Speaker 1: What's up, guys. Chris Harry with you on a week
Speaker 1: eight edition of Chargers Weekly Bolts headed to Denver, a
Speaker 1: big divisional showdown with the Broncos coming up. A beat
Speaker 1: writer's round table haleeo Wood, the Athletics, Daniel Popper, and
Speaker 1: Gilbert Manzano Southern California News Group. Gonna join me a
Speaker 1: bit later. We'll also see what's on the menu, presented
Speaker 1: by Subway with the voice of the Chargers Matt money Smith.
Speaker 1: But first we get this week's opposing view from Denver,
Speaker 1: courtesy of Ryan o'hallerin of the Denver Post. All right,
Speaker 1: my first guest, first of the podcast, Ryan o'halleren Denver Posts.
Speaker 1: Gonna give us this week's opposing view, Ryan, how are you, buddy? Good?
Speaker 1: Chris good to join you again. Absolutely, we got a
Speaker 1: divisional showdown in Denver, both teams two and four. This
Speaker 1: is a critical game. What are the Broncos saying about
Speaker 1: the Chargers coming to town? Well, I would agree that
Speaker 1: in a showdown game, it could be a loser goes
Speaker 1: home game. Two and five is tough, tough sledness like
Speaker 1: the Broncos. Interestingly, over the last couple of days, they're
Speaker 1: more about themselves. You can ask him about Justin Herbert.
Speaker 1: They're impressed with him the way he goes down the field.
Speaker 1: But after getting blown out by the Chiefs on Sunday,
Speaker 1: I think they feel like their company line is take
Speaker 1: care of their own house before they can worry about
Speaker 1: the Chargers. Obviously they're worried about the Chargers behind the scenes,
Speaker 1: but a lot of a lot of taking stock for
Speaker 1: the Broncos after Sunday's game. What happened in that game?
Speaker 1: Because if you look at the defensive stats, see Patrick
Speaker 1: Mahomes over eight on third down. I know there was
Speaker 1: a pick six. I know there was a kickoff return.
Speaker 1: What was the reason for that Broncos loss? Yeah, you
Speaker 1: mentioned those two non offensive touchdowns. Those came within a
Speaker 1: five minute span in the second quarter. Made it in
Speaker 1: sixth game, twenty four to six, and the route was on. Yeah, defensively,
Speaker 1: what Kansasy did. They rushed for him, played coverage and
Speaker 1: I think that threw Drew Locke for a loop a
Speaker 1: little bit through their offense for a loop for a
Speaker 1: little bit, and Jerry Judy didn't really get going. Tim
Speaker 1: Patrick got hurt though, if Fat was still nicked up,
Speaker 1: so and then Philip Lindsay and I think probably the
Speaker 1: biggest part of the game. Philip Lindsay had seventy nine
Speaker 1: yards at nine carries in the first half, went out
Speaker 1: with a concussion, so that that sat the offense back
Speaker 1: as well. So I think it goes a little bit
Speaker 1: of a perfect store. Kennasay is just better the running
Speaker 1: back position in Denver. Obviously, Melvin Gordon gets to face
Speaker 1: his old team. What do we know as we take
Speaker 1: us about Philip Lindsay and his status for Sunday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he didn't practice Wednesday and he remains in the protocol
Speaker 1: and you know, as I'm sure many of your viewers though,
Speaker 1: that's up to independent doctors. The team has to go
Speaker 1: go by whatever they say. So, you know, Big Fangios
Speaker 1: said on Wednesday after practice that Friday at the earlier,
Speaker 1: still know, but probably be Saturday. I don't think you
Speaker 1: can count on him. You don't want to mess around
Speaker 1: with that. So i'd be Melvin Gordon's game. What is
Speaker 1: Melvin saying about playing his old team. I'm sure he's
Speaker 1: pretty fired up to play against his old teammates. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, we talked to him on Wednesday
Speaker 1: via zoom and it was his first time talking to
Speaker 1: the media since he was arrested three weeks ago. So
Speaker 1: that was the main point of the conversation, as it
Speaker 1: should have been. But he also talked about playing the Chargers.
Speaker 1: He said he's talked to a couple of former teammates
Speaker 1: this week, and you know, he says that, well, it's
Speaker 1: just another game, it's another team on the schedule. Well,
Speaker 1: Chargers sort of kicked him to the curb and didn't
Speaker 1: give him that long term deals, So there has to
Speaker 1: be some kind of motivation maybe that maybe those juices
Speaker 1: all get flown when the game starts. Hey, this Bronco's
Speaker 1: offense with Drew Locke under center, and obviously you're bringing
Speaker 1: guys like Hammler, who I know he's been nicked up
Speaker 1: and Jerry Judy. What do you make of Drew Lock season?
Speaker 1: I know he was hurt coming back, had a couple
Speaker 1: tough games. This Bronco's offense in general, what are fans
Speaker 1: saying about the future of it with Locke at the
Speaker 1: quarterback position? Yeah, right now this offense is broken through
Speaker 1: no fall Drew Lock not a lot of faults, I
Speaker 1: should say you know, he played against Tennessee, he got
Speaker 1: hurt week two, came back for the New England game
Speaker 1: through two fourth quarter inceptions, but they win the game. Okay,
Speaker 1: that means it's a learning experience. This is his first
Speaker 1: world out of NFL adversity non injury, non injury department.
Speaker 1: A couple of picks last week just looked out of sorts.
Speaker 1: Maybe it was scrambling in the pressure a little bit,
Speaker 1: wasn't stepping up in the pocket, was trying to extend
Speaker 1: plays with his legs, which didn't work. So I think
Speaker 1: this is a key game for Drew Lock. It's not
Speaker 1: a be all end all, but he can't let these
Speaker 1: bad games as the young quarterback start stacking up, you know,
Speaker 1: for the Bronco's offense. So they lost Courtland Sutton a
Speaker 1: week two, our best receiver he made the Pro Bowl.
Speaker 1: That was a killer because he makes everybody look good,
Speaker 1: the fifty to fifty ball, the play caller. And so
Speaker 1: Sutton's injury that put Jerry Judy in a more high
Speaker 1: profile spot, first round pick. That's gonna put more pressure
Speaker 1: on kJ Hamler he's back from a hamstring injury. And
Speaker 1: then Tim Patrick's been their number one guy. He hasn't
Speaker 1: practiced this week because of his own hamstring injury. So
Speaker 1: his Bronco offense is it's tough to get out of
Speaker 1: the blocks when you're down some guys and you just
Speaker 1: have so much youth. You flip it over to the defense.
Speaker 1: And I mentioned listen to the last two weeks, opponents
Speaker 1: four for twenty one on third down if you count
Speaker 1: the Patriots in chiefs, the defense has played pretty solid.
Speaker 1: I know that they have the attention of Shane Steikeen
Speaker 1: and Anthony Lynn. What can you attribute the success to
Speaker 1: over the last two weeks. I guess specifically, Yeah, pass
Speaker 1: rush is getting cranked up. I mean they got fourteen
Speaker 1: sacks in the last three games. That was a problem
Speaker 1: early season. And the other thing is they're very good
Speaker 1: in the red zone. Is that scheme is at you know, personnel,
Speaker 1: Probably a combination of both, but they've really been buckling
Speaker 1: down third down a red zone. As a couple of
Speaker 1: players told me last year when people wanted to ask
Speaker 1: them about their first rank red zone defense, well we
Speaker 1: have enough chances. So there's a thing. Don't let them
Speaker 1: in the red zone. Make some of those plays closer
Speaker 1: to midfield, where they don't kick a field goal, but
Speaker 1: you know they're getting healthy. Aj Boy the corner came
Speaker 1: back last week after missing a month. Not allowed them
Speaker 1: to move Brice Callahan inside. You got Draymond Jones with
Speaker 1: the Marcus Walker depth offensive ends back last week as well.
Speaker 1: Interesting upfront be asually how the Chargers attacked the run front.
Speaker 1: Mike Purcell, nose tackle broke his foot on Sunda. He's
Speaker 1: out for the year, so they'll sort of have a
Speaker 1: buy committee there. And as far as the running game
Speaker 1: for the Chargers, Justin Herbert was their leading rusher last week.
Speaker 1: And I know you mentioned listen to the Broncos are
Speaker 1: focused more in house, but Herbert was named NFL Rookie
Speaker 1: of the Month this morning. As we take this, just
Speaker 1: your impressions of what you're seen from Herbert in these
Speaker 1: first five starts of his NFL career. I mean, the
Speaker 1: numbers are eye popping. Some of that's due to circumstance
Speaker 1: when you're in you know, high scoring type games. You know,
Speaker 1: I watched an entire New Orleans game. I was impressed
Speaker 1: in terms of his toughness, in terms of his I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, he's athletic, athletic but he sort of has
Speaker 1: a good grasp of staying in the pocket, trust in
Speaker 1: his protection. And you know, anytime you have some of
Speaker 1: those weapons, you throw it to him, it's not gonna
Speaker 1: be a perfect pass. Let those guys go get it.
Speaker 1: So uh, you know, one thing Vic Fangios said about
Speaker 1: Drew Locke earlier week applies to Justin Herbert. So's the
Speaker 1: only way to get better at this position this league
Speaker 1: is playing. And I've always agreed with them on that.
Speaker 1: Did they have Did they put Justin in before they
Speaker 1: wanted to? Obviously, But I think this will benefit him
Speaker 1: not only in the in the in the short run,
Speaker 1: but in the long run. Just get him out there
Speaker 1: and get them playing. Yeah, he said he's improving each week,
Speaker 1: and I think it's just like you said, getting those
Speaker 1: reps early in your NFL career, and you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's kind of crazy to think that, you know, three
Speaker 1: months ago he had just met his teammates right being
Speaker 1: in the off season and zoom. I mean you look
Speaker 1: at Burrow too, man, I mean a lot of these rookies,
Speaker 1: I've just been kind of blown away by the early
Speaker 1: success that they're having despite not really having that off
Speaker 1: season yeah, and I think that goes back to the
Speaker 1: passing games they're learning in college. You know, they may
Speaker 1: be some spread, but there's a lot of pro elements
Speaker 1: both the LSU and Oregon, and I think there probably
Speaker 1: was some carry over to say, hey, not all this
Speaker 1: stuff is going to be totally foreign, but you gotta
Speaker 1: have pretty good head on your shoulders to get through
Speaker 1: this learning the system. As like we're talking right now.
Speaker 1: But one thing that sticks on about Herbert is he's
Speaker 1: doing without Eckler and he's a Colorado kid, so we
Speaker 1: follow him here. He has a you know, the Broncos
Speaker 1: have a ton of respect for him as a receiver
Speaker 1: and a runner. So I make it, I think, even
Speaker 1: just a little bit more impressive that they're putting up
Speaker 1: these points and yards without one of their best players.
Speaker 1: And ran two more for you underrated player on the Broncos.
Speaker 1: And maybe Chargers fans should keep an eye on on Sunday,
Speaker 1: maybe a guy that is not a household name. Well
Speaker 1: I cannot pronounce his last name, but we're gonna go
Speaker 1: to Albert the tight end. Number eighty five rookie draft
Speaker 1: pick played with Drew Lockermansury was a healthy scratch the
Speaker 1: first four games, got a chance against New England's a.
Speaker 1: He's a weapon right now, He's not going to really
Speaker 1: help you in the run game, to which I say,
Speaker 1: so what catch the football? Which is he's targeted seven
Speaker 1: times last week had seven catches, and I think they
Speaker 1: waited too long ago to him. So if I'm a
Speaker 1: Charger fan on Sunday, I look at for number eighty
Speaker 1: five and orange because they're gonna probably try and explore
Speaker 1: some matchups for him. And if finally, Ryan, just what
Speaker 1: do you think is gonna decide this game? And you know,
Speaker 1: obviously the last time these two teams met, it was
Speaker 1: a key see Heyward passing interference to lend to a
Speaker 1: Brandon McManus field goal at the end of regulation and
Speaker 1: play the tight win last year. What do you think
Speaker 1: is going to decide this one? Yeah, I meant a
Speaker 1: lot of weeks would be the same answer. It's turnovers.
Speaker 1: The Broncos cannot create a takeaway and they give it
Speaker 1: away too much. Their second second worst the league in
Speaker 1: differential there, you know, and so one thing the defense
Speaker 1: is talking about this week, Yeah, the pasta is just
Speaker 1: picking up. They got to create more takeaway So I
Speaker 1: think the Broncos are saying, Okay, if you can force
Speaker 1: the quarterback into a couple of mistakes, maybe that'll help
Speaker 1: the Bronco offense. And so that would be my number
Speaker 1: one key. And then if I'm the Charger defense, I
Speaker 1: want to make the Broncos one dimensional, which means containing
Speaker 1: Melvin Gordon on first down and tell Drew Lock, hey, Gus,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna rush four, drop seven. See if you can
Speaker 1: find his own throw into We'll see what happens. I
Speaker 1: always enjoy the trip to Denver and not gonna be
Speaker 1: able to do it this year, man, but I always
Speaker 1: appreciate your insight, Ryan, and hopefully we'll see each other
Speaker 1: a person through it or later. Man, we got to
Speaker 1: get you to soby stadium. Well. I appreciate Chris and
Speaker 1: we have been going to road games. So maybe we'll
Speaker 1: see either the day after Christmas or December twenty seventh.
Speaker 1: Looking forward to it, man, Thank you so much. All right,
Speaker 1: Chargers fans, Before we get to Matt money Smith, access
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Speaker 1: access to the nutrition they need all right. Time to
Speaker 1: see what's on the menu, Presented by Subway Voice of
Speaker 1: the Chargers Matt Money Smith Money Sunday was a roller coaster,
Speaker 1: but Sunday was fun, justin Herbert Man gets us first
Speaker 1: NFL when Charges get their first Sofi stadium. That second
Speaker 1: half is pretty entertaining, well, it was, especially considering how
Speaker 1: it started right, you know, the and we've we've talked
Speaker 1: about that. It's something that DJ brings up. It's it's
Speaker 1: kind of like a bellotcheckism, which is the middle eight.
Speaker 1: You know, the final four minutes of the first half
Speaker 1: and the first four minutes of the second half are
Speaker 1: very pivotal in terms of the outcome of a game.
Speaker 1: And they have not been kind to the Chargers over
Speaker 1: this four game losing streak. Over that that I should say, thankfully,
Speaker 1: it's not this and that four game losing streak and
Speaker 1: you come out of the third quarter and what happens,
Speaker 1: you know, punt block returned for a touchdown. Special teams
Speaker 1: was off the whole first half, and you know, and
Speaker 1: you credit the staff and you credit the players and
Speaker 1: especially Justin Herbert, you know, didn't phase them. You know,
Speaker 1: sixteen nothing lead turned into a twenty one nothing run
Speaker 1: by the Jags and they just responded from there. And yeah,
Speaker 1: it was it was fun. You know, Justin Herbert is
Speaker 1: a lot of fun to call games watching that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Be it, you know, and this was kind of the
Speaker 1: first one Chris that we really got to see that
Speaker 1: athleticism with his legs. Oh yeah, yeah. And you know,
Speaker 1: he led the team in rushing and you know, I
Speaker 1: think for the first time too, we really saw I
Speaker 1: felt like he was more confident than ever. Right. I
Speaker 1: think that second half he realized that he was putting
Speaker 1: the team on his back and some of the plays
Speaker 1: he made. And we've talked about this the last several weeks,
Speaker 1: just elevating the play of other players, maybe some guys
Speaker 1: who haven't had a lot of reps. Donald para Man
Speaker 1: two catches, two touchdowns, Virgil Green, the fact that he's
Speaker 1: running in balls himself. I can't say enough about the kid.
Speaker 1: And I looked at some stats. Last year, the entire season,
Speaker 1: money eight players had a receiving or a rushing touchdown
Speaker 1: for the Chargers. Entering Week eight, eleven different guys have
Speaker 1: scored either a rushing touchdown or a receiving touchdown. I
Speaker 1: think that's just a testament to Herbert just elevating the
Speaker 1: play of everybody. Yeah, I think it's elevating. And it's
Speaker 1: also you know, something typically doesn't come early in a
Speaker 1: quarterback's career, and that's the ability to read the whole
Speaker 1: field and work through your progressions. You know a lot
Speaker 1: of times, you know, I know it was I want
Speaker 1: to say it's probably last week. I think dan Orlovsky
Speaker 1: put out a very cool video about what Sean McVeigh
Speaker 1: you know, did when he first got to the Rams
Speaker 1: to try to help Jared Goff, where he told the
Speaker 1: defense you know what the first read was, and he
Speaker 1: wanted them to take it away so he could try
Speaker 1: to help train because he noticed that Goff would lock
Speaker 1: into his first read and it was hard for him
Speaker 1: to get through the progressions. And I bring that up
Speaker 1: because that was someone who was in his second year
Speaker 1: had already started a handful of games, and clearly McVeigh recognized, Okay,
Speaker 1: he doesn't, He's not there. He Herbert has none of that.
Speaker 1: Herbert reads the whole field, like you said, it's Jalen
Speaker 1: Guyton downfield, it's Donald Palm on a left sideline. It's
Speaker 1: Virgil Green. That looked like a one man route with
Speaker 1: Mike Williams. And that's what I was calling when the
Speaker 1: ball was in the air. I thought that's where he
Speaker 1: was going. And then all of a sudden, I pick
Speaker 1: up Virgil out of my periphery and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: Virgil's in the end zone, and like that's I think
Speaker 1: that just speaks to the level of a maturity. And
Speaker 1: you know, I think it also. You know, so I've
Speaker 1: already now cited Bill Parcels, I've already cited Sean McVay,
Speaker 1: and now I'm going to give you I mean, I've
Speaker 1: already started Bill Belichick. Now I'm gonna give you a parcelsism,
Speaker 1: which is he always wanted his quarterbacks to have a
Speaker 1: ton of college experience. He did not like the idea
Speaker 1: of a guy that was a one year starter or
Speaker 1: even a two year starter. He preferred four years of
Speaker 1: starting experience. And I think you're starting to see that
Speaker 1: with Herbert. You know, that's what starting all those games
Speaker 1: in college can do for someone. Just reps. You know,
Speaker 1: it's it's anything you do. You know, it's the old
Speaker 1: Malcolm Gladwell ten thousand reps right when it comes to outliers.
Speaker 1: And I think getting all those reps, especially with four
Speaker 1: different offensive coordinators and two different head coaches, yeah right,
Speaker 1: I think that helps make you know, a quarterback like
Speaker 1: Herbert more comfortable out there and nothing faces him. He's
Speaker 1: thrown to different tight ends, to different receivers, to different
Speaker 1: backs under different schemes, and none of it's based him,
Speaker 1: you know, to the tune of a pack wellven Rose
Speaker 1: Bowl championships, so that's carried over. And you know what,
Speaker 1: I also think I also want to make sure that
Speaker 1: and I know you're not trying to do that. I'm
Speaker 1: not saying yarkers, but I also want to point to
Speaker 1: the talent, like I think Jalen Guyton is really emerging
Speaker 1: as what Tom Telesco has been looking for. Is that
Speaker 1: just speed, take the top off deep threat while Keenan
Speaker 1: you know, runs those precise routes, Mike Williams and Hunter.
Speaker 1: You know, Hunter Henry owns the middle of the field.
Speaker 1: Mike Williams wins those fifty fifty balls. Guidan's turning out
Speaker 1: to be a real weapon for this team. He's almost
Speaker 1: like the Shawn Jackson for the Chargers. Man. He has
Speaker 1: that straight line speed who could take the top off
Speaker 1: the defense. Charleston have that last year money Frankly, and
Speaker 1: I didn't have anybody who could do that. Now you
Speaker 1: have a guy like Guidon who has three touchdowns already.
Speaker 1: Tyran Johnson has that speed too, we saw him score
Speaker 1: in Tampa. But it's a testament, like you said to LESCo,
Speaker 1: finding guys to help fit this offense and help Justin
Speaker 1: Herbert get the ball to where it needs to go.
Speaker 1: And a guy like Mike Williams, who had two touchdowns
Speaker 1: against the Saints didn't do much of anything, yet they
Speaker 1: didn't miss a beat on Sunday. Yeah, you know, and
Speaker 1: and I think, you know, just kind of going back
Speaker 1: to GUYD and you know, as as DJ brought it
Speaker 1: up during the game, he said, look, that's what they
Speaker 1: want to Travis Benjamin to do, and he just couldn't
Speaker 1: do it, you know, in just some degree, that's what
Speaker 1: Tyroll Williams did while he was here, right, he was
Speaker 1: your speed option and it worked, and it helped open
Speaker 1: up the middle of the field for again Hunter and
Speaker 1: the underneath for for Keenan. Um you know, and you said,
Speaker 1: and fantasy managers cringed when you said that about about
Speaker 1: Mike Williams could still a favorable matchup. You're coming off,
Speaker 1: you know, like a thirty point performance, you know for
Speaker 1: your fantasy team. And he gets one target, one catch,
Speaker 1: four yards. But like you said, that's that's a mature quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know, even though I'm comfortable throwing to that guy
Speaker 1: last week or on Monday night, and you know, we
Speaker 1: got all this, you know, we got two touchdowns out
Speaker 1: of it, and a bunch of huge catches that set
Speaker 1: up a potential game winning field goal. Doesn't even feel
Speaker 1: the need to try to force it in there and
Speaker 1: go to them. It's there, He'll throw it. If it's not,
Speaker 1: you won't. I think that also creates um camaraderie, you know,
Speaker 1: a fraternity, you know, a frateranization between these guys that
Speaker 1: it's not personal. I'm not always looking for Keenan. I'm
Speaker 1: not always looking for a hunter. If you're open, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get you the ball. It doesn't matter what the
Speaker 1: name on the back of your jersey says. No question.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned Orlovski. He had a tweet early this
Speaker 1: morning said the Chargers have Herbert doing a lot of
Speaker 1: things well, but playing fast is top of the list.
Speaker 1: He's seeing executing things at the ideal speed with his
Speaker 1: decision making, and his physical talent is shining because of it.
Speaker 1: Is that what you see too, Yeah, certainly, And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, that's I think sort of maybe the next step,
Speaker 1: like I saw, you know, I had to do some
Speaker 1: I had to do a broadcast for NFL Network, actually
Speaker 1: it was NFL UK. I did the Monday night football broadcast,
Speaker 1: and it was interesting to watch. You know, a lot
Speaker 1: of people point to Sean McVay as sort of this
Speaker 1: innovator or somebody who's reintroducing concepts that have been around
Speaker 1: before that we haven't seen for a while. But one
Speaker 1: of the things that I found interesting was his shifting tempo.
Speaker 1: And I also saw it in the Indiana Penn State
Speaker 1: game on Saturday, where you'll have a team that's running
Speaker 1: tempo and then all of a sudden, they'll slow down
Speaker 1: and then they pick it up in the defense. Just
Speaker 1: I think it's anything to create, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: an uncomfortable situation for the defense. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what Shane Steiken starting to do with Herbert, you know,
Speaker 1: with that tempo, with these designed runs, with their RPOs.
Speaker 1: I think that's you know, that's that's what Herbert gives
Speaker 1: you when when you have and I can't remember who
Speaker 1: I was talking to, I did an interview. Oh it's
Speaker 1: James Palmer, who works for the NFL Network, and he
Speaker 1: was at the Tampa and the New Orleans games, and
Speaker 1: it's it's the same thing we hear from everyone. You know.
Speaker 1: I got a chance to be on the field with
Speaker 1: him at the Combine. But anybody that's around Herbert for
Speaker 1: the first time, they're like, you, you can't understand how
Speaker 1: big that guy is till you're on a field with him,
Speaker 1: because you watch and you just see the athleticism when
Speaker 1: you assume, oh, you know, he must be it listed
Speaker 1: at six six, he's probably six three to six four.
Speaker 1: And you know he's listed at two twenty five, he's
Speaker 1: probably two fifteen. No, he is six foot six, two
Speaker 1: twenty five plus and when you have that kind of
Speaker 1: body and that athleticism and that arm talent, my goodness,
Speaker 1: the possibilities are endless. And I think, like you said,
Speaker 1: and you know, like Dan Dan tweeted, when you read
Speaker 1: the tweet, it's just starting. I mean it's obviously it's
Speaker 1: five games into his career, so less three weeks. So
Speaker 1: you gotta address this. You lose the seventeen point lead
Speaker 1: to the Bucks, to the Saints, and then a sixteen
Speaker 1: point lead to the Jags. If this team wants to
Speaker 1: take the next step with two division games coming up,
Speaker 1: get back to four and four, get your season back
Speaker 1: on a track that has to be cleaned up. What
Speaker 1: do you attribute it too. I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: just one thing money, but you know, in that game, yeah,
Speaker 1: and that game, Chris, I think it was. It was.
Speaker 1: It was a few things. One Herbert wasn't sharp at
Speaker 1: the start. He missed uh, you know, he missed a
Speaker 1: handful of open throws. I can think of one that
Speaker 1: was just a quick speed out to Hunter Henry that
Speaker 1: was five feet over his head. He had a couple
Speaker 1: like that with Keenan as well. There was just something
Speaker 1: going on where he wasn't quite right at you know,
Speaker 1: the first couple series there, right, and I think that
Speaker 1: carried over. They got their sixteen point lead, but I
Speaker 1: think it's still carried over a little bit. So you
Speaker 1: have missed completions. And I thought Ty Long probably had
Speaker 1: his worst game that I seen him have. His punts
Speaker 1: were flat, they were short, they weren't clean, and it
Speaker 1: just gave the Jags really good field position. Repeatedly that
Speaker 1: the Chargers weren't able to flip the field. So I
Speaker 1: think you take that into consideration. You also had a
Speaker 1: missfield you aso had a missed extra point, which I
Speaker 1: think doesn't do great things for an offense. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, you score a touchdown, you want to be
Speaker 1: high five, and then you missed the extra point. It
Speaker 1: kind of leaves you with sort of this empty feeling.
Speaker 1: And then he missed a field goal, and then you
Speaker 1: start thinking, oh boy, so he missed a field goal
Speaker 1: against the Saints, and missed field goal against the Bucks,
Speaker 1: missed an extra point against the Saints and missed extra point. Again,
Speaker 1: here we go again. And I think you know the
Speaker 1: special teams was in the first half, was you know,
Speaker 1: through that first play of the third quarter was off
Speaker 1: to a really bad game. I mean one of the
Speaker 1: worst that I've seen in the three plus years that
Speaker 1: I've been calling games. And I think once they were
Speaker 1: able to figure that out and bat you was able
Speaker 1: to bang home two straight extra points and a field
Speaker 1: goal and you forced the fumble on the kickoff return.
Speaker 1: You know that I think people overlook far too often.
Speaker 1: Special teams is so critical and just kind of going
Speaker 1: back to that Monday night er, I mean, Rams might
Speaker 1: not win that game if it's not for Johnny Hackers
Speaker 1: punts and just he was insistently flip in the field
Speaker 1: against an offend like that's like, and I bring it
Speaker 1: up because that's gonna be so important this week. Drew
Speaker 1: Locke has struggled the last couple of weeks. You know,
Speaker 1: he's not been helped by his receivers dropping passes, but
Speaker 1: he's got zero touchdowns and four picks in the last
Speaker 1: two weeks. And it's an offense that's still you know,
Speaker 1: the offensive line is still leaky, and it's a really
Speaker 1: good defense. So you know, I out coach Stewart and
Speaker 1: Tay Long and those guys get it figured out because
Speaker 1: they're gonna need him like that that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: big game for him up there in Denver to make
Speaker 1: sure you can flip that field when you need to.
Speaker 1: And you know, you go back to a couple of
Speaker 1: weeks ago, they won that game in New England because
Speaker 1: of their special teams six field goals and the way
Speaker 1: they played defense. So Charge is gonna have to pack
Speaker 1: their defense in their special teams unit to complement Herbert
Speaker 1: and you know, let's just go to Denver. The last
Speaker 1: win for the Charges in the division was Week seventeen,
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. So you don't think this game is important
Speaker 1: for the Chargers in the next couple of weeks where
Speaker 1: you got the Broncos in the Raiders an opportunity to
Speaker 1: get two wins in the division. This is a team
Speaker 1: that we were there last December with Drew Locke. I
Speaker 1: think it was it Drew lux first start. Yeah, it
Speaker 1: was Drew Locks first start. We got a lot of
Speaker 1: darts last year. We got Tannehill's first start, we got
Speaker 1: Drew Locke's first start. You know, we had Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 1: technically first start two years ago. You know, for Kansas say,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, it's a it's a good time to
Speaker 1: start when you play the Chargers apparently, and yeah, it
Speaker 1: was that past interference call on on Casey Hayward the
Speaker 1: last play of regulation that ended up with a game
Speaker 1: winning field goal, and you know, it was just a
Speaker 1: season of heartbreak repeatedly. He's got the arm those Look,
Speaker 1: this is a Denver team. I think that's that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a team to contend with moving forward. They are
Speaker 1: just way too banged up. Courtland Sutton is an absolute
Speaker 1: nightmare matchup, and I think once you get him paired
Speaker 1: with Fan and Jerry Judy, that's gonna be that's gonna
Speaker 1: be a load to deal with. I just still don't
Speaker 1: know about Drew Locke, you know, I'm I think and
Speaker 1: that's that's what I think a lot of people are
Speaker 1: right now. You know, it looks pretty good, you know,
Speaker 1: there's he's got his moments at the same time, just
Speaker 1: not quite there yet. So I would love to see
Speaker 1: this defensive line pick up where they left off. Five sacks,
Speaker 1: great rotation, fresh bodies, you know, Damien Square getting in
Speaker 1: there and Allowingtillery to get his rest and Lindball to
Speaker 1: get his rest. You know, Rochelle doing the same thing
Speaker 1: with Bosa Chenna doing the same thing with Ingram and
Speaker 1: it just makes everybody better. So I think, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that that Naz gets another one, you know,
Speaker 1: I think this is set up for him to maybe
Speaker 1: get another one, just because that offensive line hadn't been
Speaker 1: great for Denver and Drew lex to take chances. So
Speaker 1: would love to see, you know, another plus in the
Speaker 1: turnover column for the for the Chargers in this one.
Speaker 1: And like you said, Tai Long and Mike badgually got
Speaker 1: to get it right because that defense is really good,
Speaker 1: you know that. It's it's a really really good defense.
Speaker 1: It's well coached by Big Bangio and and there. I
Speaker 1: don't expect this to be a blowout game like the
Speaker 1: Chiefs made it against the Broncos last week. One touchdown,
Speaker 1: four interceptions for lack on the season and in the backfield,
Speaker 1: an old friend money Melvin Gordon, a friend alert. What
Speaker 1: do you think that's gonna be like seeing seeing old
Speaker 1: mel I'm sure he's gonna be probably juiced up to
Speaker 1: play against the Chargers, but I'm sure that defense feels
Speaker 1: the same way. Oh, no question, I would expect nothing less, right,
Speaker 1: you know, hope, hope it's going well for him. Except
Speaker 1: for tomorrow or except for Sunday, I should say, um, look,
Speaker 1: I think Lindsay's the better back, to be honest, and
Speaker 1: I think you know they they view that as a
Speaker 1: true committee. And we know what Lindsay's done to this team,
Speaker 1: you know, repeatedly. So I think it's it's beyond just Melvin.
Speaker 1: It's it's shutting you know, both of those guys down.
Speaker 1: I know, Philip Lindsay's a little banged up, but you
Speaker 1: know it's look, it's it's a lot of weapons on
Speaker 1: that offense, you know, trying to figure out. I think
Speaker 1: that's like, you know, this is this to me, could
Speaker 1: be a Keneth Murray game because you have someone like
Speaker 1: Fan at that tight end position, and you're gonna need
Speaker 1: a safety and if you can have a linebacker who's
Speaker 1: able to run with him step for step, but free
Speaker 1: some things up in your secondary. And I think Kenneth
Speaker 1: Murray's that's why they drafted him. You know, they drafted
Speaker 1: him for Travis Kelsey, they drafted him for Noah Fant,
Speaker 1: they drafted him for Darren Waller. And I think, you know,
Speaker 1: even though we didn't call his name a whole lot
Speaker 1: in the Jags game, O'Shaughnessy wasn't necessarily the tight end
Speaker 1: that you were looking to slow down. So I think
Speaker 1: this week, I'm hoping that, you know, this is maybe
Speaker 1: one of those breakout games where where Fan's kind of
Speaker 1: been doing some damage all season and he has an
Speaker 1: opportunity to shut that sort of safety valve and he's
Speaker 1: almost like a number one option for Locke, you know,
Speaker 1: for you know, it just seems like he's always looking
Speaker 1: for him, and why wouldn't you. He's a heck of
Speaker 1: a mismatch at that spot. He is, And it's it's
Speaker 1: funny seeing the top of the death chart and you
Speaker 1: see Jody Obviously Tim Patrick is leaving the team in
Speaker 1: receiving yards and I think maybe touchdowns as well. So
Speaker 1: not having Courtland Sutton out there obviously is a is
Speaker 1: a big advantage for for any defense playing the Bronchos.
Speaker 1: But what have you seen from Jerry Judy. Obviously he
Speaker 1: has not had He's had a lot of inconsistency at
Speaker 1: the quarterback position. And I think when you're a rookie
Speaker 1: wide receiver, you're you're kind of at the mercy of
Speaker 1: who's throwing you the football. Yeah, he look, he had
Speaker 1: I think he had one good game, right, like one
Speaker 1: really good game, but he's he's just kind of listening
Speaker 1: to the people at the combine when I was down there.
Speaker 1: One of the best route runners that they've seen come
Speaker 1: out of college in a long long time. And you
Speaker 1: know what that can do to corners because we see
Speaker 1: it with Keenan. Right, if you're precise, if you know
Speaker 1: how to get it out of your breaks, uh, you
Speaker 1: can leave guys on the dust in a hurry. Um.
Speaker 1: So he's even though the numbers aren't there, and like
Speaker 1: you said, inconsistent, some drops. You know, he had a
Speaker 1: huge drop in that game against New England a couple
Speaker 1: of weeks ago. So you know, those are things that
Speaker 1: he's got to clean up. But that's you know, it's
Speaker 1: being a rookie. At the same time, I think, like
Speaker 1: you said, between Patrick's good, a lot of guys that
Speaker 1: are overlooked, you know, and like we said earlier, the
Speaker 1: fact that Sutton's out as a you know, you hate
Speaker 1: to see it because you don't ever want to see
Speaker 1: anybody get injured. But it's a big, big break for
Speaker 1: the Chargers not to have to contend with him and
Speaker 1: Judy and Fan. It definitely downgrades their receiving corps when
Speaker 1: it's Patrick, Judy and Fan instead. And look we've seen
Speaker 1: you know, we saw speaking of New England, we saw
Speaker 1: New England. You know, Melvin can catch the ball out
Speaker 1: of the backfield and go, I mean eighty seven yard
Speaker 1: touchdown catch out of the backfield on a reception. So
Speaker 1: you got to be aware of that, you know, leak
Speaker 1: into the flat from Melbourne because because he's certainly capable
Speaker 1: of taking it all the way. So, UM, I still
Speaker 1: I still feel like this is going to be a
Speaker 1: grind it out, a grind it out, you know, balanced offense,
Speaker 1: likely lower scoring game is just kind of the vibe
Speaker 1: I get from from what we're going to see. Yeah,
Speaker 1: in the division against opponents like especially like like the
Speaker 1: Broncos and maybe the Raiders. Sometimes you know the Chiefs
Speaker 1: put up those points. But uh, but I can see
Speaker 1: the same thing then. Yeah, you know you asked me,
Speaker 1: sorry to interrupt there, you asked me last week. Um
Speaker 1: you know about which would I which would I rather
Speaker 1: have back? You know, the two D linemen or the
Speaker 1: two OH lineman? Like this is this is a game
Speaker 1: where you'd really like to see hopefully Trey and and
Speaker 1: and Brian Blogue to get back out there. I think
Speaker 1: that could go a long way for for Herbert in
Speaker 1: this funning game, you know that. And I think you saw,
Speaker 1: you know, the the issues without Trey Turner and Brian
Speaker 1: Bulogue out there. That's why you got to see. And
Speaker 1: I love the play calls, like I've just runned every
Speaker 1: play those those you know, dumps into the flat the
Speaker 1: smoke routes for for Justin Jackson one started runs. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're runs. They're just extended runs, you know, because they've
Speaker 1: had so much trouble blocking and opening up holes without
Speaker 1: those two out there. And I think if you can
Speaker 1: get them back, and you know, as we're doing this
Speaker 1: right now, who knows, you know what what what week,
Speaker 1: if it's this week, if it's one of the two,
Speaker 1: if it's if it's two of the two, zero the two.
Speaker 1: Hopefully sooner than later. I think that's when you're going
Speaker 1: to see. Look, a lot of it's Austin Eckler. He's
Speaker 1: one of the best at yards after contact, at breaking tackles,
Speaker 1: at making people miss. But I think it's also a
Speaker 1: big part of it is just the right side of
Speaker 1: the line, you know, having Pipkins and Groy or Saint
Speaker 1: Louis out there is not having Brian blog and Trade Turner. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Bulga was practicing on a limited basis all last week.
Speaker 1: I think it was doubtful until really the eleventh hour there.
Speaker 1: Trade didn't practice it all last week. So as we
Speaker 1: take this, well, we'll continue to check out that injury report.
Speaker 1: But you're right, Austin, I see means a great deal.
Speaker 1: But to get a Pro Bowl guard back and then
Speaker 1: a steady right tackle for a long time in this
Speaker 1: league is gonna do wonders for the running game. I believe, Yeah,
Speaker 1: no doubt. And look, we keep saying it, and it's
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's excuse making sure, but it's it's
Speaker 1: not what I'm trying to do when I say it.
Speaker 1: I just, man, I get excided thinking about what this
Speaker 1: team would look like healthy. That's all I'm saying is like, man,
Speaker 1: if this team was healthy, if Derwin was out there,
Speaker 1: and if you have right, if you have Derwin and
Speaker 1: Trank while on that defense and you get that offensive
Speaker 1: line healthy, I just man, I think this is a
Speaker 1: team that it's as good as any with how Herbert's playing,
Speaker 1: I really, do you know, with Eckler in the backfield,
Speaker 1: you're a healthy offensive line. And like you said, the
Speaker 1: athleticism and the speed of Kenneth Murray and shrank Will
Speaker 1: out there together with just the brilliance that you know,
Speaker 1: the savant that Derwin James is, would really take this team.
Speaker 1: I think I really do believe into the elite levels.
Speaker 1: And it's weird saying that about a team that's two
Speaker 1: and four, but you know, it's a it's a team
Speaker 1: that that we'll know. Look, we'll figure it out over
Speaker 1: this stretch, right, this is the stretch It started with
Speaker 1: the Jags, you know, Broncos, Raiders, Dolphins, Jets. You know,
Speaker 1: that's your stretch. See if you can win all five
Speaker 1: of these, then you know, see get to six and
Speaker 1: four and man that that certainly would be interesting. Thinking
Speaker 1: about Eckler coming back somewhere in that window, you know,
Speaker 1: and having everyone but Derwin and trank Will out there,
Speaker 1: I still think this is a team that could do
Speaker 1: some damage starts in the division. We'll see if the
Speaker 1: Chargers can get their first one in a while in Denver. Money.
Speaker 1: Appreciate your time, brother, anytime. Looking forward to it. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: before we get to our Beat Writers round table Pizza Hut.
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Speaker 1: A week eight round table joined by Haley O One,
Speaker 1: Daniel Popper of The Athletic, and Gilbert Menzano Southern California
Speaker 1: News Group. Guys, we are taping this on a Thursday,
Speaker 1: and Haley, I'll start with you. Just this is twenty
Speaker 1: twenty and the Chargers they had their first positive COVID
Speaker 1: nineteen tests. Practice not practicing today, actually yeah, no practice today. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So we learned Ryan groy offensive Lineman was placed on
Speaker 1: the COVID nineteen reserve COVID nineteen list. Look, this is
Speaker 1: the first positive test that the Chargers have had all
Speaker 1: years so far since training camp, obviously they were able
Speaker 1: to get through camp totally. Okay. I think it just
Speaker 1: kind of goes back to Coach Len's message at the
Speaker 1: beginning of this crazy offseason that we knew twenty twenty
Speaker 1: was going to be, which is embraced chaos. It changes
Speaker 1: on the fly, literally calling audibles, and I think that
Speaker 1: happened today obviously with canceling practice, which which coach said
Speaker 1: was because out of an abundance of caution, he wanted
Speaker 1: to get one more day of testing in and then
Speaker 1: allow the players to conduct their meetings virtually and shift
Speaker 1: to that virtual format. So, as you said, we're here
Speaker 1: on a Thursday taping this. We'll see what happens. Hopefully
Speaker 1: that's the only positive test. Hopefully. Ryan Groy is also okay, obviously,
Speaker 1: But it's the message of twenty twenty, adapt and change
Speaker 1: on the fly as news comes in. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: guys are probably listening to this. We could be listening
Speaker 1: on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. This is what's happening now. And
Speaker 1: obviously it's a fluid situation and Gil the Chargers have
Speaker 1: already had to deal with having their bye moved. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is just something that I feel like all NFL teams.
Speaker 1: If you if you went into this upcoming season not
Speaker 1: thinking something like this could happen, you're probably a little nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And especially for this Chargers team that that you know,
Speaker 1: it got their first positive tests, it kind of went,
Speaker 1: you know, smooth throughout. You know what, it's been feels
Speaker 1: like a year, but it's been three months so and
Speaker 1: so far, you know, it's kind of been okay. So
Speaker 1: you felt you feel like, you know, they would do
Speaker 1: which sounds kind of weird to say it, but you know,
Speaker 1: in such a chaotic time that you know, the odds
Speaker 1: say is gonna happen to every team eventually, and for
Speaker 1: the Charges, happened in week eight, but like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: there was a bye week. Uh, you know, it's kind
Speaker 1: of tough to make this game work. But it seems
Speaker 1: like I think Anthony Ellen's had that is contained. If
Speaker 1: everybody's okay, Ryan Roy's okay. So it sounds like Sunday
Speaker 1: Sunday will have a game against the Broncos Popper. This
Speaker 1: comes after a win, and it comes ahead of a
Speaker 1: very critical stretch for the team where you have back
Speaker 1: to back Division games. You're seeking your first division win
Speaker 1: since Week seventeen in Denver against the Broncos, the year
Speaker 1: you went twelve and four. This is a critical two
Speaker 1: weeks stretch for this team to maybe get back to
Speaker 1: four and four. Get yourself back in the conversation. Yeah, absolutely, So,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously not an ideal time to have your
Speaker 1: first positive COVID tests, but I think you know, for
Speaker 1: Tom to Lasco and the rest of the Charge organization,
Speaker 1: this is sort of an inevitability. So I'm sure they
Speaker 1: were prepared for it, and they've been great at adapting
Speaker 1: on the fly, as Hayley was alluding to. But You're right,
Speaker 1: it's a crucial stretch and I think the thing you
Speaker 1: have to mention, like you were talking about it their
Speaker 1: O and seven and their last seven division games. You know,
Speaker 1: you can't be a good football team in the National
Speaker 1: Football if you don't win games in your division. And
Speaker 1: there's really no excuse for being as bad as they
Speaker 1: have been. You know, the Chiefs obviously are great, but
Speaker 1: the Broncos haven't been a great team. The Raiders haven't
Speaker 1: been a great team, and they've been in all these
Speaker 1: games and just haven't been able to finish and that's
Speaker 1: really been a story of this team the last two seasons.
Speaker 1: You know, Anthony Lyin sort of deferred when asked about
Speaker 1: it this week. About it, you know, is their extra
Speaker 1: onus on this game because of the Division game. You know,
Speaker 1: he's not going to say a public publicly, but I
Speaker 1: can guarantee you he is heated over the fact that
Speaker 1: they have not won Division games with twenty eighteen and
Speaker 1: this is an absolute priority to win this game on Sunday,
Speaker 1: even though it's on the road and Denver yep and
Speaker 1: under center will be the NFL Rookie of the Month
Speaker 1: in Justin Herbert and Haley. We've ran out of adjectives
Speaker 1: to describe what he's done through the first five weeks.
Speaker 1: But he's got a tough test, I guess, a pretty
Speaker 1: good Broncos defense. The score didn't really reflect it last
Speaker 1: week when they played the Chiefs, but this is a
Speaker 1: team that can get after a quarterback, especially a quarterback
Speaker 1: who may have some offensive live issues. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of an interesting thing about Denver in the
Speaker 1: sense of they did lose last week and lost handedly
Speaker 1: to the Kansas City Chiefs, but they were so good
Speaker 1: on third down and their third down defense has been
Speaker 1: really really good all years so far this season, and
Speaker 1: that's that's the big thing. It's it's can they pressure
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert who has been great under pressure and has
Speaker 1: shown this kind of like cool and collected poise that
Speaker 1: we've seen from him over these last few weeks. But
Speaker 1: you know, I kind of think going back to that
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay game, I mean, Tampa's defense is incredibly fast,
Speaker 1: incredibly good at rushing the past, where you saw if
Speaker 1: you watch that game during our buy what they were
Speaker 1: able to do against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 1: And Denver though, with guys like Bradley Chubb, he can
Speaker 1: get after it, especially him being healthy. So it's going
Speaker 1: to be a big test. And you mentioned it with
Speaker 1: the offensive line sort of and a little bit of
Speaker 1: a rebuilding or shape shifting kind of mode here, it'll
Speaker 1: be interesting with who they place in those positions. Ryan
Speaker 1: Groy has been starting, I believe, and if he's healthy,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever happens with the COVID situation, who then
Speaker 1: steps in if Trey Turner can't go on Sunday, But
Speaker 1: you know, it'll be interesting. But yes, Denver has an incredible,
Speaker 1: incredible pass rush getting after it and it'll be a
Speaker 1: big test, especially for a rookie quarterback. This week A
Speaker 1: Gilbert Herbert has really answered the bill. I mean, he
Speaker 1: hasn't hit el past couple of weeks, he hasn't really
Speaker 1: played with with Turner Bulaga, and he's really kind of
Speaker 1: elevating the play. That's been kind of the theme this
Speaker 1: week is you see all the guys who have scored
Speaker 1: touchdowns for the Chargers this year already entering Week eight,
Speaker 1: Herbert has found a way. What do you think this
Speaker 1: challenge is going to bring him on the road against
Speaker 1: the divisional opponent. Yeah, you know, it's kind of hard
Speaker 1: to say it might be the toughest opponent because he's
Speaker 1: played the Chiefs, he's played the Saints, that played the Buccaneers,
Speaker 1: and he's kind of played very well against all those
Speaker 1: very times to defenses against so Bronco, it just feels different,
Speaker 1: maybe because you know, this one's on the road or
Speaker 1: they playing a division rabble, and he feels like a
Speaker 1: must winning game. Like a paper was mentioned that they're
Speaker 1: owning seven in division. You gotta get this win, especially
Speaker 1: to beat two and four, and you gotta win last week.
Speaker 1: You gotta build on that. But you mentioned Chris, I
Speaker 1: am very impressed with how Justin Herbert Ka makes to
Speaker 1: work with what he has on the field. No trade turner,
Speaker 1: no Brian Bulaga, no Mike Williams for a game, no
Speaker 1: Austin Ectra for a couple of games, and he's still
Speaker 1: throwing for theirn yards past scene. He's had a record
Speaker 1: in rushing yards last week, so he's kind of always
Speaker 1: adding a little more to his game. And the best part,
Speaker 1: no turnovers in the last two games. So whatever Herbert
Speaker 1: is doing, he's getting better and it's been fun to
Speaker 1: watch Poppa. That's been the big thing is no turnovers
Speaker 1: the last two weeks for the Chargers. The Broncos have
Speaker 1: had a turnover in every single game this year, multiple
Speaker 1: turnovers in five or six. I look at the Chargers defense,
Speaker 1: They're gonna have to get a couple against True Locking
Speaker 1: Company because we keep saying this and maybe Herbert will
Speaker 1: prove us wrong and just play elite every single Sunday.
Speaker 1: You'd have three hund to plus yards and three touchdowns.
Speaker 1: But at some point another aspect of the team, another
Speaker 1: phase of the team, is going to have to pick
Speaker 1: up the offense. I'm looking at this Chargers defense maybe
Speaker 1: trying to get whether it's a fumble or a true lock, interception,
Speaker 1: forcing a turnover, maybe even getting a score. Man. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the splash plays would be great, But for me, what
Speaker 1: I'm really looking for is this sound four quarters of
Speaker 1: football from this Chargers defense. I may they really haven't
Speaker 1: done the last three weeks really. I mean the Bucks
Speaker 1: game was it was a disaster. They had some letdowns
Speaker 1: in that Saints game, and then the second quarter. I mean,
Speaker 1: they played great, you know this past weekend against the Jaguars.
Speaker 1: Besides the second quarter, it was almost like they just
Speaker 1: had a lull and then came back in that second half,
Speaker 1: you know, playing you know, much faster and tackling better.
Speaker 1: When the second quarter the tackling was off, they had coverage.
Speaker 1: Bus if they're just not executing and they're not sharp
Speaker 1: for four quarters, and you know, Justin Herbert talked about
Speaker 1: that after the game. I asked him, you know, what
Speaker 1: did you learn about winning in the NFL this week
Speaker 1: and on Sunday in this game? He said, it takes
Speaker 1: four quarters. That applies to every phase of the football team,
Speaker 1: including the defense. What I'm looking for at the defensive
Speaker 1: four quarters of sound football. No explosive plays and no mistackles,
Speaker 1: no coverage blunders, none of those kinds of things. The
Speaker 1: turnovers would be great, but if they can just execute
Speaker 1: Gus Gus Bradley's scheme and play sound football, you're gonna
Speaker 1: hold teams to not a lot of points in the way,
Speaker 1: justin Herbert's playing, He's gonna win games if you hold
Speaker 1: opposing teams to seventeen, twenty points and that sort of things.
Speaker 1: I'm looking for just four quarters of sound football that
Speaker 1: that should be the priority for Gus Bradley and his
Speaker 1: defend the players this week, Haley, I was just talking
Speaker 1: to Ryan o'haller and at the Denver Post and he
Speaker 1: basically said that Kansas City rushed for and said Drew
Speaker 1: Locke beat us. So when you have Melvin Gordon on deck,
Speaker 1: and we've talked about it all week, obviously we know
Speaker 1: he played for the Chargers and he was a running back.
Speaker 1: He did, but just stopping Melvin Anthony Lynn talked about
Speaker 1: getting hats to the ball. James Robinson, he was a
Speaker 1: tough runner last week and broke a lot of tackles.
Speaker 1: Stopping Melvin Gordon could really be the key to this game.
Speaker 1: Probably could be the key to this game, especially because
Speaker 1: we don't know yet what Philip Lindsay's availability is going
Speaker 1: to be. Like. He obviously poses an Eckler type threat
Speaker 1: for their offense, but if you have to contain one
Speaker 1: of those guys, contain him on the ground. I think
Speaker 1: the weather is going to be a little better this
Speaker 1: week than last week against Kansas City. But yeah, this
Speaker 1: Chargers defense or I'm sorry, Chargers team overall, they know
Speaker 1: what Melvin Gordon is capable of. He was in their
Speaker 1: system these last few years years. They know him very
Speaker 1: very well, and it's going to be up to those
Speaker 1: guys up front. New piece though this year Linvall, Joseph
Speaker 1: up there, that big body guy. You talk about adjectives
Speaker 1: for Justin her We had many an adjective for him
Speaker 1: thrown over the summer about what his size and strength
Speaker 1: and what he's capable of doing. But I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think it would probably come down to stopping Melvin Gordon.
Speaker 1: And his coach linn said, you know he's going to
Speaker 1: be motivated. You know this team is going to be motivated.
Speaker 1: It's a little extra juice and I do have to
Speaker 1: say I do kind of love divisional games because you
Speaker 1: almost throw records out the window at this point. This
Speaker 1: does feel a little bit almost like the Titans game
Speaker 1: last year where you had two two and four teams
Speaker 1: and someone's you know, someone's obviously gonna win, someone's gonna lose,
Speaker 1: and could that set the course for the rest of
Speaker 1: the season. Kind of has a similar vibe there, But
Speaker 1: it's going to be very, very intriguing with what happens,
Speaker 1: especially in that ground game. And Keenan Allen I love it.
Speaker 1: I mean, he said, look, those who aren't obviously going
Speaker 1: to be on the field at the same time, but
Speaker 1: he goes there's gonna be a lot of talking and
Speaker 1: a lot of playmaking that opens this Sunday. Anybody, anybody
Speaker 1: that knows anybody that knows mel knows that he circled
Speaker 1: that game as soon as the schedule came out, and
Speaker 1: then recircled it when the schedule got shuffled. I mean,
Speaker 1: this guy's probably been looking forward to this game ever
Speaker 1: since he signed that contract, and I'm gonna I imagine
Speaker 1: he's gonna come out running as hard as probably we've
Speaker 1: ever seen him run. Bryan o'helen also said that did
Speaker 1: Melvin in a zoom press roll was he said, it's
Speaker 1: just another game, and it's like, come on, go check
Speaker 1: go check his Instagram comments and you'll see it's definitely
Speaker 1: not It's definitely not another just another game, Gill. The
Speaker 1: fact that the Charges got Melvin Ingram back in Justin
Speaker 1: Jones back comes at a really a perfect time. We're
Speaker 1: talked about stopping the run. What did you see from
Speaker 1: the defensive line in just an effort to keep those
Speaker 1: guys fresh, Maybe see the Jerry Tillery we saw the
Speaker 1: first two weeks of the year. I think that came
Speaker 1: at the right time. Obviously, the offensive line, you're hoping
Speaker 1: for Bulaga and Turner to come back, but at least
Speaker 1: you get two key pieces back on the D line. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you gotta have those two guys where Melvin Goren's for
Speaker 1: advantage game. You know, you gotta be fully loaded to
Speaker 1: stop Melvin Gordon, the hard tackler there. But yeah, you're right,
Speaker 1: it felt like this team was missing something for the
Speaker 1: last couple of weeks without Melvin Ingram and Justin Jones,
Speaker 1: two very vital guys with a D line especial for
Speaker 1: him Melvin Ingram. He's such a you know, he's a
Speaker 1: ball of energy. It just brings out the best and everybody.
Speaker 1: I know, it wasn't like the greatest Melbourne Ingram game,
Speaker 1: but just be out there. You could tell that all
Speaker 1: guys on the D line wanted to play better. He
Speaker 1: got a couple of pressures there and he helps everybody
Speaker 1: from Jared Hillery to your Channa Boosa. So I think
Speaker 1: for the Charger to have me Ingram back the leader,
Speaker 1: it really helped out. And you saw the Boos against Jaguars.
Speaker 1: And just to add to that real quick, Joey Bosa
Speaker 1: was healthy on Sunday. That was the first time, first
Speaker 1: time pretty much since Week one where I saw on
Speaker 1: tape like a legitimately healthy Joey Bozza. And he was
Speaker 1: an absolute force. And when he is winning one matchups
Speaker 1: on the edge like it opens up everything for this
Speaker 1: defensive line. And I thought before he hurt himself in
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, I thought mel look looked really solid.
Speaker 1: I mean, he was getting pressures and what an interesting
Speaker 1: thing he was. He was doing a lot of bull
Speaker 1: rushing on the interior. Usually he's a speed guy, using
Speaker 1: the spin moves and sent his athleticism around the edge,
Speaker 1: but he was like running guys over on the interior
Speaker 1: like he was. He looked healthy as well before he
Speaker 1: got got you know, he nicked up his knee there
Speaker 1: again in the fourth quarter. But like they're just it's
Speaker 1: just so obvious. But when you finally see them back
Speaker 1: on the field together, you're like, Wow, this defense is
Speaker 1: so different when both those guys are in there, because
Speaker 1: when you get pressure with your with your front four,
Speaker 1: it opens up so much on the back end where
Speaker 1: you can throw out a Dine Packers for example, you
Speaker 1: can bring Jolila dian as a sixth defensive back and
Speaker 1: play a lot of SOB zone on those thirdain longs
Speaker 1: because Joey Bosa and mell are getting the quarterback and
Speaker 1: wreaking havoc with just those four rushers. I was gonna
Speaker 1: say charges for down Melvin Ingram and Justin Jones in
Speaker 1: half of Joey Bosa. I think it was probably more
Speaker 1: than that. Like Joey was not anywhere close to himself,
Speaker 1: especially in that Bucks game, like against Worth's just he
Speaker 1: got he got manhammeled by a rookie, and it was
Speaker 1: he just didn't look like himself. He just wasn't he
Speaker 1: wasn't healthy. All guys, let's go around the horn. I
Speaker 1: want a key to the game and a player to watch,
Speaker 1: and we'll start with Haley Mike key to the game. Obviously,
Speaker 1: it kind of references what I talked about earlier, but
Speaker 1: winning on third down. I believe the Chargers they currently
Speaker 1: ring seventh in the NFL. They have a forty seven
Speaker 1: percent conversion rate on third down, which is great. But
Speaker 1: knowing that Denver held Kansas City to offer on third
Speaker 1: down last week, casey obviously still one. So there are
Speaker 1: ways around that. But the easiest way to obviously suit
Speaker 1: the stain Drives score points went on third down. And
Speaker 1: then your player to watch. I'm actually gonna go with
Speaker 1: Donald Parham two catches, two touchdowns. We've seen that a
Speaker 1: little interesting one because former Denver bronco Virgil Green will
Speaker 1: not be playing in this game obviously, so we'll probably
Speaker 1: see a little more parm in the run game, a
Speaker 1: little more of an expanded role for him there. But
Speaker 1: he's been a really interesting one to watch and really
Speaker 1: kind of come along with the progression of Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: as well. Two good one's Parum two catches, two touchdowns, Gil,
Speaker 1: what about you Ben? You know, let's go with the
Speaker 1: Russian attack. I want to see the Chargers a duo
Speaker 1: of Justin Jackson and Joshua Kelly, you know, you know,
Speaker 1: bring it on and really carry this game. Especially it
Speaker 1: seems like every time you played then where you got
Speaker 1: to get that ground game going. It's never like a
Speaker 1: high scoring affair. Even though they have Justin Herbert. That
Speaker 1: could happen, but you want to get the running game going.
Speaker 1: But I'll narrow it down to Joshua Kelly. He won
Speaker 1: that game in week one and he's kind of been
Speaker 1: very quiet ever since. And there's very high host for
Speaker 1: Joshua Kelly. So hopefully for the rookie he kind of
Speaker 1: figures it out this week. I think he got the
Speaker 1: book with it carries a week ago, but still didn't
Speaker 1: get the yards. He's still very involved in the passing game.
Speaker 1: So hopefully for Joshua Kelly, he gets gets it going
Speaker 1: and gets that promising a rookie career back on track. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they need to get somebody to get the running game going,
Speaker 1: whether that's Jackson or Kelly. We'll see Sunday. Pop what
Speaker 1: about you? So many to choose him I love the
Speaker 1: Donald Palm's that's like your your hipster peck. I totally
Speaker 1: love it. But I'm gonna go I'm gonna go with
Speaker 1: with a more mainstream pick here, Keenan Allen. I mean,
Speaker 1: the guys has been absolutely incredible. He is clearly Justin
Speaker 1: Herbert's favorite target. Whenever Justin drops back, he is looking
Speaker 1: for thirteen. And that's how this offensive function because Keenan,
Speaker 1: there's not a cornerback in the league. Well, let me
Speaker 1: let me trace there's one cornerback in the league who
Speaker 1: can guard him one on one in the slot, and
Speaker 1: he is now the Chargers. That's Chris Harris R. And
Speaker 1: so he's going into a Broncos game for the first
Speaker 1: time in his career without having to go up against
Speaker 1: Chris Harrison the slot, and you have a potential for
Speaker 1: a huge game out of him because it's not clear
Speaker 1: exactly who who can stick with Keenan Allen. Now that
Speaker 1: Chris Harris isn't on the Broncos, I mean obviously that
Speaker 1: Julie who's back. He's more of an outside boundary corner.
Speaker 1: So I'm curious to see who they match up with
Speaker 1: on the interior. And just the way that chemistry is
Speaker 1: developing between Justin Herbert and Keenan Allen. It's only going
Speaker 1: to get better. And I'm, you know, envisioning sometime in
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, perhaps as soon as this week,
Speaker 1: that Keenan Allen's going to bust out for like a
Speaker 1: career game, just because of how often Justin Herbert is
Speaker 1: targeting him. The questions from a helmet did you guys
Speaker 1: see that with Keenan Allen On the Chargers website, you
Speaker 1: pull up a question out and it said what cornerback
Speaker 1: do you want to face the most this year? And
Speaker 1: he said, aj blue Gay. So we're gonna see it
Speaker 1: on Sunday, all right? For me? For me, it's protecting
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert by any means necessary. And that may mean
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert protecting himself getting the ball out of his
Speaker 1: hands quickly if he needs to. We don't know what
Speaker 1: the offensive life situation is going to be. If my
Speaker 1: player to watch is Justin Jones. Bradley Chubb and Justin
Speaker 1: Jones are really tight, they're they're they're good friends, and
Speaker 1: you know, Bradley Chubb's gonna show out. Justin Jones is
Speaker 1: gonna want to turn the favor and when you're talking
Speaker 1: about stopping Melvin Gordon Jones could play a big role
Speaker 1: in that. So paper Gil, what do you think do
Speaker 1: you think the Chargers get their first win in the division? Hurt, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think they do. I think they do. And here's why.
Speaker 1: When Anthony Lynn gets some momentum going, he's proven that
Speaker 1: he's able to turn things around. And like, I really
Speaker 1: believe that all of these players in that locker room
Speaker 1: are playing really really hard for this guy and playing
Speaker 1: really really hard for Anthony Lynn. And I, you know,
Speaker 1: I asked him the question this week because I want
Speaker 1: to just a genuine answer at him. But getting a
Speaker 1: win after a losing streak like that can just change
Speaker 1: everything internally, and all of a sudden, you get a
Speaker 1: taste of it, and you're starting to get some guys
Speaker 1: back healthy, and all of a sudden, this could turn
Speaker 1: into you know, several game winning street but this is
Speaker 1: the one that you have to have, um. But I
Speaker 1: you know, it feels like this was a turning point.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm being a little naive, but it does feel
Speaker 1: like they got a little taste of winning. Justin Herbert
Speaker 1: got a taste of winning and took a big step
Speaker 1: forward in terms of making the plays Laton games that
Speaker 1: you have to make to win football games in the NFL,
Speaker 1: and it just seems like they're they're on the cusp
Speaker 1: of something pretty special here. Um and then so it
Speaker 1: starts this week in Denver. I'm going to take a
Speaker 1: close win, low scoring twenty twenty seventeen, something in that range. Yeah,
Speaker 1: an old AFC West matchup. Grinded it out, Gil, What
Speaker 1: about you, sir? Yeah, I wanted to hear from Pop
Speaker 1: because it was kind of defense on Wednesday. I thought
Speaker 1: I was gonna say a loss in Denver, but it
Speaker 1: changed his mind there, So I'll make it two for two.
Speaker 1: Charges get to win. I feel like they're kind of
Speaker 1: due for a victory, you know, being oh and seven
Speaker 1: and the a FC West must be eating an and
Speaker 1: the whole the whole entire staff. When the players like
Speaker 1: you cannot go oh and eight, you can't be last
Speaker 1: in the division. So for these charges, I think they
Speaker 1: get it done. A big rider game game against the
Speaker 1: Broncos mentioned Melvin Gordon, anybody gonna be fired up, and
Speaker 1: you got Melvin Ingram back. So I think, especially you know,
Speaker 1: guys like Kei, I just feel like the energy kind
Speaker 1: of rolls in that game as the Jaguar they scored,
Speaker 1: you know, thirty seven, thirty nine points, I forget, So
Speaker 1: they're on a roll right now. So I feel like
Speaker 1: they'll get it done in Denver. Guys, I'm digging this
Speaker 1: four box me, Haley, Popper, Gil. What should next week's be?
Speaker 1: We had Ready, Jeff Miller and Fernando last week. I
Speaker 1: want to get some bands or maybe we get Ready
Speaker 1: and Popper together. Let's just do let's just do three boxes,
Speaker 1: you two and me, and that way I can get
Speaker 1: more takes off I have. I have about seven takes
Speaker 1: written down that I didn't get to get off, so like, well,
Speaker 1: maybe I'll save them for next week. I guess Popper's furious.
Speaker 1: It's a four bucks. I want to just it shouldn't
Speaker 1: just be one box and me talking the entire time,
Speaker 1: but then it would just be my own podcast. Yeer
Speaker 1: going out. That's a good matchup, Jeff and Popper. Jeff
Speaker 1: and Popper's great, Jeff and Popper is great. All right,
Speaker 1: well we had we had a good one today, Haley.
Speaker 1: I would Daniel Popper, Gil'll appreciate you guys, and we'll
Speaker 1: see you back here very soon. Thank you all right, guys,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for us. A big thanks to
Speaker 1: all of my guests Halleo Wood, Daniel Popper, Gilbert Manzano,
Speaker 1: Matt Money Smith and Ryan O'Halloran for joining me, and
Speaker 1: of course thanks to you all for listening. Be sure
Speaker 1: to download and subscribe to the Chargers Podcast Network wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Enjoy the game on Sunday. We'll
Speaker 1: also catch you on the Final Drive after the game.
Speaker 1: Be sure to download that on the Chargers Podcast Network
Speaker 1: or catch it on YouTube. Have a great weekend and
Speaker 1: until next time, I'm Chris Harry