Unbridled optimism isn't really a thing for Los Angeles Chargers' fans.
It's everyone else's job to hype them up during the offseason. Chargers fans know that, eventually, an elevator will get stuck, or their QB will break every bone in his body, or their QB will break every bone in his body while in an elevator that's stuck.
Okay, maybe it's not that bad but Chargers fans can't be blamed for getting a little dramatic when it comes to preseason predictions about how the season will go.
That's why this latest lil' nugget from The Athletic is a wonderful break from the inevitable. They recently took the temperature of every NFL team heading into the season, and the Chargers' one is strangely hopeful.
Suspiciously optimistic? A trap? Again, don't blame Chargers fans for not knowing what to do with their hands because NFL insider Jeff Howe is hearing that things in LA are going not just as planned, but even better than expected.
Forget all of your expectations, the Chargers are officially back
While checking in on teams around the league, Howe heard that the Chargers plan to rebrand after the failed and forgettable Brandon Staley era is off to a roaring success.
"It already feels like the Chargers are taking on head coach Jim Harbaugh’s personality. They’re physical and aggressive, perhaps toeing the line of both characteristics during joint practices. We’ll see where the offense is after quarterback Justin Herbert missed most of camp with a plantar fascia injury — after already losing receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams in the offseason — but the Chargers are shaping up to be a grueling team to play."
I'm going to faint. We love a team that perhaps toes the line between physical and aggressive during practice. I don't even care that Herbert missed most of camp and that he's now without Allen/Williams.
You know what kind of personality Jim Harbaugh has? Well, yeah, a weird one. But a weird one that wins! And the Chargers have already had the weird thing down for a long time. But a weird Chargers team that wins? That's, as they say, the good stuff.
I know there's been excitement about the Chargers in the past, but this time is different. It didn't work for them, but it might for us, etc. Brandon Staley's vibes were, for the most part, lowercase-w weird. That simply wasn't powerful enough to work on such a cursed organization like the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh, however, is capital-w Weird.
That's another thing entirely. It's going to work this time, I'm so sure of it.