The Los Angeles Chargers, needless to say, suffered an ugly defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals yesterday in their Week 1 matchup.
Both sides of the ball came out unprepared, and the offense slogged after a well-scripted first drive of the game while the defense struggled to prevent Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals' pass catchers from picking apart their blitzes and zone looks.
There will obviously need to be some major changes before they face off against the Las Vegas Raiders next week, and it would be easy to make this list all losers. After all, the entire Chargers roster is a loser after that sort of outing, is it not?
But there were also players who came away as winners given the snap distribution and strategies of the matchup, and we're going to explore those as well here. With a whole season ahead of us, it's worth it to at least not entirely give in to negativity.
Chargers' winners and losers after an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals
1. Trey Pipkins III (Loser)
When Jim Harbaugh continued to tease a potential platoon between Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins III at left guard heading into the season, it was unclear how serious he was. Was it simply a bid to gain a competitive advantage by keeping the true starting O-line close to the coaching staff's chest?
Pipkins came onto the field at left guard for the Chargers' third drive of the game, and he ultimately played an extensive number of snaps in place of Awosika over the course of the matchup. On the surface, that should make him a winner.
But he had the most notable failure of the game in his inability to stop Dante Stills on the fourth down play that kept the Chargers from scoring points in the red zone in the first half. It was an unavoidably ugly rep, and it's hard to see how Los Angeles can keep the platoon going in good conscience from here.
Back to the bench Pipkins (hopefully) goes.
2. Genesis Smith (Winner)
Smith is a winner by circumstance here. After carrying six safeties onto the 53-man roster (five of which were expected to have a real chance to play snaps in the course of the defense), rookie ball-hawker Genesis Smith was going to need to compete with Tony Jefferson and second-year defender RJ Mickens for snaps at the second safety spot when Derwin James slid into his traditional nickel/dime role.
Mickens was ultimately left on the inactives list for the matchup against the Cardinals, meaning that Los Angeles had enough faith in Smith to give him snaps from Day 1 of the season. He posted four tackles on 27 total snaps in an overall solid outing. We'll need to see how this competition unfolds, but Smith is a winner for now.
3. Chris O'Leary (Loser)
Coming into the season, there were a lot of eyes on Chris O'Leary. He replaced one of the league's most promising young defensive coordinators this offseason in Jesse Minter, and the hope was that he'd be able to simply replicate what Minter accomplished with his own tweaks in the scheme's expression.
If that's going to happen, it's going to take some time. The Chargers looked largely helpless over the course of the game against Arizona's passing attack, and they struggled to create pressure even with the blitz packages O'Leary was dialing up. They allowed 393 total yards and lost the time of possession battle by an embarrassing margin.
Hopefully O'Leary gets a shot at redemption next week against the Raiders.
4. Del'Shawn Phillips (Winner)
It came as somewhat of a surprise when Phillips was listed as the team's starting linebacker alongside Daiyan Henley in their first unofficial depth chart of the regular season. Phillips played just 8% of the team's defensive snaps last season, settling into a role as a special teams weapon in the inside linebacker room. Even with Denzel Perryman on the IR, it was assumed that Troy Dye and Marlowe Wax would get the first shot at the job.
But Phillips ultimately saw 41 snaps (to Dye's 15 and Wax's surprising zero), and he performed relatively well given the circumstances. Although Perryman seems set to return in Week 5, Phillips is a temporary winner of this game.
5. Brenen Thompson (Loser)
Heading into this matchup, one of the major questions surrounding the Chargers was how McDaniel would choose to utilize the offensive weapons at his disposal. Ladd McConkey, predictably, was the key cog of the offense, and both Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris saw their fair share of targets as well.
But rookie wideout Brenen Thompson didn't see a single touch, and he was tied with Derius Davis for the fewest snaps among the Chargers' WR room at 10. He could be worked into the offense more extensively over the next few games, but perhaps this is an indication of where he falls within Los Angeles' offensive hierarchy.
6. Derwin James Jr. (Winner)
If there was one standout from this game, it was Derwin James. He's still the cornerstone of the Chargers defense under O'Leary, and his pressure on Brissett when he was dialed up on the blitz in the third quarter was one of the highlights of the game for his unit.
He finished the day with eight tackles and one pressure, and he lived up to his status as a star nickel. He's a winner by default here, but he still looked excellent even as the defense around him struggled.
7. Chargers Fans (Losers)
We've waited all offseason to see this new-look Chargers team in action, and optimism was sky-high heading into this Week 1 matchup. For Los Angeles to come out like this and lose a game in this fashion is undeniably disappointing.
We can critique how they approached the offseason, especially in replenishing the interior of their offensive line. At the end of the day, this team should look much better once they get some time to find their footing.
But with the type of schedule Los Angeles has, this is also the type of unneeded loss that can cost a team a playoff berth when things come down to it. It's unacceptable, and it's a major letdown of the fanbase who's spent all offseason singing this team's praises.
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