“CHARGERS…A DARK HOUR”

by | Sep 24, 2026 |

What’s that phrase, from an English theologian in 1650 ‘It’s always darkest before the dawn’…when things are bad-they will get better.  Maybe in England then, not in the NFL now.

Maybe the correct phrase should be for the Chargers ‘It’s always darkest before the storm’.

And the storm is coming as the (0-2) Chargers prepare to head out on a ‘death march’ stretch of games, all this after horrific losses to the lowly Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders.  

Think about this piece of history.  The Chargers lost to two teams that were (3-14) last year, trying a record set by the Racine Thunder in the early years of the NFL in 1920, who lost to two teams that had winning percentages of .200 to start that season.  The Bolts did this, losing to two teams that were a combined (6-28) last season.

This from the Chargers, whom many thought were about to have a breakout season by packaging Jim Harbaugh’s leadership with new offensive coordinator’s Mike McDaniels playbook, with quarterback Justin Herbert’s gifts.

Instead what Chargers fans saw at So Fi Stadium was a team operating as if it was square pegs and round holes on offense.  No chunk plays.  No run game.  Interceptions. Overthrows.  Underthrows.  Bounce passes.Fumbles.  Sacks.  4th down failures. A blocked punt.  Dropped passes.  13-offensive line penalties.  Botched snaps.  Fumbled handoffs.  QB-hits.  WRs who could not get open, and then injury after injury.

It is hard to believe a team that had an entire off season of meetings, 6-weeks of OTA sessions, and 7-weeks of preseason work, could look so bad.

The Bolts operated as if their playbook was an instruction manual. 

Sorry, last I checked, there are no redshirt years in the NFL.  There is no grace period.  There is no test drive time.  There are no excuses-explanations accepted.

Flashback to when Mike McDaniel was hired.  I was surprised-because he had interviewed for head coaching jobs.  I was surprised that Jim Harbaugh would hire him, knowing he might be here for 11-months, this season, and then take a head job somewhere else.

Surprised too, that McDaniel, the Ivy League nerd play-caller, wanted to throw the ball for Harbaugh, the Big 10-historian, whose life is built around pounding the rock.

Surprised at draft time, it looked like they were picking offensive players off McDaniel’s draft board to fit his system, not what they had done before.

Surprised beyond that when free agency arrived, and the Chargers, with lots of cap space, kept the money in their pocket, not addressing a woeful offensive line by going out to get quality free agents to put infront of Herbert.  Signing instead guys who had failed in New England, New Orleans, Miami. and Detroit,  and telling me this is who would replace last year’s interior front, and all would be well.  

The front that allowed Herbert to get sacked 102-times in two seasons and lead the league in pressures two seasons in a row, all the time playing thru injuries from all the heavy hits he had to take, to make plays in the deep pocket playbook of since fired coach Greg Roman.

If you thought last year was dismal, especially the last two playoff losses, this is even worse-when we are watching right now.  ‘Out of sync’ is being kind to what we have seen.

Herbert and his big gun arm, have a (71) QB-rating at this hour, two weeks into the season.  The guy who has thrown for a ton of yards every year, is completing (59%) of his passes…has 2TDs…3Interceptions..3-fumbles..6-sacks already.

His #1 pick running back (Omarion Hampton) has 2-bad fumbles.  Top receiver Ladd McConkey is hurt.  Two tight ends are now gone with injuries.  Five low priced free agents Joe Hortiz signed from other teams are hurt and out.  Quentin Johnston is Quentin Johnson (drops).  The kid wideouts Tre Harris or K’Andre Lambert Smith, are either banged up or dropping balls.

And that’s just on the offensive side of the football.  I could take up the rest of your day about the defensive breakdowns that make the brilliance of Jessie Minter’s greatness of a year ago a distant memory.  A defense that allowed journeymen backup Jacoby Brissett and aging Kirk Cousins to put on passing shows the first two weeks.

As they started game prep in practice this week, they had 14-players, including 11-starters, on the injured list and it’s not even week three.

Harbaugh has been acting more like a CEO with the hirings after his firings last year.  Now you look at his glazed look at his press conferences, it’s like he’s checked out.

1-of my big fears all along, was McDaniel succeeded in years one-and-two in Miami with Tua Tagovailoa spraying the ball everywhere, ambushing defenses.  Then Tua got hurt and they started to lose.  By year’s three and four, every coordinator had every video up on how to attack the motion packages Miami showed.  Tua kept getting hit.  Offense went away.  Games lost.  McDaniel fired.

Arizona and the Raiders showed the same defensive traits the past two Sundays.

And to add insult to injury, how about the sea of Silver & Black fans overwhelming what few fans sitting wearing Powder Blue this past Sunday.  You be google boy and go chase down the videos of the Raiders fans videos of the game at So Fi.

Oh, one other thing.  The Bolts (0-2) get on the plane, and where do they go next and who do they play the next 7-weeks?

You know the NFL.  How do you think the Lightning Bolt, as it is now constructed, will hold up playing at Buffalo..at Seattle..Denver..at Kansas City…at Rams..Houston..at Baltimore.

It’s always darkest before the storm?  Going to get worse for the Chargers starting next Sunday-because the storm that is the NFL schedule is arriving in full force.

That old English theologian, who wrote about darkness,  should offer up some prayers for the Bolts.  The Chargers look lost in the darkness.

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