O Comeco

I believe that means "beginning" in Portuguese. That seems appropriate for today. That applies also this throwback shot from 2004. This is me throwing my Chargers beads onto Archie Manning's lawn. Yeah, I thought tucking in my shirt was a good idea.

I haven't posted since the Rashawn Slater injury. Obviously, it was rough to see. Right after the preseason opener in Canton, spirits were high. I'm sure you know where you were when you saw that Slater was carted off. I know the second I saw on Twitter that he was injured I immediately accepted that he'd be gone for the season. That's frustrating, especially when you see guys in Philadelphia and Houston that were carted off in training camp and are okay. It sucks, but it's the outcome that we've seen time and time again with this team. When it's not the case repeatedly (or even once) then maybe I won't catastrophize every time something goes south.

Of course, this was also right after Slater signed his extension which makes it even more sickening. Does this mean I believe we're cursed? No, but clearly I expect things not to go their way. I guess it's not a curse, but it's sure not optimism.

The Chargers may have been wary of Slater's injury history during the negotiations. We'll never know. Giving him the deal was the right call. It's awful that he could conceivably not play again or at the same level. However, if they hadn't given him the extension we'd all be ripping the Organization. It sounds like it was a freak injury that couldn't be expected or prevented. I did read somewhere that it there must have been some sort of structural weakness beforehand. I assume the Chargers gave him some tests and it came out that they took out an insurance policy. It ran in ESPN though I am not sure what they recouped after the injury.

I'll say what I did once I saw that Slater was injured. He's not coming back. This is the team we've got. They opted to draft receivers and a tight end at the expense of linemen. We may never get the true story on the "Zion Johnson Experiment" at center. He played in the aforementioned Detroit preseason game and seemed to do okay. At least that's how Popper had described it at the time. There were some shaky snaps but his blocking seemed okay. The entire offseason they talked about working him into the position. As early as the draft, they were talking about it. When they brought back Bozeman, it was clear he had to "win" the job. I use the quotes since it seemed like Harbaugh pulled the plug pretty abruptly and Bozeman was restored as the starter. Right before they announced it, Bozeman talked on the podium about the competition. Of course, with Becton injured for the majority of the summer we only saw the exact same line that we had last year. Actually, we had Slater. My point is we have no idea what the line will look like until tomorrow night.

I guess that applies to the entire team. People have every right to question us even before the Slater injury. Of course all of the scrutiny will come down on Herbo. Against the Chiefs, he's given them a lead time and time again they couldn't hold. But the last time he played was in Houston (not counting the Saints preseason), so he's gotta take the criticism. I'm pretty sure he's okay with it. I don't know if he's really dating Madison Beer. That story disappeared pretty quickly. If he wasn't in Brazil, I'm sure someone would ask him about it.

I was worried as was every Bolthead when he pushed to play last month. Of course, the biggest injury was to Johnston. Again, I don't wish the guy ill. However, I thought to myself when it happened that it was the only way they would take him out of the starting lineup. In fact, if he dropped a newborn at midfield I don't think they'd bench him. Then again, Harbaugh never throws his players under the bus publicly. But he also doesn't play guys who don't perform. I just asked Popper on his Substack stream why they keep forcing him in the lineup, especially at X. He doesn't track the ball well at all. We saw it in Houston and I wasn't sure he really knew where the ball was when he got cheap shotted against the Rams.

Pop suggested that KLS or Harris would most likely take his spot during the season. But can they really afford a crucial drop against KC? I actually forgot that Dicker kicked the ball out of bounds right after we took the lead in Arrowhead. He also needs to prove he can perform in the clutch.

When we beat the Chiefs in 2021, it felt like a huge moment even in September. Mahomes and Kelce were uncharacteristically classy in defeat and sought Herb out to congratulate him after. Staley should have run the ball near the goal line to make sure KC didn't have time to respond. However, he went with his "gangster quarterback" and the touchdown to Mike Williams. KC got a hail mary shot and the Chargers may have gotten away with a PI. Mahomes' annoying wife was Tweeting about it a year after we couldn't hold the lead in Herbert's first start in 2020. You remember that video, FAITHFUL READER. She was shreiking from a luxury box during COVID.

I don't need to remind you of all the losses to this team. It took miracles even before Mahomes became the starter. Winning tomorrow wouldn't make us Super Bowl Champs, but it would really make us all feel better. It's scary to think McCoy and Lynn won in Arrowhead in two of those aforementioned games. Harbaugh has his shot, even if it's a "home game."

I'm going to leave it at that for now. I'll have a lot more to say (as I am sure we all will) once we see what's what tomorrow. With the Raiders to follow on a Monday we'll have time to rant or gush beforehand.

JIC,

RLW