Speaker 1: Hey, what is up everybody? Welcome to the Giftias Charge Podcast.
Speaker 1: My name is Steven and I am the host and
Speaker 1: as joining me as always is my guy Tyler. Tyler,
Speaker 1: what's that man? How you doing today?
Speaker 2: Fantastic boy?
Speaker 3: I like when the Chargers win. I love when the
Speaker 3: Chargers win. It is so much better and it's especially
Speaker 3: sweet when it's on primetime and the whole panel of
Speaker 3: media members picks the Chargers to lose. Oops didn't work out,
Speaker 3: did it?
Speaker 1: Yeah? It certainly did not. The national narratives are are
Speaker 1: fun today. Suddenly the Jets defense is really bad and
Speaker 1: Justin Herbert should have thrown for three hundred yards. I
Speaker 1: guess last night certainly had a lot of fun watching
Speaker 1: that game. We'll talk about a lot of it today.
Speaker 1: The Charges are officially at the halfway point of their season,
Speaker 1: so we have some bigger picture conversations as well. Today
Speaker 1: should be a fun show, as always presented by the
Speaker 1: Chargers Podcast Network. Tyler and I are fans of the
Speaker 1: team first and foremost who have been giving this platform
Speaker 1: that we are very grateful for. But the opinions that
Speaker 1: we share on this show are just out there. Our opinions,
Speaker 1: not the opinions of the Chargers organization, and yeah, we're
Speaker 1: excited to dive in today. So we'll start with our
Speaker 1: our truth segment as we always do, We'll hand out
Speaker 1: some game balls today, and then we wanted to kind
Speaker 1: of a zoom out looks at some bigger picture stuff
Speaker 1: today as the Chargers are officially back in the playoff hunt.
Speaker 1: So Tyler, we'll start with you here. What is your
Speaker 1: biggest truth or takeaway from the game against the New
Speaker 1: York Chess last night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the truth for me is this, Darius Davis won
Speaker 3: the game for the Chargers with that touchdown, and literally
Speaker 3: because of the seven points they got was all they needed.
Speaker 2: But that touchdown was just such a gift for the
Speaker 2: offense and the defense.
Speaker 3: You know, you and I figured the charge would need
Speaker 3: two touchdowns, you know, maybe seventeen points to win this game.
Speaker 3: You get to seventeen, you're probably winning, and again they
Speaker 3: only needed seven, but he figured, Okay, going into the game,
Speaker 3: seventeen is what you need, and then Darius Davis just
Speaker 3: gave them seven. And it just felt like from there,
Speaker 3: the offense and the defense, you could just feel that
Speaker 3: the pressure was just off, especially on the offense. They
Speaker 3: didn't have to force things. They didn't have to.
Speaker 2: You know, Herbert did not have to be a hero.
Speaker 3: He did not have to throw multiple interceptions trying to
Speaker 3: push the ball down the field. And they had to score.
Speaker 3: They had to score. No, that wasn't the case. And
Speaker 3: the defense, I mean, it was like handing your kid
Speaker 3: one hundred dollars in a chuck e cheese and just saying, hey,
Speaker 3: go for it, Joey, have fun. And they did the defense.
Speaker 3: You know, we'll talk about the defense. I'm sure got
Speaker 3: to just pin their ears back and go and go
Speaker 3: have fun. And it wasn't just that they executed well,
Speaker 3: it's that you could tell they were playing faster and
Speaker 3: free and smart and physical, and you could just tell
Speaker 3: the defense was playing with house money. So the pressure
Speaker 3: was immediately off the offense to have to score all
Speaker 3: seventeen and the defense, I mean the Jets officially from
Speaker 3: a minute and forty five seconds into the game had
Speaker 3: to start playing catchup and they knew that they had
Speaker 3: to score, and so the defense just got to go great, thanks, Joey,
Speaker 3: bos is healthy too, We've got Mac, We've got Fox.
Speaker 3: Here we go, and everybody pitched it into the tune
Speaker 3: of I almost broke my neck and fell out of
Speaker 3: my chair looking at my screen again when I saw
Speaker 3: the stats for them forty pressures and eight sacks. I
Speaker 3: didn't think that was possible, but Darius Davis and getting
Speaker 3: the Chargers ahead and forcing the Jets to have to
Speaker 3: play catchup and the defense to play free made it possible.
Speaker 3: So Darius Davis both literally won with the game for
Speaker 3: the Chargers with the seven points. But also I don't
Speaker 3: think this score would have been as big of a
Speaker 3: difference the most the Jets have lost by all season
Speaker 3: if they don't have that punt return touchdown.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I'll get to some of the defensive
Speaker 1: stuff here in a second, But Dari's Davis. It wasn't
Speaker 1: just the touchdown. It was also the pun return right
Speaker 1: before the end of the first half. I think it
Speaker 1: was a fourteen fifteen yard return that gave the Chargers
Speaker 1: a really nice head start to that last thirty second drive.
Speaker 1: You know that Brandon City pointed out, gave them some
Speaker 1: real momentum heading into the locker room. They felt really
Speaker 1: great about where they were at. And he's becoming a
Speaker 1: legitimate weapon on special teams. He's not gonna get a
Speaker 1: ton of kick return opportunities. I think it's only two
Speaker 1: kick returns that he's been able to bring out so far. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the rule change has certainly paid played an impact there,
Speaker 1: but he's one of the best punk returners in the
Speaker 1: league right now. You know a guy that is consistently
Speaker 1: a threat to take the ball to the house, a
Speaker 1: consistently a twelve thirteen yard return kind of guy, as
Speaker 1: long as he has the kind of blocking that he needs.
Speaker 1: He actually said after the game that he felt bad
Speaker 1: because he felt like he could have had more touchdowns
Speaker 1: before last night. He felt like he owed his blockers
Speaker 1: a couple other touchdowns based off of the previous looks
Speaker 1: that he's been receiving. So you know, he's he's a
Speaker 1: guy that is just constantly looking to take the plays
Speaker 1: back to the house. He's constantly looking for ways to
Speaker 1: give his team an edge. After the draft, I interviewed
Speaker 1: a b reporter from TCU and he said, looking back
Speaker 1: at Darius Davis's career in college, it always seemed like
Speaker 1: his best punt returns were when the team really needed
Speaker 1: them the most, Like team really needs a spark, the
Speaker 1: offense is really struggling and Darius Davis just answers with
Speaker 1: a great punt return, and I think we've seen some
Speaker 1: of that so far in his career, and certainly on
Speaker 1: Monday Night against against the New York Jets, just a
Speaker 1: real X factor in the return game. Gave the Chargers
Speaker 1: in instantly, like you highlight, and then it also set
Speaker 1: up a super important field goal drive at the end
Speaker 1: of the first half. So Ryan Ficken in this special
Speaker 1: teams unit have really been fantastic, And you know a
Speaker 1: lot of people were kind of scratching their head a
Speaker 1: little bit and taking a returner in the fourth round
Speaker 1: and nights like Monday Night are exactly why you make
Speaker 1: that decision.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they crushed that pick to LESCo Kellen Moore, Ryan
Speaker 3: Ficken like them in particular with offense special teams and
Speaker 3: the selection crushed it. And you can only justify a
Speaker 3: player taking a player like that so early with the
Speaker 3: touches on offense and with of course being great on
Speaker 3: special teams. And not only do you have an explosive returner,
Speaker 3: he also a guy who was pretty explosive on offense too.
Speaker 3: Didn't get to see that on Monday Night, but we
Speaker 3: have seen that throughout the season, so it's just been
Speaker 3: a great pick.
Speaker 2: And look, Ryan Ficken, Primetime Ficken is.
Speaker 3: Becoming like a thing now for this team because you
Speaker 3: know Broncos last year, that big primetime game, that was
Speaker 3: a big special teams game, you know, the Cowboys against
Speaker 3: the Cowboys, they forced that fumble. Chargers didn't win that game,
Speaker 3: but that was huge for the team. And then of
Speaker 3: course last night and Monday Night Football, they Darrek David
Speaker 3: takes it to the house, Cameron Dicker kicks a fifty
Speaker 3: five yarder, like primetime Ficken and special teams is becoming
Speaker 3: a thing now.
Speaker 2: And I just don't remember.
Speaker 3: I know this isn't really my truth here what I'm
Speaker 3: talking about, but by extension, I don't remember the last
Speaker 3: time a Chargers phase of football was this maxed out.
Speaker 3: And I don't even just mean like the players are
Speaker 3: good and the special teams is good. You know, typically
Speaker 3: with the Chargers, let's say like Michael.
Speaker 2: Badgeley's good years recently, he was great.
Speaker 3: But they'd give up kick returns, punts were blocked, you know, etc.
Speaker 1: Etc.
Speaker 3: They're always issues. Maybe one or two guys were really good,
Speaker 3: but not the whole unit. Everybody's maxed out in this
Speaker 3: special teams unit, from the guys who you drafted late
Speaker 3: to the guys who sign on special teams a few
Speaker 3: weeks ago. You know your linebackers, your corners like you
Speaker 3: know your returners. Cameron Dicker now looks like the next
Speaker 3: great NFL kicker for the Chargers and really around the
Speaker 3: NFL like man like Ryan Ficken. Is just awesome, and
Speaker 3: I feel like the Chargers are close to losing him
Speaker 3: at some point to a head coaching maybe even job,
Speaker 3: because again, I don't recall the last time a special
Speaker 3: teams unit or even a phase of football for the
Speaker 3: Chargers was this well coached.
Speaker 2: He's awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, turning around the Charger special teams unit is certainly
Speaker 1: a resume booster. Really quickly on camera, Dicker, because I
Speaker 1: do want to mention him, at least partially throughout today's show.
Speaker 1: Last night, against the Jets, he hit his fourth field
Speaker 1: goal of the season from fifty yards plus that ties
Speaker 1: the Chargers regular season record. Josh Lambeau hit four fifty
Speaker 1: yard field goals in twenty fifteen and Nick Novak hit
Speaker 1: four in twenty eleven. So Camra Dicker has the chance
Speaker 1: to break that record obviously anytime the Chargers play next.
Speaker 1: And so it's just been you know, Dustin Hopkins has
Speaker 1: been really good for the Cleveland Browns, but it's just
Speaker 1: been a win win situation because Cameron Dicker has been
Speaker 1: nails for the Chargers, and it's just it's so rare.
Speaker 1: Like my wife, brook is a is a new fan,
Speaker 1: Like she started to like the Chargers because I like
Speaker 1: the Chargers and she like, you know, she's she's been
Speaker 1: supportive of everything, and you know, she has been used
Speaker 1: to previous Chargers kicking issues, and now the camera Dicker's
Speaker 1: on the team, she like had no doubt that he
Speaker 1: was going to go out there and hit that fifty
Speaker 1: five yard and you know, Camera Dicker is just so clutch.
Speaker 1: He's he's also a legitimate weapon on special teams. You know,
Speaker 1: the Chargers have one of the best punt returners in
Speaker 1: LEE right now. They have arguably one of the best
Speaker 1: kickers in the league right now, and one of the
Speaker 1: best special teams coaches in the league. So it's just
Speaker 1: been it's been a winning edge for the Chargers and
Speaker 1: we've seen that time and time again. Like you mentioned,
Speaker 1: primetime ficking is really coming out, So it was it
Speaker 1: was great to see on Monday night football against the Jets.
Speaker 2: Yeah, ton of fun.
Speaker 3: As I mentioned before the season, my health, my blood
Speaker 3: pressure depends on Cameron Dicker, and so thank you Cameron
Speaker 3: Dicker for doing it for all of us Chargers fans
Speaker 3: and just keeping me alive throughout the season. Steven, what
Speaker 3: is your truth after watching the film? Could it be
Speaker 3: about the defense?
Speaker 1: Yes, it's about these Chargers edg rushers. Man, this is
Speaker 1: the best trio of edg rushers in Chargers history. And
Speaker 1: I mean, like, obviously they've had Junior Sayout, They've obviously
Speaker 1: had Belviningham around here and Sean Merriman, but like a
Speaker 1: collective trio, we have not seen a trio like this
Speaker 1: in Chargers history in my opinion. Granted I was born
Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety four, so I don't really remember watching
Speaker 1: Junior say out, but that's just my opinion. Right now,
Speaker 1: the Chargers are the only team in the league with
Speaker 1: at least three edge rushers who have at least ten
Speaker 1: run stops. Randon Stey has highlighted run defense as a
Speaker 1: legitimately key turnaround and the edge rushers being kind of
Speaker 1: the catalyst for that, and I think we see that
Speaker 1: on a week to week basis with the way that
Speaker 1: these three individuals specifically are defending the run. They're getting
Speaker 1: some key contributions against the run from other players, for sure,
Speaker 1: but the three edge rushers are the absolute driving force
Speaker 1: of how the Chargers have turned around their run defense.
Speaker 1: We highlighted this a couple of weeks ago. Last season,
Speaker 1: they averaged one hundred and forty four yards allowed on
Speaker 1: the ground. This year that's at eighty nine point eight,
Speaker 1: and particularly in the last three games, it's at sixty
Speaker 1: eight yards and the edge rushers are absolutely the key there.
Speaker 1: You mentioned the forty pressures. Obviously not all on the
Speaker 1: edge rushers, but that amount of pressures was the Chargers
Speaker 1: record in the PFF era. The previous high heading into
Speaker 1: Monday Night football for the team was thirty one pressures,
Speaker 1: which they had a few times, most notably I think
Speaker 1: against the Houston Texans back in Week three of the
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen season. That was obviously Joey Melvin, Ingram and
Speaker 1: U Chenna and Wos who at their kind of peak
Speaker 1: of their power, so to speak. But forty total pressures
Speaker 1: is nine more than the previous record. Again, in the
Speaker 1: PFF era. So these Chargers edge rushers are setting the
Speaker 1: tone for what this defense can become. They are dominating
Speaker 1: people out there, and again, Joey Bosa looks as good
Speaker 1: as he ever has. In my opinion, I think going
Speaker 1: back to the twenty twenty season is really the last
Speaker 1: time I saw Joey Bosa rush with this kind of
Speaker 1: speed to power on a consistent basis. Whereas he where
Speaker 1: he is constantly putting offensive tackles in the lap of
Speaker 1: the quarterback. I don't think we've seen that in quite
Speaker 1: some time. Khalil Mack is having kind of a resurgence.
Speaker 1: You know, he looks fresh, he looks healthy, he looks explosive.
Speaker 1: I tweeted this out, but they had that sequence in
Speaker 1: that first half or the start of the second half.
Speaker 1: Excuse me. The Jets go all the way down to
Speaker 1: about the fifteen yard line. The Jets ran a max
Speaker 1: protect situation with two tight ends in to try and
Speaker 1: block Khalil double team's arrest across the rest of the way.
Speaker 1: Tu Lee beat a double team on one side, Khalil
Speaker 1: beat a double team on the other side, and they
Speaker 1: met at the quarterback. On the next play, Joey Bosa
Speaker 1: just bowl rushes Billy Turner puts him in Zach Wilson's
Speaker 1: lap and effectively ends that drive. The Jets kicked a
Speaker 1: field goal. But the Chargers edge rushers are playing at
Speaker 1: such a high level right now. They're feeding off of
Speaker 1: each other. The Chargers social media team obviously pointed out
Speaker 1: that Joey and Tooley are doing each other's celebrations and
Speaker 1: now it's combined. It's not just two Lee throwing up
Speaker 1: the tee or Joey doing the shrug, they both do
Speaker 1: both of them at the same time. Excuse me as
Speaker 1: I hit my mic there. I'm all fired up now.
Speaker 1: But this Chargers edg rusher group, man, it's fantastic. They're
Speaker 1: playing so well. You can try and discredit the opponents,
Speaker 1: but these are NFL offensive tackles. McKai Becton is no slouch.
Speaker 1: Billy Turner has played in the NFL for a very
Speaker 1: long time. Darneld Wright last week against the Bears a
Speaker 1: fantastic young rookie offensive tackle. So it's not like these
Speaker 1: edge rushers are having the easy matchups. The edge rushers
Speaker 1: are out here dominating and looking fresh, spry. I love
Speaker 1: the rotation right now. I just am so impressed with
Speaker 1: the way that these three individuals are playing and it
Speaker 1: is legit genimately the catalyst of how the Chargers are
Speaker 1: playing defense right now. And it's just been a treat
Speaker 1: to watch over the last few weeks.
Speaker 3: The chemistry and the energy I think is almost bigger
Speaker 3: than anything else. Besides anything else, like the way that
Speaker 3: they feed off each other is exciting. I mean, it
Speaker 3: is entertaining, if nothing else, for Chargers fans, just to
Speaker 3: see how excited Joey Bosa is to be out there
Speaker 3: playing football because he's been through a lot, you know,
Speaker 3: and it hasn't always been fun, you know, with the
Speaker 3: teams that he's been on. I think he would hope
Speaker 3: for maybe more wins or being a part of.
Speaker 2: More success, as all NFL players.
Speaker 3: Would, But then you have the injuries and you come
Speaker 3: back this season, you're injured again, you know, and everyone's
Speaker 3: saying you should cut you trade you whatever, You're not
Speaker 3: leaving up to expectations of the contract. Just to see
Speaker 3: him healthy again and having fun again is awesome, Like
Speaker 3: Joey is awesome when he's healthy, and to see him
Speaker 3: get back out there feed off of two Lee them
Speaker 3: feed off each other is one wonderful to see. And Tule,
Speaker 3: I really think has been the glue that has held
Speaker 3: everything together because they've been good with Touley and Joey
Speaker 3: or Tully and Mack or whatever, but guys have been
Speaker 3: heard or things haven't been working, and Tooley's always just
Speaker 3: been there to kind of fill in the gaps or
Speaker 3: wherever anything else isn't working out for the Chargers, Like
Speaker 3: when In's out, Tully will do something. Tully will come
Speaker 3: up with the play. And now everybody's healthy, everyone's feeding
Speaker 3: off of each other, everyone's performing excellent so far. And
Speaker 3: again I don't really care that, yes, I expected the
Speaker 3: Chargers defensive line to have a really good game, even
Speaker 3: if you thought they'd have a really good game, and
Speaker 3: you're discounting the Jets and you're saying that they're players
Speaker 3: on offense or their offensive line isn't great. Uh, nobody
Speaker 3: predicted forty pressures and I know that that's not just
Speaker 3: the edge group, but still, like these guys were dominating.
Speaker 3: It's awesome to see. And again, like Tully, Joey, Bosa,
Speaker 3: Khalil Mack, they have right now a championship caliber rush. Well,
Speaker 3: the rest of the defense. I'm not sure. Will the
Speaker 3: whole team be a championship caliber team, I'm not sure.
Speaker 3: But that is a kind of rush, That is a
Speaker 3: kind of trio that can get you into the postseason
Speaker 3: and win games. And I really wish we had seen
Speaker 3: the Chiefs game and the Cowboys game with all three
Speaker 3: of these guys officially fully healthy, because I think that
Speaker 3: we've seen the difference in.
Speaker 2: The last two weeks.
Speaker 3: It's now up to them next week against the Lions
Speaker 3: to really prove that this rush is actually truly legit
Speaker 3: and here to stay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, you have a much more difficult
Speaker 1: matchup this week. For sure. The Lions are an absolute unit.
Speaker 1: You have Pine Sewel and Taylor Decker as the offensive tackles.
Speaker 1: You know, Frank Ragna potentially coming back for that team
Speaker 1: on Sunday, But well we'll get to that in a
Speaker 1: little bit, I suppose. But this these three players, man,
Speaker 1: it's just like they feed off of each other. They
Speaker 1: spark the team, and when they're all healthy and out there,
Speaker 1: you can just really create mismatches because you know, yes,
Speaker 1: the Lions and these other teams have good offensive but
Speaker 1: the way that Tuley is able to give them flexibility.
Speaker 1: Joey can kick inside, Kalil will kick inside. Morgan Fox
Speaker 1: is having a great season as well. They're just able
Speaker 1: to isolate mismatches and frankly, like they don't really need
Speaker 1: to blitz anymore. Like last season. The the blitz packages
Speaker 1: where I think the best part of the defense last year,
Speaker 1: at least from a schematic standpoint, Now like you don't
Speaker 1: even you don't even have to blitz. You can just
Speaker 1: win with four on third downs. Daniel Popper pointed this
Speaker 1: out the the trio of edge rushers have been on
Speaker 1: the field. Shoot, I should have had this out, That's
Speaker 1: my mistake. But right now, the the trio of edg
Speaker 1: rushers when they're on the field have a success rate
Speaker 1: a sack rate of twenty five percent, which is incredible.
Speaker 1: It's an insane statistic to look at that. Eric Smith
Speaker 1: of the Chargers has also pointed out that the Chargers
Speaker 1: lead the league in sacks on third down. You've talked
Speaker 1: about a lot from like the fan perspective of how
Speaker 1: deflating can be, you know, when you just don't have
Speaker 1: that kind of confidence. But now and if the Chargers
Speaker 1: get into a third and long situation. My expectation is
Speaker 1: that the pass rush is going to get home and
Speaker 1: affect things. And it's just it's changed how I've viewed
Speaker 1: this defense, and I think it's changed how they have
Speaker 1: viewed this defense. I think the celebration committee has been
Speaker 1: fantastic to see. But everything to me stems from this
Speaker 1: defensive line and one other statistic really quickly before we
Speaker 1: move on to the next truth here. Towey below two
Speaker 1: is up to fourteen run stops on the season, which
Speaker 1: is tied for fifth most in the league among edge rushers.
Speaker 1: Joey Bosa, who talked a lot this offseason about how
Speaker 1: important it was for him to put on weight and
Speaker 1: get back to where he feels comfortable, he currently has
Speaker 1: the highest run stop percentage in the league at thirteen
Speaker 1: point seven percent of any edge rusher in the league.
Speaker 1: So those two are getting to the football at a
Speaker 1: really high rate. Khalil Mack is doing some crazy things
Speaker 1: in terms of setting the edge, He's not far behind them.
Speaker 1: Like these This trio of ed dressers is legitimately dominating
Speaker 1: the run right now. And then forty pressures man, like
Speaker 1: you mentioned, we literally have never seen the Chargers do
Speaker 1: that at that kind of rate. So it's just it
Speaker 1: really put it into perspective what they did. And then
Speaker 1: I went back and watched the tape and it was
Speaker 1: like they were meeting at Zach Wilson like every other play.
Speaker 1: It felt like they just were dominant on Monday night
Speaker 1: at a historic level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, forty pressures on forty nine passing attempts from Zach
Speaker 3: Wilson is that's a rough night. Man. I almost feel
Speaker 3: about it. I almost almost feel bad. But it's great that,
Speaker 3: you know, you point out the run defense as well.
Speaker 3: And I'm glad that when we talk about two Leader
Speaker 3: or any of these guys, you're consistently bringing up the
Speaker 3: run defense because that is setting up what they're able
Speaker 3: to do on third down. You don't get to have
Speaker 3: forty pressures in eight sacks if you're not great on
Speaker 3: first done, if you're not great against the run and
Speaker 3: their ability to do that keep them to one yard games,
Speaker 3: you know, one yard losses.
Speaker 2: Whatever is great.
Speaker 3: That sets up up your ability to rush the passer.
Speaker 3: Zach Wilson and the Jets lost more yards on sacks
Speaker 3: than Breese Hall gained in rushing yards, which speaks to
Speaker 3: both things. There. They stopped the run and they rushed
Speaker 3: the passer, and those two things right there is why
Speaker 3: they won so big last night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you know, there's we'll see about the pass rush,
Speaker 1: but I'm pretty confident that this team can stop the run.
Speaker 1: Lamar Jackson is a different beast. That might be a
Speaker 1: tough situation, but you know, even this week against the Lions, like,
Speaker 1: I have a lot of confidence in this front being
Speaker 1: able to stop the run. Also really quickly. Otito Agonia
Speaker 1: fantastic on Monday Night Football, his first game back coming
Speaker 1: from from that injury, consistently eating a double teams, shedding blockers.
Speaker 1: I was. I was incredibly impressed with the way Otito played.
Speaker 1: They're getting some really high level football from Nick Williams, Sebastian,
Speaker 1: Joseph Day, Austin Johnson. Like these these guys are really
Speaker 1: defending the run at a high level. It's just the
Speaker 1: edge rushers are like insanely dominant and everybody else is
Speaker 1: kind of playing behind them. But the Chargers run defense
Speaker 1: is legitimately good in my opinion, and I think we'll
Speaker 1: see that in a big way against teams like the
Speaker 1: Lions who really want to establish the run.
Speaker 2: That's awesome for Motito.
Speaker 3: I didn't get to watch the film, but just watching
Speaker 3: the game, you go, whoa, you know, how much is
Speaker 3: this guy gonna play? Then you watch him and it's like,
Speaker 3: what the heck? Where did this come from? Four pressures
Speaker 3: last season? Get for pressures last night in his return
Speaker 3: from a pretty gruesome injuries.
Speaker 2: So to see that is great.
Speaker 3: Again, this rotation is just fantastic. Big credit to give Smith.
Speaker 3: You know, Jay Rodgers is in charge of he's the
Speaker 3: run game coordinator, but gif Smith is in charge of
Speaker 3: the rush plan.
Speaker 2: So whatever he's doing, it's working.
Speaker 1: Yeah, a hundred percent. Shout out to those coaches for sure.
Speaker 1: All Right, My last thing I want to discuss here
Speaker 1: in terms of the truth segment, looking back at kind
Speaker 1: of the numbers, watching some of this film and looking
Speaker 1: at the way this Chargers offense is struggling, I do
Speaker 1: kind of want to discuss this because none of us
Speaker 1: were expecting a huge output on offense. This Jets defense
Speaker 1: is insanely talented, especially against the pass argent Menon, who
Speaker 1: was on the show last week, pointed out that the
Speaker 1: pass rush pressure justin Herbert around fifty five percent of
Speaker 1: his dropbacks and they perfectly covered. The Chargers receivers on
Speaker 1: around fifty percent of their dropbacks as well. So the
Speaker 1: Jets defense is insane. So I'm not super surprised that
Speaker 1: the offense struggled, but I think it's really time that
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore leans back into the run game as a
Speaker 1: solution here. This is an offense that is not set
Speaker 1: up how they were supposed to be set up. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Mike Williams is injured, Josh Palmer is now injured, Jeraldever
Speaker 1: it is a little bit banged up here and there.
Speaker 1: The run game has to be the answer, and I
Speaker 1: know that it hasn't been pretty at times. I actually
Speaker 1: thought they were able to run the football dec well
Speaker 1: last night. Austin Eckler had his best game on the
Speaker 1: ground of the season outside of Week one. Obviously, josh
Speaker 1: ba Kelly only getting three carries is an issue to
Speaker 1: me that needs to be corrected. But this was a
Speaker 1: game where I think you needed to do a much
Speaker 1: better job of protecting Justin Herbert and protecting your defense
Speaker 1: and controlling the clock, and so you know, this was
Speaker 1: this was a game that I was expecting Kellen Moore
Speaker 1: to kind of lean into the run game. A little
Speaker 1: bit more, and we didn't see that happen that it
Speaker 1: needs to happen, Like, you have to be able to
Speaker 1: run the football going forward, and you know they're going
Speaker 1: to get into some potentially like cold weather situations here
Speaker 1: in the next few months. They have to get this
Speaker 1: figured out. The Lions are pretty similar about the Jets
Speaker 1: that you in the middle of the road in terms
Speaker 1: of the run defense. The Packers the week after that
Speaker 1: are terrible against the run. Like that these next few weeks,
Speaker 1: you have to get the run game going otherwise your offense,
Speaker 1: I think is just going to kind of be stuck
Speaker 1: in the mud again because I just I don't know
Speaker 1: how many answers you have without Palmer and Mike Williams
Speaker 1: out there, you know, I just you know, you can
Speaker 1: only do so much with Keenan, And Keenan was fantastic yesterday.
Speaker 1: But the run game needs to be a much greater
Speaker 1: emphasis point of emphasis for this offensive coaching staff or
Speaker 1: the offense I think is just going to kind of
Speaker 1: continue to be stuck in mud a little bit.
Speaker 3: I feel like the play of the tackles and of
Speaker 3: course in particular Rashaun Slater has really surprised the team.
Speaker 3: I think there's an aspect of going into the season
Speaker 3: assuming that you're good there and frankly the whole, the
Speaker 3: whole offense life would be better than it currently has been.
Speaker 3: And I just think, in particular with Rashaun Slater last night,
Speaker 3: you're just surprised by how things have kind of gone
Speaker 3: and so at some point, you know, you kind of
Speaker 3: hoped during the bye, but hasn't quite happened, But you'd
Speaker 3: hope that at the middle point of this season and
Speaker 3: heading into some very difficult games, that they can self
Speaker 3: scout a bit and say, Okay, like, we've got to
Speaker 3: reevaluate what we're doing.
Speaker 2: We had a plan going in of the year. It
Speaker 2: was a good plan.
Speaker 3: Week one was great and then things people got hurt
Speaker 3: and things changed. Okay, let's reevaluate after the buye okay
Speaker 3: things after the bye.
Speaker 2: We've seen what we liked that is good. We've seen
Speaker 2: that we tried that didn't work out so well.
Speaker 3: So what can we lean into And yeah, I was
Speaker 3: definitely surprised that Joshua Kelly didn't get more touches. If
Speaker 3: it's an issue of you know, he gets four carries
Speaker 3: for six yards every game and that's why you don't
Speaker 3: want to give him more touches.
Speaker 2: I understand.
Speaker 3: But statistically going into this game, and I'm sure it's
Speaker 3: pretty close now, I mean, he was ahead of Austin
Speaker 3: Eckler in yards per attempt, yards after contact per attempt,
Speaker 3: rushing yards ever expected per attempt, avoiding negative rushing plays,
Speaker 3: success rate EPA per rush. You know, anywhere you looked
Speaker 3: as a runner, Joshuvac Kelly was better. And that does
Speaker 3: that Does that mean that he's elite? Does that mean
Speaker 3: that he's great? No, but he can't just give you
Speaker 3: a bit more. And you gotta find a way to
Speaker 3: avoid these third and lungs because the Chargers had no answer.
Speaker 3: I can't think of a single third and long outside
Speaker 3: of maybe the.
Speaker 2: One that was the thrown to Keenan, that great.
Speaker 3: Play, but that might have been a third and short.
Speaker 3: I couldn't think of a third and long that what
Speaker 3: didn't end up in Herbert getting hit or sacked. I
Speaker 3: mean it was pretty rough. They had no answer, So
Speaker 3: you got to find a way. Eckler can be involved
Speaker 3: as a receiver when he catches the football, but Joshua Kelly,
Speaker 3: even if all he does is give you three and
Speaker 3: a half yards or four yards and on Monday he
Speaker 3: gave you six yards to carry. That's way better. You
Speaker 3: can survive elite pass rushes if you can just get
Speaker 3: to second and six, but you can't live in second
Speaker 3: and eight, second and nine, second and ten, second and nine.
Speaker 3: In the same way, we discussed how great the run
Speaker 3: defense was for the Charges and how that set up
Speaker 3: their rush. You got to set your offense up for
Speaker 3: a bit more success. So either that's an extension of
Speaker 3: the run game like they sort of were doing at
Speaker 3: the beginning of the year with screens or something a
Speaker 3: bit different there, or just leaning into the run game.
Speaker 3: They got to find a way to stay ahead because
Speaker 3: you can't go and go face Baltimore in a game
Speaker 3: that you basically need to win to establish yourself in
Speaker 3: the AFC. You can't go face Baltimore and just say yeah,
Speaker 3: we're gonna you know, this is all we got you,
Speaker 3: Golllean is the run. You gotta find some different ways
Speaker 3: to make it work, and.
Speaker 2: So far it's not. Do you feel I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't think you watched the offense today.
Speaker 2: If I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3: Yet, do you at least feel that the offensive line
Speaker 3: at this point, is actually better suited to be run
Speaker 3: blocking or do you feel that their strength is past pro.
Speaker 1: I think it's run blocking. I think the offensive line
Speaker 1: run blocking hasn't been amazing, but it hasn't been an issue.
Speaker 1: Like I've been on the record that the tied end
Speaker 1: blocking has been a much greater issue. I thought watching
Speaker 1: the broadcast that Nick Vannett was was a solid contribution there.
Speaker 1: You know, I'll see what the film says there, but
Speaker 1: I think the offensive line is still struggling with some
Speaker 1: of the aspects of playing against stunts and games. And
Speaker 1: you know, watching the broadcast, the Jets would do this
Speaker 1: thing where they would have, say, eventually do a stunt
Speaker 1: or a game on one side, and then they would
Speaker 1: kind of like fake one on the other side and
Speaker 1: then end up dropping one to kind of spy Herbert
Speaker 1: a little bit, which is something that the Chiefs stood
Speaker 1: a little bit. And the Chiefs really confuse the Chargers
Speaker 1: with that kind of look in Rashaun Slater. I don't
Speaker 1: know if there's an ankle injury still there or what,
Speaker 1: but you know, again, the Jets defensive line is insane,
Speaker 1: but there were some instant wins from the Jets defensive
Speaker 1: line against both of these offensive tackles, which, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever you think of Trey Pipkins to me, I was
Speaker 1: surprised to see that live. So it's just I think
Speaker 1: it establishing the run helps everybody here. It helps the
Speaker 1: offensive line, takes pressure off of Herbert, it protects Herbert,
Speaker 1: takes pressure off of the receivers, and I just in
Speaker 1: these two games like these are the perfect kind of
Speaker 1: games where you want to workshop the run game because
Speaker 1: you're in such a positive game script. So you know,
Speaker 1: I don't want to seem like overly negative obviously, but
Speaker 1: you know, we have to be real here on this show.
Speaker 1: And the Charges offense did enough, but I think they
Speaker 1: did leave some meat on the bone last night and
Speaker 1: against the Bears as well.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's what changes them from being maybe even just
Speaker 3: a okay offense or a good offense to being great.
Speaker 3: And so you have to discuss it. There's always room
Speaker 3: for improvement. Have to address I have to talk about it.
Speaker 3: So I'm glad you brought it up.
Speaker 1: Yeah all right, Tyler, Well let's get to our game
Speaker 1: balls of the week here. Who is your choice coming
Speaker 1: off with a victory from Monday Night Football could.
Speaker 3: Go many directions, but how about the guy who has
Speaker 3: ten thousand and seven yards in his career. Please don't
Speaker 3: get a screen and lose eight yards your first reception
Speaker 3: next week, or you gotta.
Speaker 2: Do it all over again.
Speaker 3: But no, I am truly proud.
Speaker 2: I think speak for a lot of fans.
Speaker 3: I'm proud as a fan to have watched Keenan Allen
Speaker 3: you know, and watched him play since his first catch
Speaker 3: against the Eagles. You know, in the third quarter, I
Speaker 3: wrote it down. It's a game that was played three thousand,
Speaker 3: seven hundred and five days ago. It's been a while
Speaker 3: since that rookie season. Don't ask me what I was doing.
Speaker 3: I have no idea what I was doing that long ago.
Speaker 3: Fitting of course that the reception was also on third down,
Speaker 3: of course, Keenan Am caught a third down for his
Speaker 3: first catch. He's just been the answer to every question
Speaker 3: this season. You know, where do we go?
Speaker 2: What do we do?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 2: Who's the gargoyle on mass singer?
Speaker 3: You know, like he's been the answer to everything so far,
Speaker 3: and he just gets it done like he's been getting
Speaker 3: it done.
Speaker 2: And you don't, you know what.
Speaker 3: A better way to pass ten thousand and seven or
Speaker 3: ten thousand yards then with a catch that he had,
Speaker 3: I mean, what an awesome play, one of the best
Speaker 3: catches of his career, of course on primetime to get
Speaker 3: that milestone. And it's just really cool to see him
Speaker 3: rite ten thousand on that football.
Speaker 2: I mean, what a milestone.
Speaker 3: And like he'sa said he's going for Antonio Gates next
Speaker 3: and he'll get him next year. So it wasn't like
Speaker 3: the best performance from Keenanon on the season, but he
Speaker 3: picked up four first downs for this team.
Speaker 2: I was an offense.
Speaker 3: They only picked up twelve, and he finished the night
Speaker 3: with eight catches for seventy seven yards, which was good enough, man,
Speaker 3: good enough for a win against a very very good
Speaker 3: corner trio.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that was That was basically the offense. And you know,
Speaker 1: like I said, the Chargers did just enough on offense
Speaker 1: to get those three drives, you know, a touchdown drive,
Speaker 1: the field goal drive, and the two minute thirty second drive.
Speaker 1: Basically was all Keenan. I felt like Austin Heckler had
Speaker 1: some contributions there as well. For sure. For me, like
Speaker 1: I already talked about the edge rushers, I like I
Speaker 1: could give the could give a game ball to one
Speaker 1: of them, but I'm gonna go with a Lohi Gillman
Speaker 1: in this one. I think there's just some something different
Speaker 1: about him, the way that he's able to, you know,
Speaker 1: spark this Chargers defense. And again, he set that tone
Speaker 1: really early in the game. I was kind of convinced
Speaker 1: that they would call him for roughing the or for
Speaker 1: personal roughness or whatever the penalty is called on that
Speaker 1: first play, but it just set the tone. You know,
Speaker 1: he strips Garrett Wilson, he recovers Khalil Max fumble and
Speaker 1: nearly returns it for a touchdown. The guy just has
Speaker 1: a way of finding the football and it's incredible to
Speaker 1: watch him play alongside Derwyn James. I thought that Randon
Speaker 1: Stay had a great plan for Garrett Wilson, and a
Speaker 1: lot of that was Alohi Gilman being able to move
Speaker 1: around and play as a cover one robber at times
Speaker 1: plays as the one double against Garrett Wilson. So credit
Speaker 1: to Brandon Stay there as well, but Alohi Gimmon was
Speaker 1: kind of the key from a schematic standpoint against Garrett
Speaker 1: Wilson from what I was able to watch on tape today.
Speaker 1: And then again, you know, he forces a turnover, he
Speaker 1: recovers another turnover, has a couple of big hits. So
Speaker 1: I think Alohi Gillman deserves definitely a shoutout today. So
Speaker 1: he's gonna be my choice for the game ball.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 3: And dating back two a few weeks ago when he
Speaker 3: was healthy again and playing against the Vikings, he's part
Speaker 3: of the reason they won that game. You know, again,
Speaker 3: forces a turnover there, should have had another one. It's
Speaker 3: a whole story about the refs. But the last two
Speaker 3: drives he finishes the game for them, helps finish the
Speaker 3: game for them against the Bears, hits the receiver when
Speaker 3: James gets his interception last night.
Speaker 2: Of course, big.
Speaker 3: It's I didn't I expected a Lohi Gilman to have
Speaker 3: his quote unquote breakout season. Unfortunately he's been hurt a
Speaker 3: couple of games. I really didn't expect like tone setting
Speaker 3: to be a Lohi Gillman's thing this year.
Speaker 2: You know, I expected.
Speaker 3: Good plays, good coverage, be sound, be a good running mate.
Speaker 3: You know, but Derwin James is the guy and Michael
Speaker 3: Davis is your best corner and that sort of thing.
Speaker 3: And sure, but I did not expect tone setter for
Speaker 3: Lohi Gilman and game changer for Lohi Gilman. And that's
Speaker 3: all he's been. He's playing physical and he's changing the game.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, game ball there is is wonderful.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was fantastic last night, really solid for this team.
Speaker 1: But nights like Monday night, our nights where you really
Speaker 1: see his value shining through. All Right, we're gonna take
Speaker 1: a quick break and on the other side here, we're
Speaker 1: gonna take a look at the big picture with the
Speaker 1: Chargers having officially passed the eight game mark, sitting at
Speaker 1: four and four. So we'll take that quick break and
Speaker 1: then we'll come back on the other side and have
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Speaker 1: experience of a lifetime awaits only with on location. All right, Tyler,
Speaker 1: we wanted to have kind of a zoo them out
Speaker 1: conversation about this team sitting at four and four, they're
Speaker 1: officially back in the playoff picture. The AFC is completely
Speaker 1: jumbled up. It's pretty crazy to look at. There are
Speaker 1: thirteen teams that currently have at least four wins, including
Speaker 1: the Chargers obviously, who sit at four and four. So
Speaker 1: a lot of these teams are gonna have their bye
Speaker 1: week coming up, like the Chiefs have. Chiefs and Dolphins
Speaker 1: have there bye week this week, I believe. So. The
Speaker 1: Chargers as it currently stands, sit in tenth place. They
Speaker 1: are half a game back from the seventh seed. However,
Speaker 1: as it currently stands, what are your thoughts here as
Speaker 1: it pertains to the playoff picture, because I think there
Speaker 1: are some teams that are really starting to solidify themselves,
Speaker 1: and then there are other teams where it's just like,
Speaker 1: I don't know which version we're gonna get on it
Speaker 1: given Sunday. So what are your thoughts here about this
Speaker 1: AFC playoff picture and how the Chargers fit in.
Speaker 3: It's exactly what I was thinking looking at it. I mean,
Speaker 3: the Chiefs the Ravens and the Jaguars, mostly because of
Speaker 3: their division two those three are going to remain at
Speaker 3: the top. They're going to win, They're going to finish
Speaker 3: as division winners at.
Speaker 2: Least it wouldn't surprise me if they did.
Speaker 3: And they are projected to Chiefs seven and two, raven
Speaker 3: seven and two, Jaguar six and two, and then you
Speaker 3: have you know, could be the Dolphins, could be the Bills.
Speaker 3: It'll be one of them, and then both of them
Speaker 3: are probably getting in. And that's kind of that to me,
Speaker 3: the big picture and any chance for the Chargers is
Speaker 3: not the Bengals the seventh seed. I think the Bengals
Speaker 3: are going to ascend and keep moving, you know, maybe
Speaker 3: not into the division win, but probably like the fifth
Speaker 3: or sixth seed. To me, it's that it's the Browns
Speaker 3: and the Steelers. Now, the Steelers just keep winning, and
Speaker 3: it's obnoxious that they just keep finding ways to win,
Speaker 3: regardless who's out there. I'm convinced that Mike Tomlin could
Speaker 3: feeld you know, you and me at quarterback and receiver
Speaker 3: and you can figure out who's who.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think they would still find a way to win
Speaker 3: because that's Mike Tomlin. But the Browns that that team
Speaker 3: is the one I think maybe even you referring to
Speaker 3: in terms of well, I don't know what kind of
Speaker 3: are you really a team that's a playoff contender or not?
Speaker 3: The defense is absolutely, the offense is pretty hit or miss,
Speaker 3: and unfortunately their record isn't great at five and three,
Speaker 3: and I don't know where they're going to keep winning
Speaker 3: because they have the Ravens next at Baltimore.
Speaker 2: Then they have the Steelers. That's a slug fest.
Speaker 3: Then you got to go at Denver, then the Rams, okay, fine,
Speaker 3: but then Jaguars Bears we've seen fine. But then at
Speaker 3: Texans at Houston, who are I mean TJ Straut a
Speaker 3: holy cow?
Speaker 2: We just saw that.
Speaker 3: Then they got to play the Jets and you're not
Speaker 3: scoring at all, and then you got to play the Bengals.
Speaker 3: So it's a very very tough remaining rest of the
Speaker 3: schedule for them in terms of either opponent or just
Speaker 3: traveling to somewhere. And also that opponent is really good,
Speaker 3: so that's a tough one for them. I do think
Speaker 3: the Chargers can get to enough wins that would qualify
Speaker 3: them in most seasons to make the postseason. I just
Speaker 3: don't know that if it's enough wins to win an
Speaker 3: tie breakers and to officially get them in this year,
Speaker 3: they're going to need a little bit of help and
Speaker 3: a couple more losses in front of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, as it currently stands, the AFC North
Speaker 1: is four of the seven spots, so all four teams
Speaker 1: are in the playoff picture right now. They haven't really
Speaker 1: played each other very much though, so that's gonna They're
Speaker 1: gonna weed itself out, I think a little bit. The Bengals,
Speaker 1: for what it's worth, to have the most difficult schedule
Speaker 1: in left in the league according to Tankeathon and some
Speaker 1: betting schedules as well. They have to play the Chiefs still,
Speaker 1: they have to play the Ravens still. They have to
Speaker 1: play the Steelers twice, Browns, Jags, and the Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 1: They are only real like easy game that the Bengals
Speaker 1: have is the Colts, and the Colts are at least
Speaker 1: a frisky team, They're a tough out. So the Bengals
Speaker 1: I think are probably the best team of that conversation,
Speaker 1: that wildcard conversation, But that schedule is ridiculously tough, Like
Speaker 1: that's that's a gauntlet. The Browns, like you mentioned, have
Speaker 1: a tough schedule. The Steelers actually have the twenty second
Speaker 1: easiest schedule remaining. They still play the Cardinals, the Patriots,
Speaker 1: the Packers, and the Colts. So that to me is
Speaker 1: an interesting team. And you mentioned CJ. Stroud they get
Speaker 1: to play it's one of the easier schedules too. They
Speaker 1: get to play the Cardinals, they have two games left
Speaker 1: against the Titans, they play the Broncos and the Colts.
Speaker 1: You know they'll they'll have a tough time against the
Speaker 1: Jets and the Bengals and the Browns, but they don't
Speaker 1: have a super difficult schedule. So the Chargers, it really
Speaker 1: becomes a matter of the other AFC teams that you
Speaker 1: have left on your schedule and making sure that you
Speaker 1: are winning those games. So the Chargers are right in
Speaker 1: the middle of the pack from a strength of schedule standpoint.
Speaker 1: But you have some of these games against AFC teams
Speaker 1: that you absolutely have to win, Like you definitely have
Speaker 1: to beat the Bills, you definitely have to be the Raiders. Again,
Speaker 1: the Raiders are still kind of have around the playoff picture.
Speaker 1: I don't have a ton of confidence in this team.
Speaker 1: Beating the Ravens because I think I think the Ravens
Speaker 1: are the best team in the league right now. But
Speaker 1: those other AFC teams, you got to make sure you
Speaker 1: win and you get some of these tie Reker advantages,
Speaker 1: and they got one on Monday Night against the Jets.
Speaker 1: They have to keep doing that going forward.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the rest of the schedule is really set up
Speaker 3: for them to Honestly, if you just look at the
Speaker 3: Vegas odds or whatever and say when are the Chargers favored,
Speaker 3: when are they projected to win, versus when are they
Speaker 3: projected to lose, it's really set up where, yeah, that's
Speaker 3: that looks like nine to eight, right, So if I
Speaker 3: had to guess they're projected to lose against Detroit, the Ravens, Buffalo,
Speaker 3: Kansas City, that certain wouldn't surprise me, and I don't
Speaker 3: think of a surprise anybody if they were, and they're
Speaker 3: projected to win then against Green Bay, New England, Denver, Vegas,
Speaker 3: and then Denver again. So I think that if you
Speaker 3: just play out the games like they're sort of expected,
Speaker 3: the Charges can go nine to eight. It's like what
Speaker 3: you said, though, they need to find one more win
Speaker 3: in there against one of these AFC opponents. To really
Speaker 3: make it in, you got to get a tiebreaker, and
Speaker 3: obviously you're gonna need ten wins unless something just goes
Speaker 3: crazy for the rest of the AFC. But so you're
Speaker 3: gonna have to beat Kansas City, You're gonna have to
Speaker 3: beat Buffalo. Maybe you know, one of those two games
Speaker 3: again Baltimore, like I said, like you said, I think
Speaker 3: they are the best team. They certainly look like it,
Speaker 3: and they have recently. And the March is playing out
Speaker 3: of his mind and that's that's a two thousands classic
Speaker 3: Ravens defense. So that's that's a heck of a team.
Speaker 3: So really, those those two games, if they can beat Baltimore, great,
Speaker 3: But you gotta beat Buffalo. You gotta beat Kansas City.
Speaker 3: But I mean, you beat Detroit this week, and that's
Speaker 3: a game that kind of feels like a coin toss,
Speaker 3: will see. But you win that one, I think you're
Speaker 3: feeling better about the rest of the season because again,
Speaker 3: the rest of the games or games that you're you
Speaker 3: should win, like Green Bay, New England, Denver, Vegas, Denver,
Speaker 3: are they going.
Speaker 2: To be easy.
Speaker 3: No, you have to exercise a lot of demons to
Speaker 3: win those games. At Denver, at New England even recently
Speaker 3: for this regime in Vegas like that is, those are
Speaker 3: rough places historically for the Chargers, either long term or
Speaker 3: more recent. So I think they'll win those games, but
Speaker 3: like you said, they got they got to find one
Speaker 3: more win in there at least.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to take care of business against the
Speaker 1: teams that you should beat. For what it's worth. The
Speaker 1: Bills game is really interesting to me. You know, obviously
Speaker 1: you have Josh Allen, and Josh Allen is able, is
Speaker 1: very capable of going nuclear at any moment. We've seen
Speaker 1: that time and time again. The Bills from a success
Speaker 1: rate and from a down to down basis, they're one
Speaker 1: of the best offenses in the league. Josh Allen is
Speaker 1: tend to have the occasional turnover as well, but that
Speaker 1: defense has had so many injuries. Nate Tices pointed this
Speaker 1: out earlier. They're actually twenty eighth in the league from
Speaker 1: a success rate standpoint and an EPA per play standpoint,
Speaker 1: since Matt Mulano specifically went down with injury. So the
Speaker 1: Bills defense, which I think entered the season is like
Speaker 1: a legitimately unit that legitimately had the chance to be
Speaker 1: a top five unit in the league right now, they're
Speaker 1: more of a bottom five unit in the league. So
Speaker 1: the Bills are gonna have to shoot out the rest
Speaker 1: of their games potentially. You look at their schedule specifically,
Speaker 1: I just had it in front of me. They have
Speaker 1: the fourth most difficult schedule remaining. They still have to
Speaker 1: play the Eagles, they have to play the Dolphins again,
Speaker 1: they play the Cowboys, they play the Jets again, they
Speaker 1: play the Chiefs. There's not a lot of easy left
Speaker 1: on the bill schedule, and the way their defense is struggling,
Speaker 1: that is a team that I could see kind of
Speaker 1: working their way out of the playoff picture at some point,
Speaker 1: and the Chargers beating them would be huge. But again,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen is, for my money, the second best quarterback
Speaker 1: in the league and is able to go nuclear at
Speaker 1: any moment. So that's a game that I think Chargers
Speaker 1: fans should be circling as kind of that's the inflection point.
Speaker 1: That's like the game that if they win, they can
Speaker 1: get into the playoff picture and like cement their status
Speaker 1: as a playoff team because I think they have some
Speaker 1: of these other games that they can win, and like
Speaker 1: beating the Lions would be huge. But if everything kind
Speaker 1: of goes how we think and they beat the Bills,
Speaker 1: that's when I think we'll start to see that, hey man,
Speaker 1: like this team is for real and they can really
Speaker 1: make some noise in the playoffs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Bills, it's unfortunate, but every time I watch them,
Speaker 3: it's Okay, this player is out, this player went down,
Speaker 3: this player went down, and it's just unfortunately chipping away
Speaker 3: at their ability to be a stronger contender. And it
Speaker 3: feels like, especially watching them against the Bengals, like, now,
Speaker 3: the Bengals are a very good team, so that's understandable,
Speaker 3: but it just feels like their momentum is starting to
Speaker 3: slip and you can't regain that if you're turning the
Speaker 3: ball over and you're injured. I mean, those are two
Speaker 3: awful things that you can't do. And so unfortunately, it
Speaker 3: just seems like, you know, the Chargers just need to
Speaker 3: survive when the games are supposed to maybe steal one,
Speaker 3: but just survive, be healthy, keep momentum going until that game.
Speaker 3: And if you can do that, and if the Bills
Speaker 3: are trending downward and you steal that game, yeah again
Speaker 3: that that would be a huge one.
Speaker 2: And you can see on Peacock.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I will potentially be at that game,
Speaker 1: so hopefully it should be a lot of fun. Obviously,
Speaker 1: Monday Night was huge. You know, the Chargers have been
Speaker 1: able to get back into the playoff picture. You beat
Speaker 1: a really good Jets team, a defense that is just outstanding.
Speaker 1: The Chargers playoff odds have increased by like twenty percent
Speaker 1: after winning that game. So again, that was a huge
Speaker 1: win on Monday Night football. The Chargers defense was fantastic,
Speaker 1: the special teams was awesome as well. The offense still
Speaker 1: a bit of a work in progress, but I'm sure
Speaker 1: we'll see some better days ahead in the future. All right, Tyler,
Speaker 1: any other thoughts here before we head out.
Speaker 3: Just keep winning boys, You're doing great, keep at it.
Speaker 3: See you next week after a win.
Speaker 1: Right, yes, there we go, There we go, all right, guys,
Speaker 1: Appreciate the sport as always, make sure like the like
Speaker 1: the videos, comment here on the channel, subscribe all that
Speaker 1: good stuff. We do really appreciate it. Appreciate Greg Kim
Speaker 1: for producing and uh as always built up. We'll see
Speaker 1: you next time. M mmmmmmmmmmmmmm hmmmmmm h m hmm.