The Answer Is D, All Of The Above

It's a line from "Freaks of the Industry," by the Digital Underground. I didn't expect anyone to get the that. I was listening to it hours after the game last Friday Night.

I could write a ton about my experience last week, FAITHFUL READER. I was at the Gov't Mule/Tedeschi Trucks Band show in beautiful Saratoga while watching. Admittedly, this was not how I expected to watch the first game of the year. I bought the tickets thinking that it would give me plenty of time to drive home to Long Island the following day before the Bolts kicked off for the first time. It never occurred to me that we'd play Friday. Honestly, I forgot that was even a thing even though the Eagles played Green Bay in the same spot last year. However, it DID occur to me that my "record" while watching the Chargers in an alternate location is pretty good. I had to listen to the 2009 Giants game comeback on the radio while taking the bus out of the Meadowlands to get to MSG to see Springsteen play The River in its entirety for the first time. If you were a reader from back then I fully admitted that the possibility would exist of that very scenario and I was okay with it as long as they won.

In 2021, I was at Heinz Field, or whatever it's called now, as the Stones played for the first tour without Charlie Watts. Simultaneously, we were playing the Raiders on MNF. We won that one and my post show experience was excellent as a result. So it was weird to be watching an entire game while at a show, but it once again worked out in our favor. I know, I don't believe in curses regarding the Chargers. I do believe that we have every right to expect things to go South given our history.

This is what made this one game versus this one team so different. The game was filled with times that the Chargers so often fold. The Chiefs, especially Travis Kelce, have never been quite as good during the regular season as they are against the Chargers. I don't need to remind you of that, obviously. But every time the Chargers got to a spot where they usually fall apart, the craziest thing happened.

They didn't.

Greg Roman and Quentin Johnston have both been huge targets of criticism from me. Roman seemed to be unimaginative last year even though we had no one besides Ladd to truly rely on. That's where Johnston comes in. To his credit, he came back from that Baltimore game and put together a better season overall than anyone (especially me) thought he was capable of. The playoff game, however, left me too angry for words. He couldn't get open, track the ball, or hold onto it. Throughout the summer, I questioned why he was listed as a starter with KLS and Harris on the roster. Like the Chargers, I was happily wrong for one week at least.

Even KC said they were shocked at how much the Chargers threw. Especially without Slater for the year, we were all terrified how the pass protection would hold. Even when we got the ball on our goaline after going up 7-0, we were throwing. Actually, they should have kept throwing since the drive stalled when they went to the run. The pass blocking was much better, but Hampton (and eventually Harris) got the yards that mattered. The first touchdown, like so many big plays came on a 3rd down. KC got called for a late hit on Herbert on it. It was iffy, but when does that ever happen? I mean they hammered Rivers in the 2018 game at Arrowhead, not to mention the play that injured 10 in 2022.

This was on the ferry from CT before the game. At the time, it seemed liked Jackson could have picked Mahomes. Watching during the week, it was closer than I thought. It was probably worth a challenge. In the "mini movie," I heard Daniel Jeremiah say that it had to eventually break our way against these guys. He's right, but we needed to make it happen. Herbert was amazing and the talking heads on the morning shows were silenced for a week. I know he doesn't care about that kind of stuff, but he does care about winning. We all know how many times he left this team with a lead and saw the defense lose it.

Keenan was outstanding, even if he had a drop early on. That was a problem in 2023, but like the team itself he made the plays when it mattered. Johnston probably should have caught the touchdown that went off his hands, but I wouldn't call it a drop. Matt Smith made a comment on his first big gain that it was "all YAC." That is how Johnston should be used, getting across the field. However, that Baltimore drop shows why that is tough. Nonetheless, he came up with a second touchdown that also had a KC penalty on it.

I saw people complaining there was a hold on that play. Again, KC doesn't ever get to complain about calls not in their favor. Immediately, I saw people posting photos of Nick Bosa getting held with two hands in the Super Bowl. Taylor never gets called, although he did get some flags on Friday. I mean, when Worthy went out I actually heard the sideline reporter use the exact time he went to the locker room. Did she know she wasn't reporting from Dallas on 11/22/63? I know KC is the NFL's meal ticket, but come on.

Again, it's one game and we are already at the eve of the next one against the fucking Raiders. But for one night, the Chargers flipped the script. Kelce, like Dennis Rodman, tries to get under the other team's skin. Tart shouldn't have taken the bait, but we played through it. I didn't know until someone pulled up the clip with the Chargers radio audio that Pacheco literally threw a punch and Derwin was trying to get the refs to call it. If he hadn't been miked up, maybe no one would have noticed. The refs didn't.

Johnston should have had the first down but didn't turn up field. However, Hampton made it moot on 4th. Obviously, that was a huge mistake on his part to run out of bounds. I loved that Marshawn Lynch helped cheer him up. Obviously, Harbaugh didn't like it but he doesn't call guys out publicly. He even put in on the coaches to tell Hampton what to do. I don't think he believes that privately but Hampton was ready when it mattered.

I read somewhere before the game that the Chargers had a league-leading amount of big plays against them. Maybe it was Popper talking about "splash plays."

Well, they gave up two huge plays to Mahomes. Just like the Hampton play, it would be right after them that they usually collapse. I was reminded of Josh Kelley's fumble in Tampa in 2020. You knew that team would lose after that. Both plays saw the Chargers stand up. The Tart deflection on the two-point conversion was huge.

On that final drive, Daniel Jeremiah also pointed out that for once the Chargers had the ball instead of hoping they could stop Mahomes. Rich Eisen seemed shocked that we came out throwing and I don't blame him. That Will Dissly play was huge. He's another guy I thought couldn't do shit after Houston. To his credit, he held onto the ball. The slide that ended it came after a sack on 3rd where Tranquill was crawling on the ground like a dog in celebration.

We'll see tonight if this was a sign or an aberration. But for one night, it sure felt great. It was really great to hear from people who I only hear from when the C/-/ARGERS win a big game. As you can imagine, I don't hear from them as much I'd like to. Too often, a win like this is followed by a faceplant.

The biggest question I got from people I hadn't spoken to in a while was whether I went to the game. It's a valid question, but if I went to Brazil for the Bolts my wife would be less than thrilled.

After all, I am going to 3 games this season. But Antonio has been a Twitter friend for years and actually lives there. As soon as the rumor circulated that we would be playing there, he was all over it. If I was seemingly as far away from the action as possible, he was right on top of it. He graciously allowed me to post his photos from Friday. The Herbo Slide in person must have been quite a sight to behold and I am glad he was able to be there for it.

This was my second weekend without the Chargers on Sunday. It was relaxing and I tried to keep myself from being sucked into other games. Obviously, it was great that KC and Denver lost. It's still way too early to think about standings, but tonight is a division game once again. I am sure Carroll has his team thinking they can go 2-0 and be in first place all alone. We'll see what we can do about that. I was watching an American Greed episode years ago and noticed this:

I don't know if Detective Beas still works in Las Vegas or if he's still a Chargers fan. I'd like to believe so. As the bootlegger told Raj and Rerun before the Doobies show,

Let's play one for Brother Al.

JIC,

RLW