour and then it just goes off. You don’t want that. No. Robert says, “I’m not saying that the Minnesota game was a must-win game, but it was a must-win. It was a must-win.” It was a must must win. the vibes after that Colts game with this fan base. If you would have went out on Thursday Night Football and squandered another one to to only win one out of five, I mean how you started off the season 3 and 0, you would have been in really really bad shape. Not just from what the fan base was feeling, but the vibes in the locker room just would have been out. I mean, honestly, and not to say that they would have given up on Harab, but just to say like, hey, what what is it going to take for us to turn it around and hey, sometimes it takes getting your ass whipped to getting things to in gear. And yeah, Joel has a lot to do with certain things like that. 100%. 100%. And people are getting back to the nostalgia of Qualcomm. Uh, I can’t pronounce your name. I’m so sorry. Hi. We Please help me if I’m getting that wrong. The crazy train for kickoff was so nostalgic. 100%. Gaton actually looked a little bit like Winslow than Gates. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think Gatson looked like Gadston. Like that’s him. Like he’s doesn’t have to look like you put him in a box, right? Like it’s so great watching Gasson ball out. Absolutely love it. Uh that Colts game had everyone inside the locker room, outside the locker room, fans, analysts, everyone questioning, who is this Chargers team. And the answer was going to be this week. If they lost that Vikings game, people would have put the stamp on that team branded as advertised. Nothing’s changed. next. But this answer brought back into the question of are they contender? How good can they look if they’re healthy? Are they back? Is Justin Herbert an MVP candidate? Like that that’s where we’re at. So these momentum swings, right? These happen throughout the NFL, but like it was certainly a turning point. And there was so much that could have gone worse if the Chargers team lost that game. Super Princess says, “Vikings fans were devastated. I’ve never seen a fan base that crushed after a loss. It was kind of funny.” Were you at the game? If you were, that’d be great. Next voicemail, Jake. W Bob from Boston. Oh god. Here we go. Super Bowl. Yay. Oh, we already have this one. This is old. Oh, okay. Sorry. I was ready for it. Sorry, Bob. Skull. Skull. Well, the Vikings definitely got scold by the Chargers tonight, baby. This band from Memphis. What’s up, guys? Herbert is officially Brian Flores’s kryptonite. I heard in another Vikings podcast that he actually changed his coverage scheme last time he faced Herbert. Well, doesn’t matter. It didn’t work again. But what a game by the Chargers from all facets, especially on a short week after the thumping that we took. Way to answer back. We got uh the Titans next. Hopefully we can keep this role going. Uh concern about Duran. Hopefully he’s he’s okay. The secondary still stepped up even with him out. RJ Mickens coming up with an interception. Cam Hart was all over the place. Hopefully we can get the dub next week. And if anyone’s going to Nashville, hope to see you there. Bolt up. Let’s Nashville will be fun. I’ve heard that place is great. Oh yeah, folks. Nashville, have fun. Thanks, Vice. How’s it going, guys? The day after. Great win. I got to catch the game at work. Um, defense really stepped up even with Derwin James going down and Tarhee like keeping them to 10. Amazing. How about Joe Alt coming back into the lineup and just completely changing the offensive line. Like yeah, they still got some here and there, but like man, it makes such a huge difference to have that man back. He’s a captain for a reason. Um, and Adaf let’s [ __ ] go. Going back to the defense coming in in another sack and another game. Ball top and let’s get Tennessee next week. Guys, have a good day. Side note, Dan, I would love to hear this caller talk at the right after Daniel Wade from Locked Oners because that sounded so similar to one another. I’m like, Wade, was that you? Hello. It’s literally has the the right tamber. Honestly, just like Wade, are you sure this isn’t some doppelganger? What are you trying to prank chargers unleashed right now? What’s going on? Maybe it’s him. Who knows? Chargers unleash hotline was going crazy. Let’s get to the next one. Jake and Dan Shane out here in Texas. Well, back on track. I hope wouldn’t be a Charger win though without losing an allp pro player. We need like an undertone of like um like Yeah, but Wild West theme. No, no, no. I’m more thinking like got the Wild West out here. I’m talking about Texas. They got the accent. I mean, it’s it’s perfect. Well, you’re jamming on the soundboards right now, Dan. So, I’m sure you could get to work. All of a sudden, you’re going to create like a new theme song for wherever someone’s calling in from. I’m like, “Hey, let’s get some South Carolina vibes in here.” Someone’s calling from Friendship Maine. Like, by all means. Don’t really know what that one was for, but [Music] that should be obviously after a Chargers loss. What the hell have you been doing these past two weeks since we’ve done a show? I’m having too much fun. You know what Chargers fans heart sounded like when the interception was thrown by Justin [Music] kind of that last soundboard that was apparently Carson Wentz when he was down on the ground driving in pain. So here Jeez, Dan, you’re having way too much fun. And the fact that you all of a sudden decided to discover this during the show now with the ambulance taking cars to the hospital afterwards. Jeez, Dion. Next voicemail. Oh my god. No. Oh, same one. Love to see Herbo spreading wealth, dishing dimes out to the playmakers, of which there are men. Can’t you just see like tumble weeds going through like now all of a sudden this is the creative juices flowing? That’s all great, Dan. Let’s just get through the poor guy’s voicemail. Finally, Jesse redeemed as as we all knew he would. At least this may cool down some of that dead coach scuttlebutt and we can keep him for a minute. But the announcers Oh my god. Just how Michael’s did this clown. You know, Al’s Al’s at the point of his career. We have to understand this. Al’s at Al’s at the point of his career when you think about the the peaks of where Al Michaels has been which obviously just one of the best of all time but to now understand exactly being on Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime not to say that he’s lost anything but I honestly think that when he he literally is speaking his feelings. I don’t think that he’s saying this to be frustrated, but it’s just like, damn, I wish I could have watched a better game than just a thumping on Thursday Night Football, considering where I used to be. You know, I legitimately think he’s pissed, but at the same time, I don’t think he gives a [ __ ] for for where he’s at in his career right now. So, say what you will about Al Michaels. But hey, I mean, if you were in his shoes after having his story career, like, wouldn’t you too want to see a better game for someone who’s trying to not be biased one side or the other? Yeah. Has a purple stained chin from them Viking nuts, man. Could Good morning. Happy Sunday. This dude was stroking. He was hing on it all night long, dude. I mean, he was talking about this game ain’t over at three minutes and we have four four scores. What the hell are you talking about, dude? Yeah. For reference, when the Chargers kicked their last field goal, he then was making Joseph say, “Okay, now we can definitively say it’s over.” And honestly, I think that that was because of what took place on Sunday during the Giants and the Broncos game where you’re just like, “Okay, there that game should have been over about five times and it wasn’t.” Oh, but I get it. Look, you’re in dead air time. You know the game’s over. You’re You’re just trying to pass the time. I mean, these guys make a living just excruiating the charge for some The last thing I thought we were going to talk about in this in this episode was just flamethrowing Al Michaels right now. Damn reason. Okay, wrong. They did it. I mean, these bastards had the nerve to embarrass us by showing that Super Bowl druming we took. Oh, I was spanking these dudes. Disrespectful. Anyway, real reason I called is that last time I checked in. Oh, now now the real reason you called. Okay, we got the Al Michaels taste out of your mouth. Now the real reason you called is what? I called out too and I said he had to be a closer. I’d like to think maybe he heard that show and lit a fire. Broke come out smoke in the very next game, you know. But I did call him out by his name. So Tulie, if you’re listening, brother, I apologize. And to make this right, I vow I will perform your traditional tong and dance. Think it’s a sippy towel. Similar to the hawk out here. I’ve dressed in a hippie raider costume on the boat during halftime in front of the entire world. Here’s what I asked is three things. You got to g me the Mississippi. Obviously, you got to get him two tickets in the field and get a supply of that cute little toss. Make sure there’s plenty of room in the crotch, please. I’d appreciate that. [Music] Oh, talk about off the rails. Off the tracks. What the hell has happened? Man, Jake thoughts, I don’t have any, Dan. I don’t have any. You know, normally Bob from Boston comes up with some pretty amazing visuals that he’s able to talk about and his euphemisms that he creates, but that is uh that is a new level for Chargers Unleashed. Let me tell you why. Oh god. Jake and Dan Shane out here in Texas. Oh, can’t do. I was going to say, you going to replay the damn thing? Hell no. Brand from San Diego. What’s going on, boys? So, I made it home before calling you guys this time, and uh my daughter’s anxiously waiting for me to take them for a walk. Poor dogs. [Applause] We’re gone, boys. You a minute. The dogs can wait. I got to call into the hot. Exactly. Where the [ __ ] has that timing been the last [ __ ] three weeks? That bean? Where is that team bean? I mean, sorry for the f bombs, but um it’s there. It’s always been there. It’s it’s like uh I feel like we like mismatch have mismatched the last two or three weeks. Like we’re clearly capable of the talent is there even with a depleted team mostly offense. Okay, that’s a little tough. Background noise a little rough, but uh yeah, where has that team been? That was that was the vibes. Next one. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger. Though one of my favorites of all time. Where’s this going? Oh, I know exactly where it’s going. and lay my vengeance upon thee. [Applause] I don’t know if it’s Herbo having I was like, was that just it? You were just going to record Samuel Jackson’s monologue from Pulp Fiction and leave that on the voicemail. It’s like, is there is that it or is there a person here? Okay, good. There is a person here. But whatever he’s doing, he needs to keep it up. Tammani Herbo running like dogs. We got Lad Arande looking good out there. Trey getting in the end zone. Beautiful. Hopefully our boy Derwin’s good with a few days off before next game. Hopefully Beckton gets healthy and stays healthy. Welcome back Joe. Big big game by the Bolts. Bolt up, baby. Vibes are back, baby. Vibes are back. Vibes are back for at least a week. For at least a week, you know that the vibes are back. Oh, man. Oh, the things just go on forever. Next voicemail. Hey, this is Connor. I’m all the way from uh New Jersey over on the East Coast here. Joys stayed up for this game. I’m uh I’m 17 years old and that might have been the most resounding Chargers win I’ve ever watched. I mean, there’s argument for sure. You know, I thought that game was over when Herbert threw that pick uh and Minnesota scored that touchdown, but then we go down the field and we score. And I must say, I’m a little bit worried for Derwin, but that was a perfect win. You couldn’t really script it any better. I didn’t have big uh hopes coming into this game from Indianapolis, but I mean the way that the Chargers just came down and we won that game and Herbert looked pretty good apart from that first interception, but it got overturned. I mean that was a horrible start, but really turn around, finish that. Great game. Glad and uh you know, hopefully this continues over to next week in Tennessee. Tennessee should be a little bit of a cakewalk hopefully. But yeah, don’t say it. Here we go. Don’t say it, man. Talk about this team just taking the bull by the horns, just snatching momentum anytime Minnesota had a chance, right? Like you talk about that first potential pick six turns out to be overturned. Chargers go down, score a touchdown. Later on the game, Chargers give up that touchdown, make it 14-point lead. They answer right back. answer right back 31-10 with a wrap. Chargers offense was humming the entire time. I mean, the the one part that I find kind of fun to think about now is you’re starting to see Trey Harris momentum. Like, we saw no targets to Quinton Johnson. Hear about it. We’re we’re barely seeing Trey Harris targeted, but he’s in the game so much because of his run blocking. Talked about Ronnie Gatson, talked about Lad, talked about Keenan, Kam Adele showing up, no mention of KLS right now or Martin Hampton’s coming back at some point. Like that’s a lot for Justin. And now we’re seeing Justin scramble with his legs. They’re saying, “F it, I got this.” Like this is a different offense, man. But again, like the foolish multiplier is Joe Alt. Jake, anything else top of mind want to talk touch on this game? No, I think we actually covered everything, Dan. Honestly, it was a it was a good win all the way around all three phases of the game. You just hope that this is really kind of the spark to bring you back to take momentum here, especially over these next four weeks in this stretch. Um, this is week eight in the books. you can finally start talking about the Chargers have their buy here in a couple weeks and it’s pretty well fit in between what their schedule is over these next couple weeks before you really are going to get on a serious serious finish to this to the season. Obviously against your divisional opponents once again you’re going to have to go up against Dallas, which I know defensively you could say whatever you want, but that offense can move. So, you got to try to stack as many as you can with the roster that you can before you get guys back healthy to finish out the season. So, it’s it was a much needed victory in many different ways for this team. And uh it’s a good first step in the right direction in terms of getting guys back healthy and potentially going on a nice run here. Beef tallow boy the young core gadston Vidal Trey Mickens still heart OD oh wait these man lad alt you throwing a boy in there as well yeah that young core is looking good and oh by the way Justin Herbert at the helm like that’s that feels great um Jake I think this was a good one Chargers get back on the on the horse they ride to victory 37 to 10 over the Vikings. Next up, Chars get a little bit of rest, mini buy, then are playing in Nashville against the Titans. See if they can kind of capture momentum, lightning bottle, so to speak, get to six and three. Uh we will talk about that game here as we continue on. But until then, enjoy your host of football action this Sunday, Monday, and know that the Chargers have already won their game. Let’s hope for some AFC West losses. and we will talk to you next time on the next Chargers unleashed. Bye everybody. Enjoy the week. Bye. [Music]
