The LA Chargers had a chance to prove they are an elite football team with back-to-back games against the Cincinnati Bengals and Baltimore Ravens. Throughout the 2024 NFL season, the team rarely faced a true quarterback, with Patrick Mahomes being the lone exception. During those games, the Bolts largely dominated and won more than they lost.
Those results led to hope and even overconfidence that the team was farther ahead than fans expected. There was even a developing belief that defensive coordinator Jesse Minter could leave the team to become a head coach next year because of how strong this defense was.
Then came Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson, and now reality has set in; this team is not miles ahead of schedule. The Chargers reminded fans they are in year one of this rebuild.
The 2024 Chargers are not elite. And that is okay.
Let’s be clear, the Chargers are a very good team. This team may even be a playoff team. What they are not yet is a Super Bowl contender. And that is okay because no one in or around the team or those in the league expected the Bolts to be a Super Bowl contender… yet.
In the secnd half of the Week 11 match-up with the Cincinnati Bengals, we all began to see the first true cracks in Minter’s defense. The Bengals, hardly a power-running team, were able to run all over this defense in the third and fourth quarters of that game on Sunday Night Football. B
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow exposed the team’s lack of depth in the secondary as he threw for over 300 yards in the second half alone. The warning signs were there.
Then came Monday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens in the Harbaugh Bowl. Yes, the jokes of the Chargers being “Ravens West” are cute and to some extent true, but they met the team that they should aspire to become.
After an exciting first quarter that saw the Bolts go up 10-0 and made Baltimore seem unprepared, two key things happened: running back J.K. Dobbins exited the game with a left knee injury (eventually revealed to be a knee sprain that landed him on the IR) and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh went for it on 4-and-1 inside their own 20-yard-line for a first down that would set the tone for the remainder of the game.
Soon, Derrick Henry would take the Bengals rushing success from the week prior and blow it out of the water. John Harbaugh would also go for it on fourth down two more times and the message could not have been clearer: the Ravens were more aggressive, and the Bolts are not yet ready to play with the big boys.
It is easy to be angry and upset and to think that this is the same old Chargers who will “Charger” games away. Just as believing that Jesse Minter would be a head coach next year, this too is an overreaction. The fact is that the team is miles above where they were last year and that is based on coaching alone.
The Chargers is ahead of schedule in a rebuilding phase, they’re just not grown up yet.
The concern about no real weapons at the skill positions was well-founded as last year’s Quentin Johnston returned on Monday. The offense without Dobbins is suspect right now. The interior offensive line is as weak as we feared (if Trey Pipkins is on this team next year, I will be stunned). And the defense needs to get younger and have more depth.
This team has over $60 million in cap space for next season as they continue to rebuild. They will significantly upgrade their receiving and tight-end corps next year. They will upgrade their offensive line, get younger and faster on defense and overall improve. And they still have winnable games this season to go. I expect them to beat the Falcons on Sunday, dominate the Patriots and the Raiders and I believe the team will beat either the Chiefs, Broncos or Bucs. All hope is not lost on this team.
The days of “chargering” away their momentum is over.
They’re just not grown up yet, but they will be sooner than later. God help the rest of the league when the Chargers truly become elite.