Los Angeles Chargers center Bradley Bozeman (left) is congratulated by coach Jim Harbaugh. … (+)
Something very strange happened in the Los Angeles Chargers’ season-opening win over the Las Vegas Raiders, a 22-10 decision that meant more than the final score.
Even though the game was played on the artificial turf of SoFi Stadium, the postgame conversation in the noisy Chargers locker room revolved around a worm and its evolution.
There’s an old sports saying that if you keep fighting, no matter how bleak things seem, the tide will eventually turn. The key is not to wave the white flag before the toss is over.
The Chargers won a game on Sunday that they easily could have lost in the past. A team known for finding creative ways to lose after getting a lead was nowhere to be found as new coach Jim Harbaugh showed why he’s getting paid $16 million a year.
“The culture is already there,” Harbaugh said. “Me and all the other newbies just joined, we’re the lucky ones.”
Good luck selling this message to those who know better.
The Chargers wanted to give their team more respectability, accountability, and the drive to win games the way their head coach prefers: by being physical, by running the ball, by playing good defense – and my goodness, it worked.
There’s running back JK Dobbins, who runs for 135 yards and scores a point.
Yes, that’s rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey making key catches, including a touchdown pass that shows off his shake and shimmy technique.
New right tackle Joe Alt set to face All-Pro edge rusher Maxx Crosby? While his alma mater Notre Dame had a rough weekend, Alt threw a shutout against Crosby.
Khalil Mack was fine, Khalil Mack and the way the Raiders traded him so early in his career still puzzles me.
Coaching?
Harbaugh’s desire to transform the organization was evident in every minute of this game on a scorching hot afternoon.
His experience replaced the restlessness. His energy was transmitted to his players. His confidence that they had everything under control – even when that wasn’t the case in the first half due to a weak offense – was obvious.
So, now we’ve rattled off some of the highlights of the game and Justin Herbert hasn’t been mentioned. LA’s talented quarterback, who was asked to play hero time and time again during his career with the Chargers, had his right arm at the ready, but it wasn’t needed.
What was needed was a win. Harbaugh got it in his own way by showing toughness, which meant Herbert could save his winning cards for another hand.
“This is a great group of guys and the culture here is work,” said Harbaugh, who was presented with a game ball by team owner Dean Spanos. “The team is important.”
“Justin Herbert was throwing, he didn’t care,” Harbaugh said. “Derwin James just wants to win. Khalil Mack just wants to win. These guys are winners.”
That’s all true, but this trio and others with studs were trapped in an organization that didn’t know how to win. An organization that wasn’t afraid to hand out money to players but was stingy when it came to selecting coaches who had a lot of potential but little experience.
The list is as long as it is meaningful: Mike Riley, Mike McCoy, Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley.
That’s why Spanos was the real winner on Sunday because he had the courage to agree to pay Harbaugh $80 million over five years.
The first dividend came when Raiders fans were seen leaving the stadium early as time ran out in LA, and perhaps when the story of “charging” began, the made-up phrase that describes the team’s slapstick method of snatching defeats from almost certain victories.
The quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers, Justin Herbert (10), throws in the victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in … (+)
Herbert has experienced many ups and downs in his career and this has nothing to do with his elevator incident last season.
Harbaugh is now going full throttle and it shows.
“To have a guy like that at the top and the dressing room that stands behind him and follows him – it’s a special day for him too to get his first win,” said Herbert.
Chargers fans are hoping for this first of many things. And since Harbaugh is always excited no matter where he hangs his coach’s whistle, they’re probably right.
That’s not to say LA has started the season perfectly – quite the opposite. But there are few Picassos in the NFL because the differences and margins for error are razor thin.
Something always goes wrong or doesn’t work out the way it was written on the whiteboard.
But the black cloud that normally hovers over the Chargers was also nowhere to be seen.
In the steamy locker room was a coach who knew what he was doing, and at a level few had seen before. Certainly not in a Chargers locker room, where coaching careers usually end.
“It’s really hard to win a game in the NFL,” Harbaugh said, and he’s not lying. “I take my hat off to absolutely everyone in the organization, especially those who did the dirty work.”
When you dig into the soil with your hands, good things happen. Maybe the worm will turn.
