It's not about right or left. It's about true vs. false and kindness over hate. Those things can't be dictated through an election but everyone has to live that way if they want for themselves.
Today is the last Charger game they will be expected to win for a while. They were slightly favored against the Steelers and more so versus Arizona and lost those. This will definitely be a test. We didn't do anything at the trade deadline, although I know we made calls. I'm not saying Simi was a top flight receiver, but he had a huge catch this year and has been way more impactful than we had any reason to expect. After the Cleveland game (and the hit against the Saints), more attention is being paid to how many hits Herbert is taking. The Browns game was insane. It was like Pittsburgh in that I was terrified he'd be knocked out. He's strong, but they can't leave him exposed like that. We're not going to have him when we need him most if that keeps up. Myles Garrett is good, but that was a disaster. What was worse was that Alt and Slater were getting torched.
Mack may or may not be able to go after his groin injury but is it reasonable to expect this defense to keep opposition down like this? Like that brief moment when we played Miami in 2023 the defense is playing better than the sum of its parts. I was about to join the "Gilman got paid and now sucks" train and then he had a great game. Last year's Tennessee game was a heartbreaker. I truly feel like the reason fans don't quite show up in full force is these types of games. If we win a game convincingly then I think they will be a little more confident when we play all these teams in prime time. As I write this I see KC is losing to Denver. I want them to lose but do I want Denver to be the team to do it? Another example of me needing to unplug.
It's safe to say that today's game is really needed for morale overall. To rely on the Chargers to provide a distraction is probably too much to ask. But there's always reason for hope.
If there's any message in my rambling today it's that. Gotta have hope.
JIC,
RLW
My hope was to go 2-1 on this homestand. Halfway there. Bengals are going to score more than 20 points. So that streak will definitely fall.