Guilty as Charged: Breaking Down Every 2023 Opponent

Steven Haglund and Tyler Schoon of the Guilty as Charged podcast are bringing their insights and perspective to the Chargers podcast network, every Tuesday! This week, the hosts break down the Chargers 2023 schedule (3:00), analyzing the keys to LA beating each opponent from the Raiders (22:00) and Cowboys (27:00) to the Chiefs (34:00) and Jets (40:00).

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to the Guiltiest Charge Podcast,
presented by the Chargers Podcast Network. My name is Stephen
and I am your host as always, and enjoining me
today is my guy Tyler. Tyler, what's up man? How
you doing today?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Doing pretty well?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
Excited to get into these game by game predictions for
what one hundred days from the season starting.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
I'm excited, yes, officially one hundred days out. I miss
football so much. There is I don't watch. I watched
NBA basketball, and I watch some hockey, but nothing really
compares to football, and just like the immersive nature to it,
and I love football. So excited to have everything back
and in a few months, I mean, training camp is

(00:51):
right around the corner, you know, which is the good
thing about the NFL. You know that's we get a
nice little lead up to the season for the NFL. So,
like Tyler said today, we're going to be diving into
each game on the Chargers schedule, kind of outlining the
teams and where they stood last season, some of the
additions and losses heading into this twenty twenty three season.

(01:15):
This is gonna be a very similar format to our
game previews for those who have followed the show for
the last few months. We'll recognize kind of the format
that will dive into things, and then we're gonna kind
of attack it from the angle of how the Chargers
could win or lose each of those games and give some,
hopefully some valuable insight into each of those teams and

(01:35):
how the Chargers might have advantages or disadvantages in those matchups. Tyler,
any other thoughts before we dive in today.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Nope, none from me.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
All right, sounds good. As always, we are fans of
the Chargers just like you guys listening. The opinions that
we express on this show do not always reflect one
hundred percent of the opinions of views of the Chargers organization.
We are very grateful for this opportunity and this platform,
but we are independent content creators at the end of
the day, so very grateful to be here. And as always,

(02:06):
before we get started as well, make sure and give
a subscribe a comment on this channel, and make sure
to go check us out on the get these Charge
channels as well. So that being said, Tyler, let's share
our screen here and then we'll dive into the Chargers
schedule again. We'll go game by game because obviously the division,
this is not going to be seventeen weeks. You know,

(02:27):
we're only going to talk about the Chiefs, the Broncos,
and the Raiders once. So really we'll have basically fourteen
slides here to officially cover, all right, So first and foremost,
we'll get to the Miami Dolphins in week one. You know,
we'll get to some of their editions and key subtractions here,

(02:48):
and then we'll talk about where they were at last season,
obviously making the playoffs last year as the seventh seed.
As you see here, the Tyler's screen that he has
prepared rational media week is definitely the key thing there.
So Tyler, obviously, like we said, we're about one hundred
and three days out from this particular matchup. What's your

(03:08):
kind of thoughts here as we get to get headed
towards this matchup?

Speaker 3 (03:12):
First and foremost, yeah, that the Chargers need to beat
this team so I can stop hearing it from all
the Dolphins fans on Twitter. Goodness gracious. No, Okay, so
the on field stuff matters more. As I said, as
we've discussed previously, this game is really important to me
because you win this game and I actually would believe
in this team a lot more heading into the season,

(03:32):
heading to the rest of the way, because that means
that the defense was able to repeat. That means that
I'm sure early on Kellen Moore's offense was looking pretty good.
So this is a really big game for the Chargers.
Even though it's only one game. This is a big
one because this is a really tough offense they're gonna face,
and their defense should be a lot better.

Speaker 1 (03:49):
Yeah. Week one narratives are always interesting to me because
it's like, oh, like, you guys beat us last time,
but we're gonna be healthier this time. It's like, you
don't think the Chargers are also gonna be healthier in
Week one this time? So you know, the media attention
I think is going to drive a lot of the
narratives here. But just diving into some of the key
additions and notable losses for the Dolphins this past offseason

(04:12):
obviously has to start with Jalen Ramsey Vic Vangiel. That's
kind of the headlining duo for them. They now have
a ton of draft picks, but Davon Chin certainly a
notable addition here, and then notable some notable losses as
well tight end Mike Gesicki, wide receiver Trent Sherfield, uh,
former fan favorite favorite of the Chargers, Melvian Ingram, and
then of course Byron Jones. Tyler, what's kind of your

(04:36):
expectation of the Dolphins as we head into twenty twenty three.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
I think I was higher on them than you were.

Speaker 3 (04:42):
I figured that the Dolphins would be closer to the
playoff contender team. I think you had them, you know,
as kind of an average ish team, but also because
the Jets were going to be that team that took
the leap forward. Maybe not the Dolphins, I think because
of that vic Fanju edition, because of the Jalen Ramsey edition,
and because their offense, you know, regardless of how you
feel about the quarterback, kind of like San Francisco, they're

(05:03):
almost quarterback proof. Maybe they're not the best in the
league right that still requires a Patrick Mahomes, but they
can be a very very very good offense because of
the floor that's set by the offensive coordinator, and you know,
Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, those guys help quite a bit.
So I think this is a very very difficult team,
but it really does all come down to that quarterback

(05:24):
in this matchup, and I feel a little bit better
about ours.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yes, that's that's definitely for sure. In terms of twenty
twenty two, Obviously finishing second in the AFC East, which
is honestly a pretty loaded division. Now, well there's a
lot of AFC East teams on the Chargers schedule. Obviously,
Dolphins finishing seventh in EPA per play that's estimated points
added last season, and then twenty fourth on defense, So

(05:50):
the Dolphins pretty clearly felt like the defense needed to
be addressed, and that really is kind of the the
key point for me as I look to how the
Chargers might win or lose this game. Obviously, there's gonna
be a lot of emphasis on, you know, the quarterback
matchup and on the receiver matchup and things like that.
But the last time we saw Vic Vangio go up

(06:12):
against the Justin Herbert led offense with a top tier
corner obviously was Patrick's or Tan's rookie season. You know,
it wasn't Justin Herbert's best day. You know, there's some
statistics out there that Justin Herbert has has done pretty
well against the Vic Vango tree. Not every Vicvangio disciple
has a guy like Jayalen Ramsey or Patrick's are tan,
So you know, we're one hundred and three days out obviously,

(06:35):
but for me, like the key matchup that I'm interested
in in this game really is like, how do the
charters go about attacking Jaylen Ramsey and the Dolphins secondary
and making sure that they end the possessions this time
around with touchdowns? Because obviously that was that was the
key reason why the game ultimately was close last season,
was that the charters left too many points on the board,

(06:57):
too many field goal attempts, And this time around, how
do you go about finding mismatches with that Vic Vangiel
led secondary and Jalen Ramsey is really kind of the
key thing for me right now.

Speaker 3 (07:07):
Yeah, they certainly won't make it easy, but last year
you could see not that it's as simple in the NFL,
but when they targeted the end zone things worked out well.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Granted, you have Mike Williams that will really help you
there quite a bit.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
So listen, they got another tall receiver down apar him
hopefully at this point is also going to be healthy,
So yeah, I would expect things to be better on
offense at least more consistent and finish out with touchdowns
this time around, they're going.

Speaker 1 (07:32):
To have to.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
I think the performance the Chargers give against the Dolphins
is fantastic. I could see it being very close to
a repeat. But again, as we saw literally in that game.
Of course it wasn't really anybody's fault, but they were
two plays in and they scored two touchdowns for just
two freak plays. Someone fell, someone fumbled to pick it up.
Suddenly they had fourteen points, which is not going to

(07:57):
happen again. But I also don't expect the Chargers to
hold that all that well again, so they're going to
need to finish on offense for sure.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah, I'm expecting a little more of a normal matchup
on Chargers defense versus Dolphins offense. You know, I think
they're gonna have a lot of time to prepare for
the Chargers defense, and I do expect Brandon Slowly to
have some some things to say there. But if the
Chargers are going to win this game, to me, like
the offense has to really come out swinging, and I
think this is really where we'll see Killen Moore start to,

(08:26):
you know, show his influence more so than the defensive side.
So on the opposite side of things here, Tyler, how
do you think or what do you think has to
happen for the Dolphins to win this game.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
I think they have to finish what they didn't do
last year, which I feel like and this is partially
because Justin Herbert was just a wizard that game. But
they were winning pretty consistently at the line of scrimmage.
They just weren't finishing plays because Herbert was just magic.
There's that one play where he was able to step
out of pressure and he didn't throw up for whatever reason,
because he sends something behind him. Really just a rare

(08:58):
trait that he has just weren't able to finish. A
lot of the guys the line of scrimmage were playing
really well against the Chargers, they just weren't finishing. So
if the Chargers want to make this work, they have
to continue to pressure Herbert, of course, but they also
have to finish those plays as well and put them
in bad situations.

Speaker 1 (09:15):
Yeah, I remember the key takeaway from that Dolphins defense
that day was like Christian Wilkins was a beast and
Jalen Phillips was also very very good. I want to
say Jalen Phillips had double digit pressures that game. You know,
obviously Rashaun Slater and Trey Pipkins did not play in
that matchup, or certainly you know Trey Paptins was at
least not healthy. I can't remember if he played or
not that day. But Jalen Phillips is I think gonna

(09:39):
be one of those guys who takes another step forward
in his development this year. Obviously, have Bradley Chubb as
well on that defensive line, So this is going to
present some challenges for the Chargers offensive line, Like we
feel really good about that unit right now, but that's
gonna be a really good opportunity for them to show
really how much better they can be from lalast year.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yeah, M yes, I would agree, though it's very early
with the offense. I think we're going to talk about
a game later that I think is going to be
the official swing point I think for this offensive line
to show me where they're really at.

Speaker 1 (10:12):
That's fair, Like, I mean, it's gonna take some time
to gel obviously, you're talking about a lot of guys
moving positions and things like that. Even though there's gonna
be some continuity in terms of personnel. Obviously, we're talking
about a left tackle moving to right guard and a
right guard moving to to left guard. Excuse me, So
it could certainly take a couple of games. All right,
let's get to week two here, next up on the schedule.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
For a winner from that one or that one.

Speaker 1 (10:40):
I don't feel comfortable making win those predictions at this
point in time. I don't know about you, but we
can if you want to.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Okay, I'm doing it, because why not. I'm calling a
win for that one. I'm believing in it, all right,
I'll says we got to make some sort of prediction.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Okay, Okay, you're right, You're right, I'll say win that one.
I'll say win that one. Okay, all right? Week two,
Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Mayo in coffee, definitely discussing. I
don't know where that atrocity came from. So Tennessee Titans
finishing at twenty twenty two with a seven to ten record,
third in the AFC South. Some notable additions. They changed
gms this year. Obviously, the season did not go as planned,

(11:19):
so ran Karthon, coming over from San Francisco, made some
big waves in the draft taking Peter Scarronsky, Will Levis,
our guy TYJ Spears not a huge free agency spending spree,
but Andre Dillard arden Key coming over. Really their offensive
line in general, tons of turnover with that unit. Taylor

(11:39):
Lawan retired to Ben Jones I think is still a
free agent, and then Nate Davis is in Chicago right now,
and then Bud Dupree Robert Woods also departed here. So Tyler,
where do you think the Titans are at heading into
twenty twenty three?

Speaker 3 (11:54):
They better hope that the cyborg Derrick Henry from the
Charter schedula the is ready to rock, and I feel
like that kind of was the case last year as well.

Speaker 2 (12:04):
But the defensive line held up so well.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
But I'm very curious to see how the quarterback situation
is handled at this point, because I really don't know.
Do they feel like they're going with Tannehill, They're going
with Levis. I can't say that I fall a whole
lot of Tennessee Titans news or football. I really just
a curious what they're doing that week, and really that's
about it. But this offense is just they're in a
transition period, and I think the defense is always going

(12:28):
to be solid with ray both, They're going to play hard.
There's no doubt in my mind this is going to
be a close game. But I just don't know if
that offense with Traylon Brooks leading the way, who I
really like, I just don't know if you know enough
about him at this point. Like to me, Traylon Burk's
not quite the same comparison, different players, different skill sets.
But it's like if Quentin Johnson were hurt half the

(12:48):
season last year and that was his rookie season, and
then he was a wide receiver one for the Chargers
this year, and also they had Ryan Tannehill at quarterback. Like,
I'm not sure how great I'm full to feel about
that offense.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
I love Chigiaconquo.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
I think he's going to be fantastic, but otherwise, like
you know, this offense was twenty six and EPA per
play last year, and before Argent kills us, it's expected
points added per play, not estimated. So Argent, before you
have your panic attack, I'm saving you. I know you're
gonna tell.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
Us something my mistake. Now you're good.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
I just think the offense is just I don't know
what to make of it, and I don't think the
Titans are going to have that answer by week two.

Speaker 1 (13:25):
Yeah, I would expect the Titans to run the ball
a lot. Derek Henry is still very good. He's approaching
two thousand carries. You know, he's got nineteen oh six
on his career, so it's a lot. I mean, his
his twenty twenty two was certainly better than his twenty
twenty one. You know, there was a slight uptick in

(13:46):
yards per attempt, but really you see the difference in
yards after contact per attempt, which was three point two
eight in twenty twenty one, but three point six oh
in twenty twenty two, so a nice little jump up there.
He had thirty seven explosive runs according to PFF as
opposed to twenty in twenty twenty one, so he was

(14:06):
certainly better than he was in twenty twenty one. And
then you also add tay j. Spears. You have a
lot of uncertainty with the offensive line. You don't really
know who the quarterback is, although I think I think
Tannehill will start against the Chargers, so who finishes the
season for them? But I would expect this to be
an opportunity for the Chargers to really prove where they're

(14:27):
at on run defense, because I would expect this to
be thirty kind of carry game for the Titans running backs.
And you know, this is gonna be an important matchup
for Sebastian, Joseph Day, Khlumak, Joey Bosa, all those guys
to show what their rebound story is upfront. Obviously you mentioned,
you know, Eric Hendricks versus Dereck Henry as one of

(14:48):
your most exciting matchups here as well.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Yeah, that's a big one for sure.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Sure against the Dolphins, you can see some run defense
and hopefully they play well that game too.

Speaker 2 (14:57):
But yeah, this is the game. It's the Dereck Henry game.

Speaker 3 (15:00):
That's the one that you have circled if you're looking
for how is your run defense against an elite running
back who's still a very good running back. So yeah,
big Eric Hendricks game, hopefully, and hopefully they can win.
Up front, We'll see what the status of their defensive
line is. You know who's back in time. Seems like
Austin Johnson will be able to be, you know, playing
out there, no problem. Latita Bogbonia seems kind of up
in the air at this point, so we'll see who's

(15:20):
even out there for this game to begin with.

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Yeah, so that's really how the Chargers could potentially lose,
is that the Titans just just pull the Chargers back
into a dogfight matchup like they seem to always do
every single week, and Derrick Henry pops off for you know,
a buck and ninety and two touchdowns something like that.
I would expect the Chargers to win this game. But
if the Titans were to win, that's how it is

(15:44):
on the shoulders of their run game, as they are
so well known to have done over the last couple
of seasons.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
Yeah, and I think this is a good game for
Brandon Staley, even though the defense held them last time.
But as like a whole, they won the game all
right against the Titans. But Vrabel is a excellent head coach,
one of the best in the league, regardless of who
was quarterback of the situation. This team fight's very, very hard.
I think we sort of compared them to the Steelers.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
As well, like whatever reason.

Speaker 3 (16:09):
You look at the end of the year and somehow
they're a good team and somehow they're decent in the
standings every year under of Rabel or someone like Tomlin,
so be a very good game for Steely to go
at this point to to zero against Rabel, just to
show that like they still got that coaching edge, because
it was, like you said, it was a dog fight
last time they played. It came down to, you know,
an excellent throw to Mike Williams that was kind of

(16:32):
a very well calculated hero ball prayer ball sort of thing.
But again, Mike Williams is the eighty twenty guy. So yeah,
it came down to really one big play at the
end to set up I believe it end up being
the game winning field goal. So I don't expect this
to be. You know, the Chargers are much better roster,
but Rabel's a heck of a coach. They're gonna fight.
They're a good defense. And last time they played the Titans,

(16:55):
Tannehill got hurt on what the third play of the game,
so they were trying to figure out was Willis going
in and then Tannle comes back out he's hurt. They
had other guys that were hurt, so it's going to
be I think, a different game. At the same time,
the Chargers should be much healthier, including you know, the
whole rib thing of the quarterback and half the roster
being on ir So I like the Chargers outlook here.
I think it's a win as well.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
I do as well. Path the victory pretty self explanatory
to me, is you again, you got to have an
explosive day on offense and be able to not allow
the Titans to dictate dictate their terms on your team.
So come out, be aggressive, go for one and fourth downs.
I think that's pretty self explanatory one or we'll get
to Week three when the Chargers will travel to Minnesota,

(17:40):
their NFC counterparts. Feels like every single year the two
have very similar stories and players and outcomes on a
week to week basis. So lots of turnover on the
defensive side of the ball for the Minnesota Vikings heading
into twenty twenty three. You know they did win the
division last year obviously, you know Aaron Rodgers and the Packers,

(18:03):
you know, had something to do with that. Really kind
of the middle of the pack team though, And I look,
when you look at EPA per play and as well
as DV Away, you kind of see eighteen sixteenth that's
really kind of their story. So making a big change
on defensive coordinator with Brian Flores. They're gonna go from
one of the least blitz happy teams to the most
blitz happy teams with Brian Flores, which I think is

(18:26):
going to be fascinating to watch. You bring you draft
Jordan Addison, Byron Murphy, Marcus Davenport as their notable additions
and the notable losses obviously, Eric kendricks is with the Chargers,
Adam Theelens with the Panthers, Adaria Smith with the Browns,
Davin Thomlinson also with the Browns, and Patrick Peterson with
the Steelers, I believe, so a lot of departures from

(18:47):
their defense. Are you where are you at with the
Vikings heading into twenty twenty three, Tiler.

Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yeah, there's no question the offense is going to be solid.
We'll see what happens with Dalvin Cook. It sounds like
he's headed for the release, though we're not entirely sure
just yet. And while the game really will come down
to the offense, I just think that defense is significantly
worse than it tends to show sometimes Statistically. I know
it's sixteenth in EPA per play here, but there was

(19:14):
a point in the middle of the season last year
where again Argent brought up that the Vikings are complete
frauds and I said, no, like, they're doing pretty well
and they're winning these games, but there was something in
the stats that was just ballooning, you know, what the
outcomes were, what the stats were, And sure enough, I'd
pick the Vikings in our you know, win loss segment
every week, and I think the Vikings lost.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
Like four out of four times for me, and it.

Speaker 3 (19:38):
Was always a heartbreak sort of thing, right, how could
the Vikings find a way to lose this week? And
they found a way mostly because their defense wouldn't hold
up there into the bargain. So, you know, I think
the offense will be solid. I think Addison is a
fantastic addition. I think him and Jefferson present two guys
who can get open doing so many different things. So
I think that's a really really good unit there. I

(19:59):
just I don't know if that defense, you know, Floras
is fantastic, and I think just the culture change could
do so much for that defense, just the way things
are going to be run.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
But then you lose someone like Zardarius Smith.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
So you take a player with what like eighty pressures
last year, and you know, ten twelve sacks, whatever it was.
Now you take them off the Chargers schedule entirely because
they traded him. So I just think that defense is
going to be a bit of a work in progress.
It is already not good as is, and I think
it's going to take some time for them to really
click and jail and be what they want to be.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
So it's a solid team.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
It won't be an easy game at Minissona is going
to be difficult, justin Jefferson is really really good and
he certainly.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
Showed that the last time that they played the Chargers.
So it'll be a dogfight.

Speaker 3 (20:42):
But like all of a lot of the games for
the Chargers to begin the season, Chargers have the quarterback advantage,
and it's like a clear quarterback advantage even though it's
a good, solid quarterback and Cousins in his solid system.

Speaker 1 (20:55):
Yeah, I think the path to victory here is really
avoiding a shootout, you know, because like you said, I
don't think the Vikings defense is really going to be
able to do a ton to slow down the Chargers offense.
You know, they'll blitz a lot and that could certainly
cause a potential you know, turnover here. And there or
something like that. But just on a play to play basis,

(21:16):
that defensive roster is pretty rough, so you look at
their offense and that that's gonna be their path to
victory every single week for the Vikings is let's just
drag teams into shootouts and maybe we'll get the ball last.
So that's really the key to victory for the Chargers
in this game. I am gonna circle this as a
potential loss. I know it's you know, I would love

(21:37):
to have a hot start, but traveling to Minnesota, you're
playing an early game, you know, I just I think
this might be an early loss for the Chargers after
you know, coming off the first two victories.

Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, I'm gonna seem like a complete homer to start
this whole thing, but I think they're going to win
this one because again it comes down to the quarterback,
which is quarterback thing, and I just think the Chargers
defense can do more knocking. With that they're healthy, then
this defense can. So I believe in the quarterback more
and their defense more. So I'm going to start this
whole segment sounded like a complete homer.

Speaker 2 (22:07):
I promise I'll find.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Some losses, but honestly, I have a three and oh start,
which is weird because then they're about to play Vegas
and that's kind of definitely a win to me at
this point because they have no idea who their quarterback is,
which is not good heading into June.

Speaker 2 (22:22):
Who you're not knowing who your quarterback is going to be.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
Yeah, So for those who have might have missed that,
apparently Jimmy Garoppolo did not pass his physical and the
Raiders have inserted a clause into his contract that if
he doesn't pass his physical, I believe before training camp
was the thing that they could cut him outright and
not have to pay him a dime of his contract
money that he has owed. So family trust, respect is

(22:48):
going to be a really interesting offseason storyline with the
quarterback situation, Brian Hoyer potentially starting this game maybe maybe
eight and O'Connell. I don't know, this could look very
very different Raiders in general. You know, they've had a
ton of roster turnover. You look at the losses obviously
with Derek Carr, Darren Waller, Matt Darren Waller, excuse me,

(23:09):
Matt Collins, Foster, Moreau, Rocky a scene, just some of
the key Ones. I mean, you're talking about one of
their best quarterbacks ever and then probably their best tight
end ever. I mean, I don't know Raiders history a ton,
but I mean Darren Waller has been a great player
for them recently. So is Derek Carr. Bringing in Jimmy G,
Jacobe Myers, Tyree Wilson in the draft, Michael Mayer in
the draft, David Long the corner from Rams. I put

(23:31):
DeAndre Carter and Trey Tucker on here. I feel like
it's just gonna be one of those, honestly, but tons
of roster turnover here. Really, it's hard to say what
to expect with them, with the Jimmy G stuff kind
of hanging over us right now.

Speaker 2 (23:45):
Yeah, my dad's a Raiders fan.

Speaker 3 (23:46):
I think he thinks they're gonna win like four games,
and that was before Jimmy G issue, So I don't
know what his expectations for them are this year. But yeah, man,
I really think there's a part of the season where,
again Jimmy G might be healthy and all might be good.
But you know, they travel to Vegas as they've done
the last two years, and they might drop that one.

(24:07):
Because the Raiders are competitive. AFC West. It's competitive. It
always is, always has been Herbert, Rivers, you name it,
like just it's been that way for the Chargers. Sure,
but they literally do not have a quarterback who's some
no offense to the other guys. But you know, Jimmy
g can at least I'm assuming they brought him in
because they believed he could run the offense as best

(24:28):
as they could, and in theory, they believe he can
do that over Derek Carr. And now you might not
have him. I mean, heck, is he even healthy by
the time they play this game. Maybe there's an injury
early on the season. He's just a kind of a
liability for them. So I could see I could have
seen them stealing you know, this is this is the
home game for the Chargers. I could have seen the
Raiders stealing this one at their house in Vegas. But man,

(24:52):
this Raiders team, the defense ain't great and their offense
has no quarterback. So I don't really know much about
the prospect this season. And I think this is again
a win for the Chargers because I mean, if there's
if Tua or Tannehill versus Herbert was a mispatch, I
think Hoyer versus Herbert is a huge gap. I mean,
I guess it's sort of as for Jimmy G two

(25:14):
but yeah, Hoyer me.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
I mean, I understand why the Raiders would be interested
in Jimmy G. But sure, we really only saw him
start like two games in Josh McDaniel's offense. Like, it's
not like we have a ton of, you know, proof
that Jimmy G can operate this offense at a really
high level. We everything we've seen from Jimmy G is
all It's all been Kyle Shanahan's offense. So I think
there is some degree of uncertainty here. I think they

(25:40):
had the right approach with the skill players. I mean,
at least in terms of the wide receivers. I think
trading Darren Waller is a ridiculous move. But you know,
you bring in Jacoby Myers to upgrade over Matt Collins,
I understand one hundred percent while you do that. You
know you have DeVante Adams, you have Hunter Renfro. I
like their receiver group. We'll see what Michael Mayor is,
but I think he probably fit, you know what Josh

(26:02):
McDaniel's probably wants in that position more. But if this
is Brian hornor man like this, this could be a blowout,
Like honestly, like I don't see a Brian Hoyer let
offense putting up more than seventeen points on the Chargers
at home, Like I think this is. This is almost
regardless of what happens with Jimmy g This is like,
how did the Chargers go about matching up with Max Crosby.

(26:24):
The Trey Vivians did a really good job in Week
one last year. I think Max Crosby only had like
six pressures in that game, and the Chargers were really
able to move the ball because of that. So that's
the key to victory in my opinion, is you don't
let Max Crosby ruin your day on offense.

Speaker 3 (26:39):
Yeah, and he almost did, and he does, Like I
hate him, but he's so good because he does wreck
them the tight ends tackles.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
You know, he's just really darn good.

Speaker 3 (26:47):
And he showed last year even with quote unquote you know,
low pressures with six of them, he still have.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
What nine run stops that game. Just a complete menace.

Speaker 3 (26:55):
So yeah, you slow him down if Tyree Wilson hasn't
come on yet, or you can stop Chandler Jones. I'm
not saying that's the only key to victory, but that's
if Jimmy G's not looking so hot, and it is Hoyer.
It literally just comes down to stopping their two pass rushers.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
And you got yourself.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
A potential, big, big, big win for the Chargers here.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
Yeah. So I'll have this as a win as well.
So I have the Chargers at three and one, you
currently have them at four and oh correct.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
Put a homer. Yep, that's me.

Speaker 1 (27:26):
All right, bye week in Week five, which I'm not
a big fan of, but you know what it is.
We'll get to Week six next here. Chargers obviously taking
on the Dallas Cowboys again at SOFI Stadium should be
an electric matchup here, Tyler, Why don't you take us
through the state of the Cowboys right now? Yeah.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
So they were a really solid team last season as is,
although they've lost Kellen Moore, so thanks for that. I
guess we'll know at this point how their offense is looking,
and I mean that for the Chargers and the Cowboys.
So they got their addition in Brandon Cooks. It a
really solid one two three for them. They add Stefan
Gilmore and then to an already very very strong defensive front.

(28:07):
They spent a first round around Mazie Smith, who you loved,
I really liked, very very solid player. But they don't
have Kellen Moore, they don't have Dalton Schultz.

Speaker 2 (28:15):
Ezekiel Elliott.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
You know, we'll see if that's technically a downgrade, but
he was a big part of their offense for years,
so we'll kind of see how that works. And then
Connor McGovern has gone as well. So this is a
team that was very good last year. They will definitely
lean on their defense this year. But Dak Prescott, that offense,
that running back, the line in general, if they're healthy,
and that receiving corps, it's a really, really solid group.

(28:38):
This is not going to be an easy game for
the Chargers at this point. I'm more worried about this
game than any of the games we've talked about so far.

Speaker 1 (28:45):
Oh. I one hundred percent agree with that one. And
I think that you know, there's a lot of narratives
about Dak Prescott around there, but I think he's up
to this point, the best quarterback that the Chargers will
have played, and that's honestly pretty easily in my opinion,
and he he likes to take shots man, like he's
in He's more aggressive than he has given credit for.

(29:06):
He was seventh in eight last season according to PFF
among quarterbacks with fifty percent of their dropbacks. So he
he I think he can really operate an offense. But
he's an underrated like big game hunter too, like he's
gonna he's gonna take shots downfield. And they added Brandon
Cooks to this unit as well, so they have a
similar vibe now with this receiver group that they did

(29:29):
in twenty nineteen when Amari Cooper was there and Ceedee
Lamb's rookie season or right, would that have been twenty twenty,
That might have been twenty twenty, Yeah, twenty twenty. Sorry,
So you have you get Brandon Cookson here as one
of the best deep threats over the last four or
five years, to take some pressure off of Ceede Lamb
who can work in the slot, work out wide. So

(29:49):
we know that Dak Prescott is going to want to
throw the football down field. The question, obviously, is McCarthy
coming out and saying that he wants to run the
ball more, he wants to be more of a line
of scrimmage team and he wants to, you know, give
his defense a rest from time to time, so that's
gonna be interesting. I still think the Cowboys are gonna

(30:11):
want to throw the ball out, and I think their
quarterback wants to do that as well.

Speaker 3 (30:15):
Yeah, I don't anticipate this is a game the Chargers
suddenly get up by three touchdowns. But I mean, you
can run the ball you want, but Herbert's I'm assuming
the Chargers are hopefully going to be scoring this game.
And I just think at some point, not that you
have bandoned the run entirely, but you can't just sit
there and Okay, we'll give our defense a rest and we're.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Gonna run the ball more.

Speaker 3 (30:35):
But then oops, the Chargers are completely controlling everything and
the offensive coording to that, we let go because he's
scored too many points whatever that means. He's now scoring
too many points on us too. So what do you
do in that scenario.

Speaker 2 (30:48):
We'll see.

Speaker 3 (30:48):
But they they're a team that has the firepower, has
the line, has the running back, has the quarterback to
really keep up with the Chargers. This is a tough
one for me. I don't really know how this one
will go. There's certainly benefit to the Chargers having a
buye before this because if there's an adjustment that's needed,
they could make it. If there's a player that was
hurt coming into the season, they have that by Beacon.

(31:09):
This could be the game that jac Jackson is playing
for the first time.

Speaker 2 (31:13):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (31:13):
So it's a tough one man like this defensive line again,
we talked about it before added Mazzi Smith, but had
two hundred and two pressures generated last season as a
as a defensive line, which is nasty. So I don't
know where I lean with this game at home is nice.
After a bye is nice, But that's close enough for

(31:34):
me to consider them a win here. But I think
at some point it's so tough. Where are you leaning
on this game? Because I don't know yet.

Speaker 1 (31:44):
I'm a little bit more on the optimistic side. I
just I don't think Mike McCarthy right and Dak Prescott
is really enough of an edge for me. Like I
think that the Cowboys defense is fantastic and they added
yeah too, who haven't really necessarily talked a ton about.
So you get an aggressive defensive line and aggressive secondary.

(32:08):
That's kind of the path to losing, you know. The
Chargers just kind of have a bad day on offense,
just kind of gets away from them, you know, three
four or five sacks on Justin Herbert, you know, maybe
an interception or two, maybe a fumble. That's the path
to losing this game because that's the Cowboys defensive m O. Right, Like,
that's what they want to do. They want to heat
up the quarterback, get turnovers. But Justin Herbert is the

(32:32):
least turnover worthy prone quarterback in the league over the
last two seasons, you know, in terms of turnover worthy
play percentage on PFF. So I think I lean a
close win for the Chargers here. But I do think
that this is going to be a lower scoring game
than people would think heading into this game because Mike
McCarthy wants to slow the pace down, wants to run

(32:52):
the football. And then the Dolphin the Cowboy, I keeps
on saying, the Dolphins. The Cowboys defense is really really
good and can heat up Justin Herbert maybe more or
so than other teams. So this would this to me,
I would predict maybe like a twenty seventeen Chargers win
right now.

Speaker 3 (33:06):
Okay, only because I watched training camp last year and
granted Trey Pipkins is a different player, and the line's
different and everything's different.

Speaker 2 (33:14):
But that Cowboys defensive front, I think what ad Dan
and Popper.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
Say, ten or eleven or twelve sacks during that practice
on the starting offensive line of the Chargers, it was
not pretty. And again adding Mazzie Smith, it really feels
like best on best right this offensive line versus their
defensive line, but as good as the charge offensive line
as their front could be even better. So I'm going
to say tentatively a loss here, but it's very easy

(33:40):
for me to convince myself why they could win, especially
with that Mike McCarthy point and no Kellen Moore. So
I'm gonna say loss here, but I think I ask
me again in week five, week six when I'm predicting
this could totally change my mind, but I'll say lost
for now.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, I think there's a world where the Cowboys offense
kind of struggles out the gate and round in form,
but we know that defense is going to be really
good from the gym, so I understand. So we're each
at four and one for the Chargers coming off the
bye week at Kansas City Chiefs, a place where they've
had some good results and also some bad results. Tyler,
why don't you take us through the Chiefs offseason.

Speaker 3 (34:18):
Yeah, Chiefs are a good team. They won the Super Bowl.
I hate them, but they added Juwan Taylor. I guess yeah, fine,
Donovan Smith, Wanya Morris, like they that's a really solid
tackle group moving forward, Richie James, and they drafted Felix
and Adice Uzama and some guy named Drew Trenkle. They
added as well, really solid defense. I think overall their

(34:39):
offense is just going to be good.

Speaker 2 (34:41):
Because it is.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
I thought their offense is going to take a step back,
and then they were the best in the league by
a wide margin and won the Super Bowl and.

Speaker 2 (34:47):
Took it to the Chiefs. So or that the Eagle
excuse me, so.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Until proven otherwise, that's that's the best offense in the
league because they got the best quarterback and you know,
arguably the best head coach, certainly one of the best
play callers in the league.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Losing Orlando Brown, I think it's more of a wash.
I think you think it's more of a down grade
for them.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
Wiley's gone, Thornhill's gone, Frank Clark, ju just miss Schooster
mcole Harbon all gone again. I just really don't think
it matters. It comes down to, you know, how many
hundreds of yards does Mike Williams want to have an
Arrowhead because for whatever reason, he's just a completely different
player there. You know, me personally, I'm trying. It's weird
to feel like the Chargers could win an Arrowhead more

(35:28):
than at home. But I think this is the year
that that sort of flips, right. I think they're gonna
drop this one in Arrowhead and ask me again at
the end of the season about their chances at home
and so far.

Speaker 1 (35:40):
Yeah, And I think that's an interesting dynamic. But I
mean that's I mean, they won at Arrowhead in twenty
twenty one. They should have won at the at Arrowhead
last year. If Justin Herbert doesn't get hurt, they probably
do win that game, you know. So it's an interesting
dynamic that I would be curious to dive into paths
of victory to me is I mean, it's not simple, right,

(36:02):
But like the thing that makes Patrick Mahomes so great,
among many other things, is that his pressure to sack
percentage is the lowest in the league over the last
three seasons. He's consistently right around the ten percent mark,
which is like elite playmaking ability out the quarterback position
in terms of avoiding sacks. So, can you get home

(36:23):
against Patrick Mahomes, that's kind of the biggest difference for me.
They did that in twenty twenty one. Some flukey turnovers
for sure, but I mean that was a big Joey
Bosa game. That was a big you know, Drew trank
Will had some pressures. Obviously, Drew Trankle's not in this
game anymore, but we've seen the Chargers be able to
like almost get there in some games, and whenever they

(36:45):
are able to get home, you know, that's that's kind
of a big thing for them. So the other thing
too is obviously you got to stop Travis Kelsey. You know,
if this is if this turns into another day where
Travis Kelsey's running free and Mahomes you just you can't
get home, then of course the Chiefs are are probably
gonna win this game. But if you're able to truly
get home on Patrick Mahomes, you can shut down Travis

(37:05):
Kelcey a little bit more that way, then the Chargers
definitely have a path to victory there.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
Yeah, some of the best defensive performances they've had against
the Chiefs outside of when they had in Mosu, Melvininghram,
Joey Bosa together was getting the interior pressure. So some
of that when they won an Arrowhead was Drew Tranquill's.

Speaker 2 (37:21):
Moving Joey Bosa inside. That worked last year.

Speaker 3 (37:24):
Austin Johnson absolutely turned it on. Was fantastic in the
interior that game as well. Hopefully he plays this game.
It's the interior pressure. To create that pressure, to turn
that into a sack would be fantastic. But yeah, the
last time we saw the Chargers play the Chiefs, it
was incredibly frustrating to watch how a shallow crosser would
go for forty yards and then another one would go

(37:45):
for thirty, another one would go for a touchdown and
it didn't matter. Like, yeah, sure you want best on best,
but you always can't get that to the end of
the game. You have Travis Kelcey and Drowen James and
Joe Windian just couldn't hang in there at the end.
Not that it's always one in person, but just couldn't
make it happen in the end. So, yeah, this is
a loss for the Chargers for me here, But I

(38:06):
think it's going to be close, as it always is.
It'll be awesome to watch, It's going to be a
great game. I just think they dropped this one.

Speaker 1 (38:13):
Yeah, I think I agree with the end result there.
So we each be at four and two at this point.
All Right, Bears at home primetime game. Tyler says he
has no jokes there. But this is a roster that
has had a ton of terminal. Where they entered the
offseason with like one hundred million dollars in camp space.
They spent some big money, obviously making a big draft

(38:35):
trade as well, adding in free agency or trade DJ
Moore to Marcus Walker, Tremaine Edmunds, TJ Edwards, Robert Tanian,
and in the draft you're looking at Darnold Wright, Gerban Dexter,
Roshawn Johnson, Tyree Stevenson. I actually really liked their draft
a lot, not as many notable losses, but you're talking
about David Montgomery, Riley Reef. Most of their big losses
came in the trade headline last year. Obviously they traded

(38:57):
with Khalil Mack. But you trade away Rokeelon Smith, you
trade away Robert Quinn, as well at the deadline, so
that really was their big thing. This is obviously a
big season for Justin Fields and what he looks like
in this season. So path to victory for me is
pretty simple in this one, and that's don't let Justin

(39:18):
Fields get out of the pocket. I think easier said
than done, but Justin Field's opposite of Patrick Mahomes had
the highest pressure to sack rate and not in a
good way. Last season. He had the longest time to
throw as well, So this is a very important game
where you want to keep Justin Fields in the pocket
and force him to, you know, go through his progressions

(39:40):
and hopefully get home in your pass rush. And if
you do that, I just don't think the Bears roster
has enough pieces on defense or offense to really make
me feel like this is a game I'm necessarily super
worried about. Again, it's May thirtieth, This could certainly change,
but this is pretty much you know, can you keep
Justin Fields in the pocket, and if you can't, I
think win this game pretty easily.

Speaker 3 (40:02):
Yeah, I would agree with you one hundred percent. There
nothing really to add at that point. The Bears our
team working through some things, right, now they're draft is awesome.
I think they are really solid off season, Yes.

Speaker 2 (40:11):
Not enough, I don't think so. So yeah, this is
a win for me as well.

Speaker 1 (40:15):
All Right, so we're each at five and two at
this point. We'll get to the next match up here
when the Chargers will travel to the Metallands on primetime.
Big tweet t swift hands, I love that. If you're
not paying attention to to that, obviously we can't help you.
But Aaron Rodgers obviously the big storyline. We talked about
him pretty heavily last episode. But Tyler who stands out

(40:38):
in terms of additions and losses for this Jets.

Speaker 2 (40:41):
Team, Well, Dan Feeney has a notable loss. I just
have to point it.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
Out because he's I had to put him on there.
I had there.

Speaker 3 (40:51):
I really just think that they got some decent guys
on offense that they can really work around. I'm not
saying that they're world beaters, but it's kind of like
think the dramatic change is not by really one addition,
but just several ones. So you know, you add Tipman, fantastic,
Oh my goodness, you add Lazard, you add Hardman to
your receiving cores.

Speaker 2 (41:12):
I know, you lost Elijah.

Speaker 3 (41:13):
More which kind of breaks my heart, but I hope
he's freed somewhere else. Okay, you add Rental Cobb. We
didn't have him on here, but he is there. It's
just gonna be a really solid group. Israela BONDI Kanda
to go with Carter, to go with Hall is such
a fun one two three in that room. I even
think Knight was night drafted by the Jets ball and

(41:33):
he had a really solid season, I believe in terms
of like per play stats. So it'll be a good offense.
That offense ain't gonna be thirtieth next year. I think
almost by default, I feel like it won't be thirtieth
next year, just because they don't have Zach Wilson, so
you know, not like okay, other than Aaron Rodgers, no
real big addition, but again, he's the quarterback, so that's
going to be the deciding factor here. Tough game, I think,

(41:56):
a tougher game than we're used to seeing when the
Chargers play the Jets.

Speaker 2 (42:00):
I take that back.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
The last time they played the Jets, it was a
shootout for some reason, even though they had Joe Flacco.

Speaker 1 (42:05):
Oh yeah, the table on Campbell picked six game.

Speaker 3 (42:09):
Yes, the Keenan one hundred and forty two you know
receptions game.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
So yeah, it'll be a close one. I think this
is a window for the Chargers.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
Yeah, I think this is an interesting matchup. I mean,
Garrett Wilson is probably one of the ascending wide receivers.
I think if you look at most of the numbers,
he's right around the top thirteen, top fifteen ish, you know,
one of the better yards after catch threats in the league.
He was thirteenth in yack per reception last season. So

(42:41):
we've never released, we've never seen this Chargers defense go
up against Aaron Rodgers. The last time Brandon Staley went
up against Aaron Rodgers, it was a very interesting chess
match in Lambeau in a playoff game. And you know,
Brandon Stadia has talked about how playing against Aaron Rodgers
in that game has really kind of, you know, open
his eyes, so to speak. I guess in terms of

(43:02):
like the amount of like high level mental play you
have to have on defense because Aaron Rodgers was just
so dialed in. So the Jets are gonna be significantly
better on offense. It's impossible not to be you know,
going from Aaron Rodgers, you know, going from arguably the
worst quarterback situation in the lead to Aaron Rodgers, even
if he might be on the maybe a slight decline,

(43:23):
is still a huge upgrade. So I am nervous about
this game because the metal, the MetLife turf is is
not great prime time on Sunday night football. This could
be a really fired up Jets crowd. So I'm I'm
probably predicting a loss here.

Speaker 2 (43:40):
So you're gonna go five and three for the Chargers,
I would get it, though. That defense is really solid.
Offense is gonna be solid. I just.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
Yeah, there's there's a thing that we have talked about
in our in our group chat that justin Herbert like
his potentially worst matchup is cover three defenses, and that's
obviously what Robert Sala does. A lot of Detroit Lions
ran out of blue background colors, Tyler, why don't you
take us through the Lions offseason.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
Yeah, they went ahead and added all the notable positions
of value in the draft with Jamiir Gibbs, Jack Campbell,
Brian Branch, Sam Laporta. Those are very good players. I'm
just surprised the direction that they went. Yeah, in terms
of notable losses, Jamal Williams, Djharak, under Swift, Michael Brockers,
and then Jeff Okuda being the big one because he
was like the guy in the draft.

Speaker 2 (44:33):
The cornerback, surefire player. Now he's gone.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
So this is a team that I think could be good.
They added some really really solid players on both sides
of the football. It's hard not to like some Elec
Chauncey Gardner, Johnson, you know, Brian Branch, Jack Campbell, et cetera.
That's going to be a heck of a better defense.
How much better is really the question? And then at
this point, like have they gelled back together after some

(45:00):
their suspensions. Are they still working things out?

Speaker 2 (45:02):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
Yeah, this to me is another game where it's like
what are we getting from the Chargers run defense? Because
the Lions have the most creative rushing attack, maybe outside
of the Philadelphia Eagles. I think the Lions are right
up there with them in terms of how they can't
attack you on the ground. You know, they get David Montgomery,

(45:26):
Jamir Gibbs, that's a great one to punch. In my opinion,
they have a fantastic offensive line. So if the Chargers
were to lose, I think that's that's a we're losing
the line of scrimmage day. And so how do you
feel about the Chargers maybe counteracting the power explosive run
game of the Lions. I think is probably how you

(45:48):
determine this game.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
Yeah, it slightly reminds me just a creative rushing attack
reminds me of how the Chargers started against the Rams
last season, where the Rams were like, hey, we have
Baker Mayfield, We're not in this anymore, but by golly,
we've got to creative rushing attack that we can throw
at you. And for three drives or so, if for more,
if went for Morgan Fox basically taking over and ending

(46:10):
those drives back to back to back. They were moving
pretty well in the run game. And I think that
this team, especially with Pinay Suel, I'm kind of excited
to watch them run on the Chargers because their offense
is so much fun in Panay school is so good.
So I think this is going to be a tough one.
Detroit Lions are always a team just like they're not

(46:31):
a great team ever, but their offenses is just so good.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
They retain their offensive coordinator, which is huge.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
So this is actually a game I think the Chargers
are going to lose only because I feel like I
don't know that they can dig deep and do something,
and that this rushing attack is going to be really,
really strong, and this is a team that can keep
up with the Chargers in a shootout.

Speaker 1 (46:57):
I don't know if I buy that last part. I
understand why you would be hesitant from the line of
scrims standpoint. They should have Jamison Williams back in this game.
But I don't know if like a shootout in terms
of like skill, talent and Jared Goff is really how
the Lions win this game. To me, this is like this,
who controls the game, the game clock, pace of play.

(47:20):
I think that's who wins this game. Yeah, that's a
fair way to put it. So I do think the
Chargers could maybe pull the Lions into a shootout here,
and I think that's how the Chargers could win. This
to me, could be like Chargers versus Browns, you know,
two point zero. Yeah from twenty twenty one, I should
say to clarify there, but I just I have a
hard time buying into Jared Goff coming into you know,

(47:41):
coming across the country and winning this game. So I
actually have the win here for the Chargers.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
Technically, Jared Goff did spend a lot of time on
this side of the country.

Speaker 1 (47:49):
I know, but like like I you know, you talked
about a quarterback play, like I think, sure, Herbert versus Goff.
I think it's just I think Herbert makes more plays
down the stretch, and I think the charge part win
that game. Yeah, okay, so we're I'm at six two,
at six and three, okay, yeah, all right. So Week

(48:09):
eleven at Green Bay again, a team in transition here
going from Aaron Rodgers. We'll speed up the pace here
a little bit here where we're almost done, but you know,
tons of turnover on the defense and obviously on the
offense with Aaron Rodgers, Alan Lazard and Renal Cobb in
New York were time. We already mentioned him. He's in
Chicago and Mercedes Lewis I kind of expect him to

(48:29):
end up in New York as well, one of Aaron Rodgers' guys.
So lots of youth on offense with Luke Musgrave, Tucker Craft,
Jaden Reid brought in on offense, Lucas van Ness chalk
pick for the Packers on defense in the first round,
and they added Jonathan Owens in free agency, which is
really like the only free agency move that they made,
So I would expect almost that those numbers on EPA

(48:52):
just basically flip. I think the Packers defense is going
to be healthier and better, but I think the offense
is obviously going to take a pretty big step back
with out Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 3 (49:01):
Yeah, not much to add there. It really does come
to that Jordan Love guy will finally see him. It's
so weird that it's taken this long, but like guess
if you're drafted by the Packers and you have Rogers
in front of you, it takes a bit.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
So yeah, Love versus Herbert.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
I know it's not exactly that, but that should be
should be a fun one, not super late in the season.

Speaker 2 (49:20):
Hopefully the weather holds up. If it's snowing and things
are really hazardous, it may change my mind, but I
just think that the Chargers got this one.

Speaker 1 (49:28):
Yeah, this could be like a Chargers Falcons game where
it's like early kick, you know, not necessarily super difficult team,
but just kind of like a game where the Chargers
might not be super up to their usual speed just
because of the time, because of the location. So I
think this could be a little bit closer than people think.

(49:48):
But I just the Packers don't have enough on either
side of the ball to make me kind of feel
nervous about this game. So I would have them a
win as well, which means we're both sitting at seven
and three heading into Week twelve against the Baltimore Ravens.

Speaker 3 (50:04):
And the Baltimore Ravens mostly just added on offense, it
would have Buckham juniors, the Flowers of course, Nelson Agalore
trying to make things worth They did lose Ken Francis
in free agency, now I'm just kidding. I don't know
what happened with that. Some turnover on the defensive side
of the ball, but overall, the commitment was to the offense,
to Lamar Jackson. Yeah, of course, adding their offensive coordinator.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
Yeah, I forgot to put Ton Monkin on here, and
that's that's my bad.

Speaker 2 (50:30):
No, it's all good.

Speaker 3 (50:30):
It's a lot to put together. But yeah, they'll be
better on offense naturally because Lamar Jackson will play and
he'll have weapons around him, and they'll move out of
a completely different system. It's far enough in the season
where they should have established themselves as whatever offensive identity
they wanted to you know, change too. So this is
a rough one. The last time I saw the Chargers

(50:51):
play the Ravens, it was ugly, and that was the
year that you know, the offense with Joe Lombardi was good,
and this game there was just an absolute tear are
oute there, although mostly that was a right tackle issue,
I feel like and just but the Ravens brought it.

Speaker 2 (51:05):
And it's a well coached team. They're always good. A
lot of these teams in the AFC North are good.
So this one worries me.

Speaker 3 (51:11):
If the Chargers can't handle the pressures that the Ravens
throw at them like they couldn't the last time they played,
it's kind of game over. I mean, you saw the
Chargers get stuck in the mud that game. It was
incredibly frustrating to watch. And if if Lamar Jackson didn't
just like throw two interceptions to Kit right to Kai
as You're White, it would have been even more of
a blowout than it was. So this one worries me.

Speaker 2 (51:33):
I do think the Chargers end up losing this one, only.

Speaker 3 (51:36):
Because I just think that's a very good team on
both sides the fall of the ball, with a very
good quarterback and a solid system and a solid coach.
So I think this one ends up being a loss,
but you know, could change my mind.

Speaker 1 (51:50):
Yeah, could certainly change things once we get to this point.
But I'm always nervous about the Ravens. Lamar Jackson I
think is one of the most underrated players in the league,
which is weird to say about a MVP, But I
mean this team was very, very injured last season, obviously,
Lamar Jackson missing games, and they were still at seventeenth
and fourteenth kind of team. Yeah, they were like a

(52:11):
player two away from beating the Bengals in the playoffs
with my guy Tyler Huntley at quarterback. Yeah, really could
have gone either way in that game. And I think
people will be talking about them very differently. So I
think this is right when we'll see the Ravens start
to hit their stride on offense too, with all the changes.
So I share your nervousness about this game as well.

(52:32):
I have this as a loss.

Speaker 2 (52:34):
Yeah, me too. We're still at seven and four, the
same record.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (52:38):
When they traveled to New England in week thirteen. This
is fun.

Speaker 1 (52:42):
If you're not cheating, you're not trying. Nice.

Speaker 2 (52:44):
Thank you, big Lagendion. Tomlinton quote.

Speaker 3 (52:48):
Yeah, so the notable additions Bill O'Brien, notable loss, not Patricia.
Just by that alone, I feel like the pack, excuse me,
the Patriots will be better. That defense was outstanding last
year and then they got Christian Gonzalez late middle of
the draft, which is disgusting.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
So I think to get traded down for him. So
we'll see about the offense.

Speaker 3 (53:10):
I think not having Matt Patricia as your plate color
will naturally help that offense out. It'll be a solid group,
not a great group, but playing in New England, that
team has had the Chargers number forever and that defense
is outstanding, and it just got you know, key On.

Speaker 2 (53:26):
White Christian Gonzalez.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
So I had this one as the loss because Bill
Belichick man and the Patriots have just beaten the Chargers
every single time, unless Brady's not playing or wasn't playing.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
When was the last time they beat the Patriots.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
Mid two thousands, whenever it was a castle. I think
it's probably when Bratty Torres.

Speaker 1 (53:49):
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (53:52):
Yeah, that's been a bit we're in twenty twenty three,
so we'll see if.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
If this game we're in LA, I would probably show differently.
I will never predict a way a Chargers win at
Gillette Stadium. It's just one of those things you know,
until they prove it. I understand that Pats to victory. Obviously,
Justin Herbert has to play like out of his mind
that game because the pages defense is incredible. All right.
We highlighted the Denver Broncos in terms of the one

(54:17):
of the biggest moves of the offseason bringing in Sean Payton.
Will the offense be good? Will it be bad? That's
obviously one of the big storylines here. So additions, you
get Ben Powers, Mike McGlinchey on the offensive line, Chris Mann,
Hurts the blocking tight end from the Jaguars, and ajp Ryan.
I think Sean Payton was sending a message that he
wants to run the football in twenty twenty three losses. Obviously,

(54:39):
Nathaniel Hackett, Raymont Jones, Dalton Reisner, Billy Turner. This is
the game in Denver, correct, No, this is a game
at home, Okay, So this is the home game. So
the Chargers will win this game. Because that's a thing.

Speaker 2 (54:49):
Where Yeah, okay, great, on the same page. Let's move on.

Speaker 1 (54:56):
All right, So we're both at eight and five. Eight
and five right now, all right, we'll head into the
next one. Sorry, trying to speed things up here as well.
I know we're running a little bit long. So at
Las Vegas Raiders, I'm going to win there. I just
think the Raiders a gonna be bad. So I don't
know about you, but I do think the Raiders the
Chargers will sweep the Raiders this year.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Yeah, I love how analysis knowledge. Just yeah, Racers Raiders
are bad, so they win. But I mean that's that's
you're not wrong. We just talked about it. So yeah,
I think this is a win as well. We have
them at nine and five so far, we're getting close
to that ten win total.

Speaker 2 (55:27):
And we played the Bills next.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
All right, home game against Bills. This is the Saturday
night Peacock game. You know it should be an electric tailgate,
I hope. Honestly, if you are picking a game, I
would say pick this one to go tailgating. Should be electric.
Second and seventh in EPA for play last year. Just
an incredibly sound team overall. Additions, Dalton Concay and my

(55:51):
guy Osirus torrensrom the draft. Then they also drafted Dorian
Williams to replace Tremaine Edmunds, signed Connor McGoff and Taylor
Rap Trent Sherfield, So some solid signings but nothing outstanding. Really.
The thing with the Bills this year is they're losing
Leslie Fraser, who's one of the best defensive coordinators in
the league over the last few seasons, and McDermott is

(56:12):
gonna be calling plays. They don't even have a defensive coordinator,
so it's gonna be a really interesting dynamic there with
going from one of the best defensive coordinators to head
coach who hasn't called plays in a long time, kind
of taking over that unit.

Speaker 3 (56:26):
Yeah, I'm just staring at the part of the slide
show where I didn't write their twenty twenty two record, and.

Speaker 2 (56:30):
That's all I can think about. I'm good last year.

Speaker 3 (56:33):
I know, shucks, we made it this far and I
finally make my mistake. They're still trying to figure out, apparently,
what to do with Daltson Kincaid. According to Quinn Dorsey,
he's like, I'm not really sure what his role is
going to be.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
But we'll figure it out.

Speaker 1 (56:44):
Should I should probably have planned that out before he
took him in the first round and traded up for him.

Speaker 3 (56:48):
That makes me feel like somebody upstairs made that call,
because I mean Tom's Mosco said with us that they
thought they were going wide receiver the whole way and
suddenly the go get a tight end that are not
really sure about. I feel like somebody else made that
call on that one.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
This is the game.

Speaker 3 (57:04):
I'm actually gonna pick the Chargers to win this one.
I think this is a nasty, awesome game. I think
the environment's going to be fantastic, and Herbert rises to
the occasion. There's just kind of something about these comparison
games for Herbert where he rises to the occasion. I
know he's not on social media all that much, but
there's something about these games match it's a little bit different.
I think this is the statement win of the year

(57:25):
for the Chargers, arguably the statement win of Brandon Staley's
career if he wins this one.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
Because this is a heck of a team.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Yeah, it is a heck of a team. Josh Allen
versus Justin Herbert Man, this is going to be an
electric matchup. I think the Chargers have a little baked
in advantage here as well, playing at home short week
from the Bills. I tend to agree. We're on the
same page about a lot of things tonight. So I
think justin Herbert, just like like you mentioned, you know,
he has something extra for these games. I think this

(57:51):
is really when we'll start to see Quentin Johnston come
on in a strong way as well. So I agree.
I have them winning this matchup as well. So we're
at a ten now, right.

Speaker 3 (58:01):
Ten and five each. We made it to ten wins
and at Denver.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
And that's a loss because it's at Denver. That's how
things work.

Speaker 2 (58:08):
It's disgusting, person land.

Speaker 3 (58:10):
I hate it at It's gonna be weird too, Like
something weird is gonna happen.

Speaker 2 (58:15):
Someone's going to like kick the football and someone's going
to score.

Speaker 3 (58:19):
Of course that's called a field goal, but I mean
like they're just going to touchdown for some reason.

Speaker 2 (58:24):
I don't know. At Denver's a cursed place. I hate it.

Speaker 3 (58:26):
It's going to be a loss and people go, but
you just said they beat the Bills, but Lucid the Broncos.

Speaker 2 (58:30):
Yeah, at Denver's cursed I hate at Denver.

Speaker 1 (58:34):
It's the weirdest thing, man. I don't know what it is.
The last two years I felt really confident heading into
the games at Denver and then just disaster strikes. I
don't know what it is about that place. Yeah, so
home against the Chiefs here, where are you at with
this game? You kind of said leaning more towards them
beating the Chiefs at home, But now that we're at here,
at this part where you're.

Speaker 2 (58:54):
At, they're going to squash the tomato and catch up
in the division.

Speaker 3 (58:57):
They're going to beat the Kansas City Chiefs, though I
think the Chiefs will have like the divisional record at
this point. I will predict the Chiefs to win the division.
But I think at home Chargers need this to get
to some spot in the wild card, and I think
they'll win this one. Heck, at this point, if the
Chiefs the number one team in the AFC, maybe they
don't care about this game. The Chargers will care about

(59:18):
this game for whatever reason. I think they're winning this one.
I'm going to basically predict.

Speaker 2 (59:23):
The Charge to split with the Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (59:24):
Really, every year we have Herbert Mahomes, I think that
Arahead will be close. I think this game will be close.
It'll come down to whoever is the ball last. I
think the Chargers will finally get that win at home
against the Chiefs that they've been looking for with Justin Herbert.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Yeah, potential Blaine Gabbert game. I think this game will matter.
I think it will because I think the Chargers will
do enough to keep it relatively interesting with the Chiefs
this year. So the Chiefs I think have a harder
schedule this season, obviously with the first play schedule as
they always have, but there's some games that the Chiefs
I think. I'm a little bit more hesitant this year
than normal, but I agree. I think the Chargers get

(01:00:00):
this game, likely a must win game, winning in kind
of situation like we're used to over the last few years.
I think the Chargers do just enough to get into
the playoffs and win this game. So we both have
eleven and six, so one game improvement over last season.
It's kinda Brandon say these m right now, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:00:17):
There we go. We did eleven and six.

Speaker 1 (01:00:19):
Feels fair.

Speaker 2 (01:00:20):
You know, I started off as a.

Speaker 3 (01:00:21):
Complete homer and had them losing to the Lions randomly,
because you know, stuff happens. So yeah, yeah, it feels fair.
Eleven and six seems solid. You know, it suggests belief
in the team, just not better than the Chiefs this
year just yet.

Speaker 1 (01:00:33):
No, I think that is a fair assessment, you know.
And then once you get into the dance, anything can happen,
you know. I think we've seen that time and time
again with the AFC playoffs. I mean, the Bengals were
underdogs to the Titans in twenty twenty one, and that
while in that divisional matchups. He's two years ago, So
anything can happen once you get in. You just got
to get in. And I think the Chargers do just

(01:00:55):
enough to do that difficult schedule. But I think everybody
would be pretty happy with eleven wins for them most part.
We'll see what ultimately happens. So that's gonna do it
for us. We overshot our estimated time limit. So thanks
everybody for sticking around, Thanks Tyler for adding some great
insight and doing the slideshow for the most part, and

(01:01:15):
thank you for Brian and the Chargers for producing this episode.
As always, like I said, make sure check us out
on our own feeds at The Guiltiest Charge Podcast seventeen
on Twitter and all social media platforms. That's gonna do
it for us. We'll see you guys next time.