The LA Chargers lost the first game of Week 2 on Thursday when the team fell short in a brutal loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Philadelphia Eagles then capped off Week 2 with a big win over the Minnesota Vikings that established Philly as a top team in the conference.
While the outcome of this game does not matter at all for the Chargers, there were still some connections between the Eagles and the Bolts in this game. Fans are always going to monitor former Bolts and Kyzir White checks that billing. Not only that, but Eagles' offensive coordinator Shane Steichen has history with the franchise.
Steichen was the quarterbacks coach for the Chargers with Philip Rivers and then was elevated to be the offensive coordinator in 2020. Steichen was let go when Anthony Lynn was fired and Nick Sirianni quickly hired him to his staff when he became the Eagles' head coach.
A lot of Chargers fans are not too happy with current offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi so they might have been keeping a close eye on what the Chargers' old OC was drawing up in this game. If so, they likely found themselves missing Steichen, as he put together a great game for the Eagles in primetime.
Chargers fans were not shy in expressing how they missed Shane Steichen on Monday.
While this obviously does not apply to every Chargers fan, there certainly was a contingent of fans who watched the Eagles' great showing on Monday and had no other reaction other than yearning for Steichen.
Shane Steichen>Joe Lombardi #Chargers
— Trey-P (@TreyP88) September 20, 2022
So how good did the Eagles really do on offense? On the surface, it might not have been that impressive as the team scored 27 points. That is good, but not great. That does not tell the entire story, though, as the Eagles were moving the ball quite easily and picked up just shy of 400 yards of offense.
Steichen has made Jalen Hurts look really good, especially over the last 10 games or so dating back to last year. Hurts is not regarded as a top quarterback in the sport but Steichen has built an offense that works for him and puts him in a position to succeed. As it stands right now, Hurts is narrowly edging out Justin Herbert in QBR this season.
Does it surprise me that Jalen Hurts is excelling with Shane Steichen at OC? It doesn’t.
— ⚡️iRod⚡️ (@iRod_97) September 20, 2022
There is still a long way to go but Eagles fans are already worried about Steichen getting a head-coaching job in the future. While Joe Lombardi interviewed for the Houston Texans job last offseason, there still was not that much buzz around him in the head-coaching market.
It will be interesting to compare how these two offenses perform throughout the season. Many Chargers fans feel as if Lombardi is not maximizing Justin Herbert's ceiling, while it appears that Steichen is getting the absolute most out of Hurts.
MUST-READ: 3 things Chargers fans should be concerned about after Week 2
If that ends up being the reality at the end of the season then it is not going to be a very good look for Lombardi or the Chargers.