LA Chargers: 3 games in 2021 that have fun storylines attached
By Jason Reed
3. Week 8 vs. New England Patriots
The storyline: Revenge from last season
The New England Patriots came into SoFi Stadium last year and defeated the LA Chargers 45-0. It was easily the worst loss of the year, as it was the worst loss in franchise history, and was the only evidence the front office needed to fire Anthony Lynn.
The Patriots were not more talented than the Chargers last season. In fact, you could make the case that the Chargers were far more talented than the Patriots. It did not matter. This was a display of a coaching difference that was too big to overcome as the Patriots came in far more prepared.
That was not the only thing that Lynn did wrong in this game. He also left Justin Herbert in a game that was decided only for him to take some huge hits in the fourth quarter. If Herbert would have been hurt we would still be talking about that decision today.
This is a revenge game for the Chargers. All of the players that were on last year’s team is going to have a bit more juice for this one. A bit more energy to get back that embarrassing loss from last season. One thing is for certain: they do not want to get embarrassed again.
There is also the fun dynamic of Hunter Henry returning to LA to play his first game at SoFi Stadium with fans… as a member of another team. While Henry did nothing wrong for Charger fans to be upset with him, it will be fun to beat some former teammates in Henry and Adrian Phillips.
That is as long as the coaching is not as mismatched as it was last year. Something tells me it won’t be.