The LA Chargers officially started the journey that is the 2021 NFL season with the team's first preseason game of the year against the Los Angeles Rams. The Chargers emerged victorious, 13-6, in front of a packed house at SoFi Stadium.
It is important that we put preseason games into perspective and not try and overly excited about what is on the field. It is just the preseason and it is mostly backups, after all.
That being said, there are legitimate things to get excited about from this game. It might not be player-specific, as we have already broken down the Chargers who impressed the most, but it is still exciting nonetheless.
The 3 most exciting takeaways from the LA Chargers preseason win over the Rams:
1. The decision-making by Brandon Staley and co.
While there may have been backups on the field for most of this game the LA Chargers did not have backups coaching the team. If anything, preseason games are a good indication of how a team is being coached and the kind of culture that is being established (more on that later).
This was the first game that Brandon Staley called as a head coach and while the stakes were as low as they could be, it is hard not to get excited about how the team operated in its first lick of action.
The main thing that was exciting was the aggressive decision-making. Again, it is easier to be aggressive in the preseason as you are just seeing what works and what doesn't but the fact that Staley went for it on fourth down in the first drive of the game is irony if I have ever seen it.
The play-calling was much better as well. While they are not going to show all of their schemes, the frequency in which they called plays was a welcoming sign. The Chargers called a pass play on their first six opening first downs!
Coming from Anthony Lynn, who loved to run the ball for two yards on first down (and is still sticking to that), this is tremendous.