The LA Chargers take on a much different team in Week 2 than they did in Week 1 as the Bolts are hosting the Dallas Cowboys. LA just played a really tough road game against a great Washington Football Team defense and now faces a defense that is one of the worst in the league.
Despite the overall unit not being that great, there are members of the Cowboys defense that are excited to go against the Chargers. In fact, this specific player is actually hoping that he can square off against a very specific player on the Chargers, who may or may not play.
Backup defensive end Tarell Basham, who is likely going to start after DeMarcus Lawrence had foot surgery, is hoping that he squares off against Bryan Bulaga, who did not play in the second half of the Week 1 win and is questionable for Week 2. According to Basham, he is in for a big day if Bulaga plays.
Cowboys DE Tarell Basham said he hopes to face Chargers RT Bryan Bulaga, who is dealing with groin and back injuries. “I played against him last year, and I had fun with it. ...I just remember hitting the quarterback a lot that day.” pic.twitter.com/MKVV8pLSo2
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) September 16, 2021
Tarell Basham is outright lying about his success against the LA Chargers last season.
Tarell Basham may have forgotten that we can fact-check these things and fact-check them fairly easily. As the Guilty As Charged Podcast points out, Basham did not have the kind of big game that he is alluding to having.
Basham was a member of the New York Jets last season and according to Pro Football Focus, he was credited with zero quarterback hits in the Week 11 Chargers win. Pro-Football-Reference does give him some love, crediting him with one quarterback hit.
Either way you paint it, he definitely did not "hit the quarterback a lot that day". If a lot is just one quarterback hit, well, Basham may need to raise his standards.
I will give credit to Basham for this: Bryan Bulaga did at least play in that game last season. That was one of just five games in which Bulaga actually played 100% of the offensive snaps. At least he was not confusing Bryan Bulaga for Storm Norton or Trey Pipkins.
I can also say that I agree with Basham as I too hope that Bryan Bulaga plays in this game. He obviously did a pretty good job against him last season and he would increase the team's chances of winning if he plays.
If not, the next man up is Storm Norton and based on Basham's game against the Bolts last year, Norton can probably do just as well as Bulaga.