Speaker 1: All right, guys, Before we get started today, a big
Speaker 1: thank you to our partner, Microsoft Surface, celebrating ten years
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Speaker 1: Surface at surface dot com and welcome into The Final Drive,
Speaker 1: a Tuesday morning edition after the Chargers eke out a
Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen overtime win over the Denver Broncos, as always,
Speaker 1: joined by team reporter Haley Elwood and senior writer Eric Smith. Guys,
Speaker 1: there's so many different directions we can go. I actually
Speaker 1: I got fan questions we'll get to in a little
Speaker 1: bit because I figured there was so much that happened
Speaker 1: we may miss it. Right. Let's start with the hero,
Speaker 1: Dustin Hopkins. Though four field goals at an extra point
Speaker 1: thirteen of the nineteen points the Chargers needed every single
Speaker 1: one of them, he hurts his hamstring in the first half,
Speaker 1: has to gut it out. It was an ugly game.
Speaker 1: I don't want to belabor the point because I think
Speaker 1: everybody knows it was an ugly game, nineteen total penalties,
Speaker 1: two hundred and forty yards of penalties. Unbelievable. Haley, just
Speaker 1: start with you on Dustin and really what you saw
Speaker 1: last night. I think my biggest takeaway from this game
Speaker 1: was for the first time, I think in quite some
Speaker 1: time with the Chargers. I know Brandon Staley called it
Speaker 1: a complete team win after the game, but it was
Speaker 1: very clear the offense was not at the same level
Speaker 1: as like the defense and special teams was last night.
Speaker 1: So by saying that, I'm going to flip it and
Speaker 1: say it was nice to see a win that wasn't
Speaker 1: on the shoulders of Justin Herbert for once, that you
Speaker 1: really had these two rookies come in and make this
Speaker 1: crazy special teams play at the end of the game,
Speaker 1: and then Dustin Hopkins comes in and kicks the game winner.
Speaker 1: Throughout everything he went through the entire game, and so
Speaker 1: I think to see two other phases of this Chargers
Speaker 1: team work together to then come out and eke out
Speaker 1: a victory. And what you mentioned was not a pretty
Speaker 1: game and not a fantastic game by any means, I
Speaker 1: think was encouraging to see. And obviously there are some
Speaker 1: things I think that this offense kind of needs to
Speaker 1: get right as they move forward throughout the season. But
Speaker 1: to have it sort of not just always be on Justin,
Speaker 1: I think was a refreshing kind of takeaway and something
Speaker 1: that I don't think we've seen in a long time.
Speaker 1: You know, we haven't really seen special teams with these
Speaker 1: Chargers units really kind of come out. And I know
Speaker 1: Eric has been with Ryan Ficken for many years and
Speaker 1: can probably speak to what he's been able to bring
Speaker 1: to this unit, but but I just thought that that
Speaker 1: was really encouraging. And what can you say about Dustin Hopkins.
Speaker 1: I mean, when the team signed him last year, it
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, they got their kicker, and to grit
Speaker 1: out the performance that he did was just absolutely incredible,
Speaker 1: And I mean it remains to be seeing his status
Speaker 1: for the rest of you know, these next few games,
Speaker 1: impossible season at this point, but the fact that he
Speaker 1: was able to grit through everything last night was just
Speaker 1: incredible and just such a gutsy performance and one that
Speaker 1: will not go unnoticed if he's not the AFC Special
Speaker 1: Teams Player of the Week this week. Come on, what
Speaker 1: are we doing here, NFL? What are we doing here? NFL?
Speaker 1: You know, Eric I see Brandon mcmahis a healthy Brandon
Speaker 1: McManis on the other side, probably the best kicker of
Speaker 1: football outside Justin Tucker, or top three, top five, whatever
Speaker 1: you want to say. And then you got annailing Dustin Hopkins,
Speaker 1: who was hurt really from the beginning, from that first
Speaker 1: extra point that he kicked, you would think advantage Broncos
Speaker 1: in that overtime. How about Jasa Taylor. What a heads
Speaker 1: up played by him setting up Dustin for the game winner. Yeah,
Speaker 1: great play by bye Jah. And I think that's the
Speaker 1: type of play that was going to be needed to
Speaker 1: win the game. Becauld, I've kind of hit on both
Speaker 1: offensive We're pretty much going nowhere. Yeah, I think, like
Speaker 1: literally they were going nowhere. Um. And and that's the
Speaker 1: kind of play it takes to win a scrappy, ugly
Speaker 1: game like that, Like it can take a special team turnover. Um.
Speaker 1: That may be the only special team turnover the Chargers
Speaker 1: get all year, maybe, but it's a huge play. Um.
Speaker 1: And you know, Hayley brought up Ryan Ficken that you know,
Speaker 1: obviously my guy. He was the Viking special team coordinator
Speaker 1: last year, a long time assistant in Minnesota. So I've
Speaker 1: been with him for it's like seven years in a row.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm just following him, following him around all over. Um.
Speaker 1: But he like, he's a good coach, and UM, I
Speaker 1: know that the Chargers have a history with special teams.
Speaker 1: But when the Chargers hired him away and I was
Speaker 1: still in Minnesota, I was bummed because he's a great
Speaker 1: coach and players love playing for him. Um. He had
Speaker 1: good scheme. Like I've kind of chatted with him, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of here and there throughout the last couple of weeks,
Speaker 1: and he's like, man, I feel like we're right there,
Speaker 1: like as an overall unit, you know, we're right there
Speaker 1: from making like a big play, whether that's a big
Speaker 1: return or a turnover or something like that. Um. And
Speaker 1: and it happened. It happened, like he he kind of
Speaker 1: sent something was coming. Um. But yeah, Chris, great play
Speaker 1: by by Jahm to block that Broncos player into the
Speaker 1: return or that's that's a fairly at the fair and
Speaker 1: legal play. Um, it wasn't an interference or anything. And
Speaker 1: a great play by Dean Leonard, like two rookies to
Speaker 1: just change the tide of the game. Um. Yeah, like
Speaker 1: on a game on a night where it was ugly
Speaker 1: like special team come through. I can't say enough about
Speaker 1: Dustin Hopkin too. I'll give him a mention. Like he
Speaker 1: said after the game, every time he kicked it felt
Speaker 1: like someone was stabbing him in the leg with a knife. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was like it was a powerful, powerful quote in
Speaker 1: the locker road stuff there. I can't do anything like
Speaker 1: much less kick with that, you know. Um, So all
Speaker 1: the credit to him. Um just a gritty win and
Speaker 1: the Chargers had to have it. I'm just I'm going
Speaker 1: I'm going through these these numbers of Russell Wilson. So
Speaker 1: he started ten for ten and one hundred and sixteen
Speaker 1: yards in a touchdown in that first quarter. This is
Speaker 1: from Andrew Mason, who covers the Broncos. After that, five
Speaker 1: of eighteen for seventy two yards but forty three point
Speaker 1: eight rating. The Chargers defense figured something out after that
Speaker 1: first quarter, and I give that d a lot of credit.
Speaker 1: They schemed up some pressure with with Durwin and Drew
Speaker 1: got a couple of sacks. Khalil had a sack. I
Speaker 1: think after Russell was ten for ten the eleventh attempt,
Speaker 1: Mac batted the ball in the air and maybe if
Speaker 1: he had an extra decad could have picked that off
Speaker 1: and really changed the game there. J C. Jackson was
Speaker 1: benched in favor of Michael Davis in the second half.
Speaker 1: We'll get to that a little bit. But Helly, you
Speaker 1: mentioned the offense both sides, it was tough. It was
Speaker 1: tough to watch Justin Herbert fifty seven pass attempts without
Speaker 1: a touchdown. I think his final numbers thirty seven fifty seven,
Speaker 1: two thirty eight in a pick. The running game couldn't
Speaker 1: get going. A lot of those attempts, Harley were kind
Speaker 1: of like extended runs. Was not in this game. Corey
Speaker 1: Lindsley means a great deal to the Chargers offense. The
Speaker 1: worst six quarters that the Chargers have had this season
Speaker 1: were the two quarters in Kansas City where Corey went
Speaker 1: out and that Jacksonville game. Once he got back in,
Speaker 1: he stabilized that offensive line they had to play without him,
Speaker 1: and listen, they did their best. When you win a
Speaker 1: game like this, and I think, I think I asked
Speaker 1: dorwin this yesterday, it's almost more satisfying knowing that nothing
Speaker 1: really went your way and you still found a way
Speaker 1: to get it done against a division rival. Hiley, Well,
Speaker 1: I think in covering the Charters for as many years
Speaker 1: as I've been here, and I think Charters fans would
Speaker 1: agree to this. You haven't seen a lot of those
Speaker 1: types of games where you find the way right for
Speaker 1: many years. Even we've been on this podcast talking about
Speaker 1: the final drive and been like, oh, you know, whoops
Speaker 1: like that that final drive didn't go the way drive.
Speaker 1: So I think I think that's an encouraging sign that
Speaker 1: this team is probably turning a corner there and that
Speaker 1: they did find a way to win. And I think
Speaker 1: when you look at the phrase complete team win, it's
Speaker 1: almost like complimentary team win to me that you had
Speaker 1: these other units pick up where maybe one left off
Speaker 1: or wasn't pulling its weight. And I mean that Broncos defense,
Speaker 1: They'll give that group credit. They are incredible. That was
Speaker 1: probably I mean, we had heard about it, we read
Speaker 1: about it all going into this game, and it is
Speaker 1: really clear that they are keeping that team in games.
Speaker 1: And it's kind of a shame with how much their
Speaker 1: offense has been struggling. Just defensively, this Broncos defense has
Speaker 1: been so good and I think they have the number
Speaker 1: one red zone defense, and I mean they held the
Speaker 1: Chargers one of four in the red zone last night.
Speaker 1: So when you look at little things like that, they're legit.
Speaker 1: And not having Keenan Allen obviously, but not having Corey
Speaker 1: Linsley was huge at one point, you know, Will Clap
Speaker 1: goes out at center and you have Brendan himis come in.
Speaker 1: Trey obviously not really one hundred percent at this point.
Speaker 1: It was questionable coming into this game. So you were
Speaker 1: working through some attrition on that offensive lineup against a
Speaker 1: really really good defense. But yeah, you have the fifty
Speaker 1: seven pass attempts. He completes thirty seven of those. You know,
Speaker 1: you mentioned it. Some of them were just little checkdowns
Speaker 1: like Austin Eckler was ten of sixteen for forty seven
Speaker 1: yards through the air, and you just sort of find
Speaker 1: a way, like you mentioned it, and so I don't know,
Speaker 1: I just think looking overall, to me, it's an encouraging
Speaker 1: sign that they found that way last night against Denver,
Speaker 1: against a huge divisional rival where you can go up
Speaker 1: two and one in the division, which is great just
Speaker 1: in you know, as opposed to years past where maybe
Speaker 1: this game goes a different way. However, I was though,
Speaker 1: I was kind of expecting to tie at that point like,
Speaker 1: God bless Dean Leonard and just your Taylor and Dustin
Speaker 1: Hopkins for ending that whole thing because time was ticking
Speaker 1: down and it was like, guys, what are we doing here?
Speaker 1: Bros Are about to get their third possession in overtime
Speaker 1: with five minutes remaining. So I was doing this thing
Speaker 1: on Twitter where I was like, you know, Denver will
Speaker 1: punt with kind of like the SWIRLYI thing, and then
Speaker 1: I had Chargers will punt with the SWIRLYI thing, and
Speaker 1: then Denver will punt. And the second time I tried
Speaker 1: to write one of those Twitter, it literally gave me.
Speaker 1: It gave me a bump, like a message that said
Speaker 1: You've already tweeted this and I'm like, yeah, I know, Twitter,
Speaker 1: but I couldn't even do it again that even Twitter
Speaker 1: was like what are you doing here, girl, Like you've
Speaker 1: already tweeted this and I'm like, yeah, we know, we know, Jack,
Speaker 1: but are you watching this game right now? So what
Speaker 1: was funny when that was when I was about I
Speaker 1: got that message on the second when I was going
Speaker 1: to say that the Chargers were about to punt again,
Speaker 1: and then of course the turnover happens and the muff
Speaker 1: punt happens and all of that, so saved it Twitter.
Speaker 1: But just just hilarious in that regard, Just a really
Speaker 1: funny side story of how that whole night ended on
Speaker 1: my social media accounts here. That's amazing. Actually didn't know,
Speaker 1: didn't know you can't tweet the same thing. Apparently, who
Speaker 1: knew it looks out for that type of thing, Butter,
Speaker 1: it looks out for that kind of thing. Eric. We
Speaker 1: knew it was going to be a battle between Certaine
Speaker 1: and Mike Williams. And this is why I'm not as
Speaker 1: concerned about the charges offense as maybe so maybe today,
Speaker 1: No Cory, we're seeing the passing attack kind of lose
Speaker 1: a little steam without Keenan, like we've progressively kind of
Speaker 1: seen that, right, No Keenan, Corey. You got Pat Sertan,
Speaker 1: who is playing really better than any corner in football
Speaker 1: right now. He locked up Mike yesterday two for seventeen.
Speaker 1: No Josh Kelly too. That's another thing. Josh was running
Speaker 1: the ball really hard. Didn't even get a touch because
Speaker 1: he got hurt early, I believe on special teams. So
Speaker 1: he didn't even have a touch in this game. So
Speaker 1: I think that that perfect storm plus going up against
Speaker 1: a really good defense. We know Justin's been battling through
Speaker 1: this rib thing. I'm not as concerned with the offense
Speaker 1: looking a little out of sorts against a really good
Speaker 1: Denver defense. Yeah, I would agree with that. I'm not
Speaker 1: overly concerned either. I think we're at the point now
Speaker 1: where the offense needs Keenan Allen though, because you know,
Speaker 1: he got injured in the first half a week one,
Speaker 1: and you know it's like, Okay, he'll miss a game
Speaker 1: or two, you know, and now he's missed every game
Speaker 1: so far. It's theme trending in the right direction that
Speaker 1: he's gonna return against Seattle before the bye, and that'll
Speaker 1: be a good time to eat him in. I tried
Speaker 1: to get him in there and then he had another
Speaker 1: week off, you know, to make sure everything good to go.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think a big reason of what makes
Speaker 1: this Chargers offen to go in the passing attack is
Speaker 1: obviously having Keenan and Mike together, having that two headed
Speaker 1: monster at receiver, and yeah, Pat sertanded playing out of
Speaker 1: his mind, and if he's gonna lock down one guy,
Speaker 1: you need another guy on the other side to step
Speaker 1: up and Keenan or Mike should be the guy who
Speaker 1: to do that, and with no Keenan, it's just tough
Speaker 1: to see it. You know, we joke about this podcast
Speaker 1: being named the Final Drive. I will give credit to
Speaker 1: the Chargers Final Drive, but it was only I think
Speaker 1: an eight yard drive or six yard drive whatever it was,
Speaker 1: that final patch from Justin to Mike. If that doesn't happen,
Speaker 1: I don't know if Dustin makes the kick because they
Speaker 1: were almost out of his range because he said his
Speaker 1: range was like in the thirties it was a thirty
Speaker 1: nine yard attempt. If they don't complete that, it's like
Speaker 1: a forties seven yard or the making it, I don't know,
Speaker 1: And then you know, then we have a tie, like
Speaker 1: like like Haley said, so um, you know, from from
Speaker 1: what we know, like Corey should be bad. He was
Speaker 1: just dealing with an illness. Keenan should be back for
Speaker 1: Seatt all um, you know, hopefully Trey feels better. But yeah,
Speaker 1: at full strength, that's offense is fine. They just haven't
Speaker 1: really been at full strength maybe the entire year honestly,
Speaker 1: because like Keenan's been hurt since the first half a
Speaker 1: week one, Like I said, so um, a long term
Speaker 1: I think they'll be okay. It's just kind of kind
Speaker 1: of grinding it out right now. I'm just going through
Speaker 1: some of these questions. Haley. Uh, some some fans submitted
Speaker 1: late last night. Um, let's just let's just start with
Speaker 1: with defense and j C. Jackson. Obviously he had he
Speaker 1: had a few tough plays in the first half. Michael
Speaker 1: Davis came in and I thought the defense played really,
Speaker 1: really good last night after figuring out Russell Wilson at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the game. You know, with j C.
Speaker 1: They're asking what's going on miscommunication. I think there is
Speaker 1: some miscommunication, and I think it's just something that will
Speaker 1: have to monitor this week. You hope JC can get
Speaker 1: back to form because listen, his tape doesn't lie from
Speaker 1: New England, right. But I give Michael Davis credit for
Speaker 1: coming in and doing his thing in the second half.
Speaker 1: I'll give the coaching staff credit too for actually making
Speaker 1: that change, because that's a big thing in order to
Speaker 1: bench a guy who you paid a ton of money
Speaker 1: and signed as this bona fide, you know, stud corner
Speaker 1: in the off season, and so for Brandon Staley to
Speaker 1: admit after the game, like we felt like we needed
Speaker 1: to make a change. To me, that's big because that
Speaker 1: is making an adjustment that necessarily isn't being too prideful
Speaker 1: to make, if you will, that they knew they had
Speaker 1: to adjust something there. I was reading Daniel Popper after
Speaker 1: the game and he was talking to Bryce Callahan, and
Speaker 1: Callahan had said that he really felt like once Michael
Speaker 1: Davis got in there, they relaxed on the ms or
Speaker 1: the mental errors, that those kind of just stopped, that
Speaker 1: they were able to sort of settle down, like you
Speaker 1: mentioned it, and go. And it is something I think
Speaker 1: that will be interesting to watch over these next couple
Speaker 1: games and or this next game. And then obviously you
Speaker 1: have the buy, and of course during the buy you
Speaker 1: always hear teams do self scouting and see what happens there.
Speaker 1: But to me, as big as it was for Michael
Speaker 1: Davis to come in and make that play, I thought
Speaker 1: it was almost even bigger for the coaching staff to
Speaker 1: actually make that decision in game, which is a bold one,
Speaker 1: if you will, because you don't necessarily see that often.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure what's going on there, and there's been
Speaker 1: obviously you know, the ankle thing, and some other thing.
Speaker 1: You know, the ankle thing, and then coming back and
Speaker 1: going out and coming back again. And I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's just going to kind of need that JC
Speaker 1: just needs to get in a rhythm and needs to
Speaker 1: sort of just get his legs under him literally and
Speaker 1: figuratively and go. But um, this is going to be
Speaker 1: an interesting storyline to watch. But to me, the biggest
Speaker 1: thing was just the fact that this coaching staff wasn't
Speaker 1: afraid to make that decision, which ultimately was a better
Speaker 1: decision for the defense and the team as a whole
Speaker 1: as the game went on. Yeah, they played great in
Speaker 1: the second half. Eric, get some questions about Keenan coming
Speaker 1: back and then also the receiver room in general right now.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, we saw Palmer's been battling through
Speaker 1: some stuff. You know, Palm just came back. I know
Speaker 1: he's a tight end. I'm asked, why isn't there an
Speaker 1: urgency to replace guiding as a deep threat. I think
Speaker 1: when you get Keenan back, that's a big thing. But
Speaker 1: I'd love to get your thoughts on maybe trying to
Speaker 1: get a guy who could kind of take the top
Speaker 1: off and really make this this passing attack a little
Speaker 1: more versatile. Yeah, I've gotten some of those questions too
Speaker 1: from my winn't they mail bag. You know, OBJ has
Speaker 1: been a name that people have thrown thrown around, But
Speaker 1: from all I understand with that, like he's not ready
Speaker 1: right now and he's not gonna be ready for another month.
Speaker 1: So to me, that's not really a name to focus
Speaker 1: on until he's healthy. And then when he is healthy,
Speaker 1: like then he gets the picked a team. You know,
Speaker 1: so I don't know about that. Um, yeah, I think
Speaker 1: losing Giton was maybe bigger than people thought. You know,
Speaker 1: he didn't have a ton of catches, but the ones
Speaker 1: he did have were obviously you know, down the field
Speaker 1: he was he was a deep play threat. You know,
Speaker 1: I firmly believe that that Keenan coming back is going
Speaker 1: to open up this this entire offense. And maybe we
Speaker 1: don't see it against Seattle because, like I said, that's
Speaker 1: going to be its first game back. You can't expect
Speaker 1: him to be at one hundred percent and be indue
Speaker 1: too much right away. But the second half of the season,
Speaker 1: I think the passing attack will flourish and um, you know,
Speaker 1: by then Justin should be feeling better, like it seemed
Speaker 1: like he's feeling better every week in terms of adding
Speaker 1: someone outside I don't know, Like Robbie Anderson was a
Speaker 1: name that was brought up by people, but he just
Speaker 1: got traded to Arizona, so he's not available anymore. I
Speaker 1: think you might just have to go with who you have.
Speaker 1: The trade deadline is November first, I believe, which is
Speaker 1: right after the bye, so we'll have to kind of
Speaker 1: monitor that in the next couple of weeks. I don't know, honestly,
Speaker 1: I think you just go with Keenan to Mike. You
Speaker 1: hope Josh gets healthy at that number three, you know,
Speaker 1: I think Gerald ever, it's been good. I think you
Speaker 1: mentioned Donald. I thought he played well last night, kind
Speaker 1: of getting back into the groove. Three catched for fifty
Speaker 1: three yards. That's just who they have right now. And
Speaker 1: obviously Eckler is a big part of the path in
Speaker 1: game too, So I don't personally, I don't see any
Speaker 1: like big addition coming. I think this is who we
Speaker 1: have and we have to make it work. All good points, Hailey,
Speaker 1: This is a This is a tough question. Who's more
Speaker 1: important to the offense, Keenan Allen or Corey Linsley. It's
Speaker 1: one to one A. But before you answer, let me
Speaker 1: just say we saw the six quarters. Corey wasn't in
Speaker 1: the and we saw how tough it was for the
Speaker 1: Chargers offense yesterday. Keenan is a pro bowler and if, if, if,
Speaker 1: the if the charge is gonna get to the playoffs,
Speaker 1: Keenan's gonna have to be there. But Man Center Center
Speaker 1: is a big deal. Center is a big deal. It's
Speaker 1: a really really big deal. I think when you look
Speaker 1: at how the Chargers have approached that position over the
Speaker 1: last say, you know, five to six seven years or so,
Speaker 1: call it the la Era of the Chargers. What have
Speaker 1: they done? They've gone out and they've gotten these veteran
Speaker 1: guys who have played a lot of football and are
Speaker 1: really some of the best at their position. You look
Speaker 1: at Mike Pouncey and what he was able to provide
Speaker 1: with Philip Rivers, and then he unfortunately gets hurt in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty right, and then Dan Feenie had to step
Speaker 1: in at center for that season. But then you know,
Speaker 1: Phoene leaves in twenty twenty one, and who do they
Speaker 1: bring in? Corey Lindsley, the arguably the best center in
Speaker 1: the game. And I think when you look at you
Speaker 1: mentioned those six quarters, the football that they have played
Speaker 1: without him. It's a glaring omission on that offensive line,
Speaker 1: and not only in a protection a situation, but also
Speaker 1: just a stability situation as a whole. And what he
Speaker 1: brings with a young quarterback who again is not one
Speaker 1: hundred percent you know, physically right now, and justin last
Speaker 1: night to me, got knocked around probably the most he's
Speaker 1: been since that Kansas City game. And I think that
Speaker 1: also contributes with the performance of the offensive line. I
Speaker 1: don't think we had seen him get knocked down so much,
Speaker 1: you know, not just sacked, but like pushed to the
Speaker 1: ground and knocked down and kind of messed with in
Speaker 1: that regard. So I don't know it is it is
Speaker 1: like a one A, one B sort of situation. But
Speaker 1: the presence that Corey brings and why he was brought
Speaker 1: to this team to provide stability, to be paired up
Speaker 1: with an extremely intelligent and talented but young quarterback and
Speaker 1: provide that sort of relationship, you know, the one that
Speaker 1: he had with Aaron Rodgers for years Eric was in
Speaker 1: the NFC nor I think you can attest to to
Speaker 1: watching the Packers twice a year and what that did
Speaker 1: for that offense. It's just it is a loss in
Speaker 1: that regard when he isn't in there with how much
Speaker 1: he brings in. And you know the thing with offensive lineman, right,
Speaker 1: you never want to hear their numbers called. They want
Speaker 1: to be the guys that just go through the game
Speaker 1: without anyone mentioning them. But when one of them isn't
Speaker 1: in there and you're sitting here Monday Tuesday morning quarterbacking
Speaker 1: if you will, looking at the game, you go, yeah,
Speaker 1: that guy's extremely, extremely important to this offense. You know,
Speaker 1: just some context for those listening to this, think about
Speaker 1: the offensive line right now. Okay, they didn't have a
Speaker 1: Sean Slater Corey Linsley yesterday. You were down to your
Speaker 1: third center at one point in the game. So you know,
Speaker 1: Will Clap's filling it for Corey Linsley. Matt Feiler is
Speaker 1: at his best with Corey Linsley's in the football game.
Speaker 1: You have two rookies out there, Jamari saw your in
Speaker 1: Zion Johnson, and you have a right tack on Trey
Speaker 1: Pipkins who gutted it out last week, who was hurt.
Speaker 1: So that was the offensive line that they had to
Speaker 1: roll out on Monday night football against perhaps the best
Speaker 1: defense in football. I mean that defense is really, really good.
Speaker 1: So it's a great segue eric into this next question.
Speaker 1: What does it say about this team to come out
Speaker 1: get a win against all odds when it would be
Speaker 1: understandable to take an L against an elite defense After
Speaker 1: two road wins, are we finally beginning to witness the
Speaker 1: tenacity of this twenty twenty two roster that refuses to
Speaker 1: take an L. That's from Dowsy. Man, I love it,
Speaker 1: you know it, hold hold on. Shout out to Dowsy
Speaker 1: because this was at one twenty one am, so he
Speaker 1: was almost thinking about this. He was fired up bringing
Speaker 1: the tenacity that in the early early wee hours. Um, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that the good word. Um. You know Hayley
Speaker 1: mentioned like me being in the NFC north right. I'll
Speaker 1: say this when I came over to the Chargers, you
Speaker 1: know my percapition. I think a lot of the outsiders
Speaker 1: perception was, Hey, this is gonna be a high flying offense.
Speaker 1: We're gonna score thirty five forty points a game. You know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna just be like high octane. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: fun to watch. It hasn't really been that way, you know,
Speaker 1: through the first six games. And injuries that played a part,
Speaker 1: you know, with Rashan and Keenan and you know Justin
Speaker 1: and you probably almost name everyone on offense who's been
Speaker 1: banged up at one point. But yeah, I think tanathy
Speaker 1: is a great word because it's almost like the Chargers
Speaker 1: are having to find different ways to win than just
Speaker 1: relying on the offense scoring thirty five points, and yesterday
Speaker 1: that was the defense limiting Denver to sixteen points, at
Speaker 1: the best point total the Charger defense has allowed all year.
Speaker 1: I think at this point early in the year, you
Speaker 1: just find ways to win games to help yourself in
Speaker 1: the second half, because like four and two looks a
Speaker 1: lot better than three and three, and no question, especially
Speaker 1: especially in this mediocre NFL that we're in right now
Speaker 1: in terms of just middle of the pack team span,
Speaker 1: like who's dominant outside the Bills and the Eagles. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean I thought about it this morning on my
Speaker 1: on my long drive in. The Chargers are four and two,
Speaker 1: and that tied for the second best record in the AFC.
Speaker 1: A month ago or three weeks ago, we were at
Speaker 1: one and two, and I think people were ready to
Speaker 1: write us off, I really do, and we rallied back
Speaker 1: with three straight win, two on the road. All of
Speaker 1: them have been by let's see, seven points or less, Houston,
Speaker 1: Cleveland and Denver. That's how you have to win in
Speaker 1: the league. I forget who said it last night in
Speaker 1: the locker room, but someone was like, you know, we
Speaker 1: would love to go in and I think with Dustin Hopkins,
Speaker 1: we you know every team would love to get a
Speaker 1: blowout win every week. For sure. The players would love that,
Speaker 1: the coaches would love that. We would love that. A journalist,
Speaker 1: it would make our job either two. But that's just
Speaker 1: not how it goes. So like, if you can grind
Speaker 1: out win squeak out wins. You know, the Chargers are
Speaker 1: sitting at four and two. If they can get a
Speaker 1: win Sunday against Seattle, there'll be five and two at
Speaker 1: the bye. I think that'll be a pretty impressive five
Speaker 1: and two considering how the first month of the season
Speaker 1: win Haley, This next question from d hop is the goat.
Speaker 1: I guess you could like change your user name to
Speaker 1: like different things at any moment, So d hop is
Speaker 1: the goat for the moment. What will it take for
Speaker 1: Isaiah Spiller and J T. Woods to get playing time?
Speaker 1: And then this one from Xavier just kind of along
Speaker 1: the same lines. If Joshua Kelly's good to go next week,
Speaker 1: does Sony get more touches? I would say this could
Speaker 1: be a spot for isaiahs Spiller, depending on Josh's injury
Speaker 1: going up against a Seattle defense that you know does
Speaker 1: give up some some rushing yards. But I'll let you
Speaker 1: speak on Isaiah and j two. Yeah, I would be
Speaker 1: with you on that one. This is sort of an
Speaker 1: interesting question that that I just generally have for Brandon
Speaker 1: Staley or whoever on this coaching staff, just in terms of,
Speaker 1: you know, how high you you pick those guys. And
Speaker 1: I think the dichotomy too of last night when you
Speaker 1: have Dean Leonard and Jessia Taylor making ultimately the plays
Speaker 1: of the game, was so interesting to me because those
Speaker 1: guys were selected much later, you know, Dean Leonard had
Speaker 1: I think we would all agree sort of a rough
Speaker 1: preseason to the point where we weren't even sure, Hey,
Speaker 1: is this you know, is he going to be a
Speaker 1: practice squad guy? Is he gonna make this roster? And
Speaker 1: he does and then you look at I think the
Speaker 1: special teams part of it that that what's the thing
Speaker 1: we always hear with rookies, right, you make your hey
Speaker 1: on special teams, and those guys certainly came in and
Speaker 1: and I don't know if that's where maybe UM JT
Speaker 1: and Isaiah I don't want to use necessarily use the
Speaker 1: phrase are lacking right now, but maybe just those other
Speaker 1: guys have sort of just taken the reins. But the
Speaker 1: Josh mckelley and injury UM potentially is going to be
Speaker 1: one to watch only because of that, because there I
Speaker 1: thought Sony Michelle last night was fantastic short yardage situations
Speaker 1: and I thought he really helped this offense grind it
Speaker 1: out and go and you know, the third and one
Speaker 1: third and two second and ones, whatever it was, he
Speaker 1: did a fantastic job. And you know, I just think
Speaker 1: of this line that Brandon Staley had last week, and
Speaker 1: it reflects I think he said it for both the
Speaker 1: offense and the defense, and it's the more that we
Speaker 1: play together, the better that we will be. Sony Michelle
Speaker 1: was brought in so late. You know, he was a
Speaker 1: late ad, if you will, to this offense and this
Speaker 1: team as a whole. A very similar situation he was
Speaker 1: in the prior year with the Rams, where he was
Speaker 1: traded and it was like, all right, let's get in
Speaker 1: and go. And that's kind of what he did here
Speaker 1: with the Chargers. But it'll be one to watch with
Speaker 1: those two, you know, the JT and Isaiah. But I
Speaker 1: just think again, sort of the dichotomy of the two
Speaker 1: sort of later round picks making sort of the plays
Speaker 1: of the game was a really interesting one to me.
Speaker 1: But we'll see, you know, we'll see. Sometimes it just
Speaker 1: takes longer, I think for guys to get going, and specialty,
Speaker 1: I think is one of those things. You know, not
Speaker 1: a lot of guys play on it. It's new, um,
Speaker 1: but if you're young in this league, it's the one
Speaker 1: thing where you can sort of make a name for
Speaker 1: yourself and get that playing time to hopefully get you
Speaker 1: in on your respective offense defense situations as well. Hilly
Speaker 1: all excellent points, and it makes me think about you know,
Speaker 1: when when like free agency hits and we're getting ready
Speaker 1: for the draft, you know, everyone's trying to predict like
Speaker 1: where these teams are gonna go. And we always say,
Speaker 1: wait to see who gets drafted because this rookie class
Speaker 1: at some point will make an impact. Um. How about
Speaker 1: how about the fact that it was two six rounders
Speaker 1: and a seventh rounder right, Jamar saw you're playing left
Speaker 1: tackle in place for Rashawn Slater, and then then Jessir
Speaker 1: and Dean Leonard making the play of the game to
Speaker 1: set up Dustin Hopkins Um and who knows. You know,
Speaker 1: we talk about Isaiah Spiller and JT. Woods. It's a
Speaker 1: long season, man. You know, Spiller could be in there
Speaker 1: as early as Sunday for all we know, and he
Speaker 1: could have an packed towards the back half of the year.
Speaker 1: Maybe they rediscover a running game with him and Josh
Speaker 1: or him and Sony. You know, we don't. We don't
Speaker 1: know what the future is gonna hold. So long season.
Speaker 1: Our guy Arnie asked, uh, why does it seem like
Speaker 1: the offense is struggling? Our expectations too high? I think
Speaker 1: we I think we answered that. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I think they're just trying to make things work right
Speaker 1: now with what they got and hopefully get healthy. So hey,
Speaker 1: we appreciate all the questions, guys, real quickly as we
Speaker 1: close this, just move it on to Seattle. On a
Speaker 1: short week, Eric Geno's kind of cooking in the Pacific Northwest.
Speaker 1: A former Charger comes down here, we're gonna see Chenna
Speaker 1: NWOSU back at Sofi's stadium. This is not going to
Speaker 1: be an easy game for the Chargers, and it would
Speaker 1: be great for them to finish strong, get to five
Speaker 1: and two before their buy. Yeah, it's kind of what
Speaker 1: I hit on earlier, like if you can win fourth
Speaker 1: Draight and get to five and two it to buy.
Speaker 1: That's almost like a reset given the c easiness really
Speaker 1: of the first seven game with injuries and close games
Speaker 1: and you know, ups and downs and all that. There's
Speaker 1: a phrase that I've heard in my time in the NFL.
Speaker 1: It's called empty the bucket. And I thought about that
Speaker 1: this morning, like, I think it's time for the Charger
Speaker 1: to empty the bucket this week because after this you
Speaker 1: obviously get a week off and you can rest, rest
Speaker 1: up and try to get healthy. But this is a
Speaker 1: big week we could could you kind of you have
Speaker 1: to get give it everything you have could. Much like
Speaker 1: I said, you know, four and two looks better than
Speaker 1: than three and three. Five and two looks way better
Speaker 1: than than four and three, right, And you know, I
Speaker 1: know we like to kind of peek ahead a little bit. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, if you're five and two with the bye,
Speaker 1: you've already kind of set yourself up fairly well for
Speaker 1: a second half run as the playoffs. That doesn't mean
Speaker 1: you're gonna get in by by by any means for sure,
Speaker 1: But I think the first half of the season is
Speaker 1: just putting yourself in position too to be in position
Speaker 1: to have a chant at the playoffs in the second half.
Speaker 1: And if you're five and two, you're you're in a
Speaker 1: fairly good spot. Um. Yeah, Seattle has been have been plucky.
Speaker 1: I think that so far this year. I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people, you know, maybe peg them to be
Speaker 1: a top five pick already, you know, preseason. Um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: they've they've hung in there. They put up some point
Speaker 1: for sure. Um. So another good test for the Chargers defense,
Speaker 1: and you know, we'll see who comes back on offense
Speaker 1: and see how that unit can confer against a decent
Speaker 1: Seattle defense. See what, Eric, We're we empty the bucket
Speaker 1: after these Monday night in primetime games, getting early for
Speaker 1: the for the final drive. You know, that's that's one
Speaker 1: of the things that we're uh, we're there, Manways, Haley,
Speaker 1: the the AFC is just kind of a jumble situation
Speaker 1: right now. The forty nine Ers play the Chiefs this Sunday,
Speaker 1: the four and two Jets play the Broncos. So we
Speaker 1: talk about an opportunity before your buy to kind of
Speaker 1: get a leg up. Shoot. If the Niners in that
Speaker 1: defense can shut down Patrick Mahomes, charges could be in
Speaker 1: first place in the West at there by, Yeah, that
Speaker 1: would be huge. This is such a weird It's so funny.
Speaker 1: Every year you get the offseason hype and you get
Speaker 1: the storylines and by all means, did the AFC West
Speaker 1: look to be this juggernaut of a division? And I
Speaker 1: remember Chris I went on with with a you and
Speaker 1: Jim Hill and training camp, and I'm like, in all
Speaker 1: my years in the AFC West, I've never seen it
Speaker 1: look like this before. It is by far the best
Speaker 1: division in the NFL. Will here we are? You know
Speaker 1: what you were right? The first part was right, We've
Speaker 1: never seen anything like this. You've ever seen anything like this? Um?
Speaker 1: Good point. It would be huge when it comes to Seattle, though,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw when we when we have this conversation
Speaker 1: about rookies. Two names to keep your eyes on, and
Speaker 1: that's Kenneth Walker rookie running back, and Trek will and
Speaker 1: cornerback who has an interception in four straight games. Kenneth
Speaker 1: Walker put up ninety seven yards on the ground stepping
Speaker 1: in for Rashad Penny. Looking at sort of just the
Speaker 1: box score of Seattle, Arizona had more total yards, more
Speaker 1: rushing yards, and more passing yards than the Seahawks last week,
Speaker 1: but it didn't matter at the end of the day. Seattle.
Speaker 1: If you want to talk about a team that's kind
Speaker 1: of finding ways to win, they're three and three, a
Speaker 1: top tied in the NFC West. These wild wild West
Speaker 1: divisions here are just fantastic. If you will um so,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna throw those two names out. And then when
Speaker 1: you mentioned Uchenna, if you don't think that guy is
Speaker 1: going to come into SOFI with his hair on fire
Speaker 1: this week, I just think you're you need to check
Speaker 1: yourself because I'm fully expecting chen Ten as he is
Speaker 1: going by now with his new number, to come in.
Speaker 1: But if you can get a win, and even though
Speaker 1: it's an NFC opponent, and if he can get that
Speaker 1: win and get to five and two, you met Eric
Speaker 1: every every week, you have sort of that slight different
Speaker 1: one game differential five and two. Just it sounds so
Speaker 1: much better you hit it on the head than four
Speaker 1: and three would, especially at your buy when you know,
Speaker 1: I think you want to go in riding a hot streak,
Speaker 1: take a little bit of a break self, scout yourself,
Speaker 1: and then get back to it. Um. That would be huge,
Speaker 1: That would be really really huge. The Broncos Jets game
Speaker 1: is also fascinating. The Jets are playing really good football
Speaker 1: right now. Who knew? Who knew? It's the NFL. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Jets could go to five and two with a win
Speaker 1: over the Denver Broncos, which is which is wild And
Speaker 1: and I'll say this too, five and two. And you
Speaker 1: know these three three wins, two on the road and
Speaker 1: the one last night, none of them were very pretty
Speaker 1: right Houston. Houston got back into the game late. We
Speaker 1: all know what happened to be one game and then
Speaker 1: it was just it was just a back and forth,
Speaker 1: not much offense, special teams gutting it out for the
Speaker 1: chart argers. So when you're not playing your best ball
Speaker 1: and you're winning and it's early in the year, man,
Speaker 1: you take those because you're gonna look back if you
Speaker 1: are kind of hitting your stride late, being like, shoot,
Speaker 1: thank goodness, we won in weeks, you know, four or
Speaker 1: five and six, because we weren't playing our best ball
Speaker 1: and that could be the difference between the playoffs and
Speaker 1: and staying home at January. UM, you guys have any
Speaker 1: final thoughts as we get out of here and uh
Speaker 1: get onto Seattle. That's it. Yeah, I think we're good.
Speaker 1: The bucket is empty. D all right, guys, Hey, we
Speaker 1: always appreciate you listening watching. We'll be back next Monday, UM,
Speaker 1: after the Chargers take on the Seahawks and get into
Speaker 1: their bye. For Haley and Eric, I'm Chris. This has
Speaker 1: been the final drive