May 16, 2023 • 46 mins
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 are joined by Producer Andrew Cordova to talk about how the Bolts 2023 anime schedule release came to be (2:00). They also break down the Chargers schedule, including their top individual player matchups to watch for in 2023 (23:00).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:13):
Hey, what is up? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Guilty and Charge Podcast, presented by the
Chargers Podcast Network. As always, my name is Stephen and
I am the host, and joining me tonight is my
guy Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Tyler, what's upman? How you doing tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I'm doing it fantastic. Just came off a great Mother's
Day weekend. My mom had a very good time. Hello Mom,
I know you're watching. I love you. She had a
great weekend. So everybody had a great weekend. Steven, how
are you?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm doing great, man. Mother's Day was a success up here.
You know, it's a hot weekend, but a good weekend
up here in the Central Valley.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So not ready for the heat, but you know it
is what it is.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So really excited about today's show that we have for
you guys. We're gonna dive further into the twenty twenty
three schedule, and part of that is going to be
an interview with Andrew at Kordova, who is the kind
of mastermind behind the anime schedule.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Lease if you will.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We're also going to dive into some individual player matchups
that we are really excited about on the Chargers schedule,
and we'll.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
See how that one goes.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
But first things first, of course, as always we are
independent contractors for the Chargers. We are fans at the
end of the day, and our opinions shared on the
show will not always reflect the opinions of the actual
Chargers organization. You know, we are fans just like you guys.
We just happened to be here talking about the team
on the Chargers channel. So really excited about this episode today.
(01:31):
And that being said, let's welcome on Andrew. What's up, man,
how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Good? Thank you so much for having me man.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, we're really excited about this. Obviously, you know, we
had to work out this schedule. You know, we had
a little bit of a flight thing to work out here,
but we're stalked about this. This was a request that
you know, Tyler had made and this was you know,
Tyler's idea to be able to have this conversation with
you to dive into the schedule lease, which was a
huge hit. I mean that was all over the web,
(02:00):
you know, anime sites, football sites. Everybody seems to really
love it. So in my opinion, it's a rare sequel
that topped the original. So congratulations there I'm a big
fan of your guys' work. So what is the Yeah,
what has the past few days been like for you
as you've been able to kind of settle in here
and react to the feedback over the last few days.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Good.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Well, first of all, let me just say thank you
for accommodating me for recording so late.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
The reason being is, after about like two weeks before
I was going to finish this episode, I was like, hey,
I should probably like take some time off once we're
done here, and so I just decided to take this
weekend to go see my twin brother in Oakland. And
so it's been generally pretty RESTful the past three days
and very relaxing and so good time to be able
(02:51):
to just charge my batteries after doing that gauntlet of
a production.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
So it's been fun but tiring.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Good good to hear, and we'll get into it. So
when did you guys know you were going to do
this again after last year's success? Was it pretty early on,
like yeah, we got to do this, or to just
you get enough material after a while where you thought, okay,
we really do have to do this At some point.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Selfishly like all last year, I was like, okay, if
we do a sequel, like, what are the things that
we're gonna have to do? What are some things that
we learned from last time that we'll want to take
into this time. That process was always kind of running
in the back of my head. But to answer your
question about like, I want to say, a month and
(03:38):
a half ago, we were pretty certain that we committed
to doing it again. Before that, we spent a couple
of weeks really just trying to you know, turn over
every rock and see if there was any other ideas
we think we're worth pursuing. And that's always that's just
like the process that we always have in this department,
And it really doesn't matter you know what, uh what
(04:01):
project it specifically is. I think we're always very open
and we like to have everybody give input before we
you know, devote a lot of resources to something. And
so yeah, so i'd say about a month and a
half was when we decided that we were going to
do it again. Thankfully, I had already like mentally prepared
for what kind of things we would want to do
(04:22):
the second time around.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I'm sure you were kind of just chopping in
the bit with a bunch of ideas. So, you know,
I want to kind of dive into the process here,
because the Social team obviously tweeted that screenshot of like
the whole the whole board with all the sticky notes.
You know, what what kind of processes is there in
terms of like whittling and down, Like did you guys
have like a top five and then narrow it down
(04:43):
to like a top three? Or was this like, hey,
we have like two really good ideas, but let's let's
lean all into the anime.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
I think what it was is like we definitely did
like start very wide first, like a like a wide
cone first, and then kind of narrowed ideas down. But
really like we did that as a means to just
kind of get ideas going, to get the brain kind
of turning, and then if there were some ideas that
we felt were that there was more to them, you know,
(05:12):
we'd let whoever came up with that idea kind of
give more spiel or give more projection of like what
that idea could look like.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Already.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Unfortunately, you know, I kind of had an unhe head start,
you know, thinking all throughout the year of like exactly
what we would be doing, or at least having a
rough idea of what we would be doing. So, you know,
it just so happened through our process that Anime Part
two was what we ended up deciding to go with.
But it we will meet, you know, once or twice
(05:42):
a week, just during the off season before the draft.
It was a periodical thing that David Bretto, uh, one
of our senior producers, kind of oversaw and helped facilitate.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
So yeah, it does that answer your question?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
No, yeah, I definitely did. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I've heard from people at like Pixar, like they've done interviews, right,
and it's like, you know, a lot of people have
wondered like, oh, like what was the deal with like
Incredibles one and two, like the gap being so big,
and one of the producers there was saying that it
takes them like so long to do these shots. So
I'm just curious, Like you look at that screenshot of
like Times Square or like you can look at the
(06:20):
screenshot of one of any of these stills, right, like
how long does it take you to get one of
those shots like complete?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
It depends on like the scope of like what the
prompt is right, which the prompt would start with the
white writer's room and who have and as we all
collectively decide, like, Okay, this is the joke that we're
going with, this is the scene we're going with. That's
kind of the starting point. So it really depends on
how vast that prompt is. But for the most part,
it's about like a day to a day and a
(06:51):
half to two days. Some of the bad ones were
like three days to be able to like render all
of those things out. It takes time, like illustrating, animating, blocking,
like all the things that go into like animation projects
that you're probably familiar with, takes a substantial amount of
time and effort.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
I kind of said this last year.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
I mean, it would not be possible if we weren't
already referencing and or working off of something that already exists, right,
So like that's why we're like we're trying to give
ode to a lot of anime scenes or anime environments,
pieces of work that already work, right, So, like we're
using a lot of the groundwork that you would otherwise
(07:35):
be doing originally at like a Pixar or a Disney
and you're just kind of copying off of that, so
like it's in a means you kind of have to
do that because you only have like a month to
be able to get the project done, but also at
the same time, it's the most time efficient for us.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
And even then it's a crunch.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Whose idea was it to put the QR code.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
On the that was the most popular? I remember it was.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
It was such like when when I don't remember exactly
who came up with that idea. It certainly wasn't me
in the writer's room, but uh, we were just like
trying to think about like okay, like we know the
Raiders are one that we have to do a good
joke on, you know, just given the rivalry that we
have with the team, and so uh, but I think
(08:26):
it was with we we had already had the idea,
as I'm recalling it, we already had the idea for
the voucher because we knew we were gonna play off
what we did in the first game. But we were like,
maybe there's something more, like there's a deeper meta, Like
it's already meta as it is, maybe there's like even
(08:46):
a more meta way to go about it. Sure, And
I remember somebody said like, yeah, maybe the barcode or
like maybe like whatever that unique identifier on the voucher
can actually lead you to somewhere else where there's a
deeper joke.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
And we're like can we do that?
Speaker 5 (09:03):
I don't build that, and we're like, yeah, we have
a website, Like, we'll figure it out. And thankfully we did,
and it was probably one of the best jokes, if
not the best joke that we made. Well, I'm very
I'm very happy with Like it's it's an awesome, extra
level joke for those who, uh, it's rewarding to the
people that really do try to like read into what
(09:26):
the schedule re lease is, you know, And so I'm
glad we were able to execute that.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
It worked off really well.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Shout out to the website team for pulling that one off.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
It was great.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
I ended up finding that one on accident because I
was just trying to take a picture of that still
but I wasn't trying to find a QR code, so
it just happened to take me. There is there anything
that fans haven't found yet? I think they've got everything.
I'd imagine everything's been found, But is there.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Anything that was right they've found pretty much everything. There
are some things that some people have found that called
attention to that most other people are not aware of,
Like there's one in the Dallas one that people haven't
really and again they're like so meta of anime jokes
that Okay, unless you're not unless you're like not in
the community like you'll be, it'll go right over your head.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
But uh, you know, that's like the best part about.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
Like making some of the like Easter eggs is just
seeing like, Okay, which community is going to respond to
this compared to the other community, And it's just it
speaks to just how like crazy social media is and
the reach that it has and the amount of different
people that you can reach through creating content on the
kind of platforms that we have now, And so it's
(10:38):
super cool.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, I'll have to go back through it and see
if any of these references hit me like a bus.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Not as far as Doug Prescott.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
It was super cool because I'm not super into anime,
you know, I like I have a basic understanding of
some of the references, especially when you know, like when
Joey was like talking about the attack on Titan thing
after the to the.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Bills game celebration.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
But I had like people who don't watch football like
text me and say, like, man, this was so cool
the Chargers to do this, And like, you know, my
brother is a big anime fan and he was messaging
me about all the different things your interest in anime?
Has this been a lifelong thing for you? When did
you kind of figure out that, hey, I can maybe
(11:22):
turn my love of anime into like a pet project
of mine essentially for the Chargers.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
To be honest with you, it hasn't been something that
I followed on like my entire life. It's something that
much like probably a lot of people in my generation
growing up watching like Cartoon Network, Like if you remember
the Tunami Block, it was like a dedicated hour for
syndicated Japanese programming to be sent to like an American audience.
(11:49):
Basically this is where a lot of people like learned
of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, like kind of the Big
Four that everyone hears about, right, So that was kind
of like the main touch point, or at least the
most way I interacted as a child. I also have
a grandmother that is Japanese, uh, and so like occasionally
whenever I'd go to her house. You know, some anime
would you know, occasionally be playing as well, So you know,
(12:12):
there is a lot of different ways that anime has
been kind of like influenced I guess my art or
like the things that I've consumed, but really like the
idea kind of spawned when I was at my old
job at NFL Films and shout out to a former
player who actually works there now. His name is Darryl Campbell.
He's also a huge anime fan, bigger anime fan than
(12:35):
I am. And at the time, you know, like right
around like Pandemic era, like you know, everyone was going
back inside and like we had nothing to do, and
there was some some good anime that I had heard
about from just like being online and or like through
memes and stuff, and I was like, hey, you know,
maybe I should go back and like start watching some
(12:56):
anime again, just like how I did back when I
was a kid.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And that's how I come jumped back into it.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
And through the conversations that I had with this my
former coworker, we would just be gushing.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
About like, yo, this scene is so cool, and we'd.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Be like, man, there's so many similarities between like a
usual anime and like the things that football players go through,
like the tournament arcs, the training arcs, the you know,
the overcoming adversary.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
They're very long backstories.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
There's just so many different things about that are just
jam packed, and anime that just kind of oddly parallel
things that you would see from sports or just football especially,
And so it was from then I was like, Man,
these things parallel so well together that there's got to
be a way to be able to combine both those things.
I don't know how that's gonna happen, but we should
(13:43):
probably do it, and if it does, it'll probably work.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Do you remember the first one that you kind of
dreamed rep and you're like, oh my gosh, Chargers this
and Anime that or something like, Do you remember the
first still that played in your brain? Because it seems
like you're planning this for a very long time and
your references are always churning through your brain. Do you
remember like the first one when you either thought of
this idea, when you share this idea that you guys
mocked up.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Yeah, there was like.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
From last year I I I And if you ever
asked like David Bretto about like the process of how
this came to be. I remember last year he came
to the documentary crew at the time. It was Brian
Thomas and I and you know, we were like knee
deep in all In at the time, and he was
like he came to us, He's like, hey, we haven't
(14:29):
found an idea just yet for schedule release, and you know,
we just kind of want to ask everybody before we
you know, go and move on on separate ideas.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
If you have any ideas, like, let us know.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
And I was like, hmm, maybe it would be cool
to just like mock up like a player running like
a Chargers player running like you would see in like
an anime opening.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
You know, there's.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Countless of the shots to like pull from that are
similar to like that. And I was like, I just
spent like a weekend, like two or three days smocking
something up, and then on Monday I sent it to
him overslack and I was like, hey, hey, this is
like kind of an idea I was having. I think
I have like a prompt or a concept based off
all these other things that I've identified throughout the years.
(15:10):
You know, let me know if you think this might
be a good idea. And it took off from there.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well that's incredible.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Yeah, shut up David for being open minded.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I mean, like we we were talking on our show,
like the amount of creativity and homework that you guys
do on a day to day basis like really shines
through in that. And I mean if you would have
told me five years ago that, like, you know, the
Chargers were going to break you know, ground right and
do an anime schedule release, like, I think I probably
would have been very skeptical of it being such a success.
(15:43):
And for you guys to do it in back to
back years I think speaks to like you, like you're
just saying, you know, the the openness, uh and creativity
that this production team has has been able to put
out over the last few years.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Yeah, absolutely, man.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
And I think like as long as you give somebody
space and the support they need to kind of incorporate
their passions into their art you use, that usually results
in something that is decent, that is good, And I
think I have felt very supported throughout this entire process
(16:21):
and hopefully you know, it creates that culture where you know,
everyone is open and free to be whoever they want
to be, uh, And it just makes that much, And
I think that's why it resonates with with audiences, because like,
if you can tell it's coming from a genuine place,
even if even if like technically the art maybe it
(16:41):
could be better, Uh, you know, it'll still it's still
it will still land with your audience, and you know
it's it's a good thing to know that two years
going on, that.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
It's done that in terms of that openness and the support,
I do want to ask, because you guys got everyone,
and you went after everyone as much as you could,
I think like was there a line that had to
be drawn? And you don't have to say what or who,
but like was there stuff that ended up on the
cutting room floor where it's like, no, you actually can't
say that we're totally screwed.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I think, especially when it comes to like anything comedic, right,
you have to like be somewhat conscious of like the
things that you're saying and the things that you're joking about.
So like, certainly there might there might have been times
where we'll like.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Topic, should we talk about this?
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Should we not to even even start framing that in
like a comedic way, right, And because you're with a
group of people and it's a safe place, like you know,
you can do that and explore that. That is pretty
universal amongst all comedy writing. Uh So that was more
or less like the process with that. There was definitely
(17:50):
things that you want to be respectful of and that
you want to be mindful of, but also at the
same time, we're just trying to also have fun. I mean,
and we also make fun of ourselves too, so you know,
it's not something that should be taken too seriously.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, you know, the making fun of yourselves too. I
like kind of glanced over the first few seconds, right
because I was just like so excited about this, and
then our friend ken Jack, who works for Barcel Sports,
pointed out and he did like an Easter egg breakdown,
and you know, he reminded me about the receipts video
leading up to the Jaguars playoff game, and that's the
(18:24):
first thing that you see is the twenty seven zero receipts.
So I think that kind of lays the table like, hey,
like we're not above reproach here either.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, it's the Internet.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I am curious though, who's maybe the driver who's like
the funny guy or funny girl in this setting that
maybe kind of would kind of help push you guys
a little bit more towards the jokes in this video.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
That's like hard to like say, because like, honestly, there's
so many hilarious people that I work with day in
and day out that like constantly make me like fold
over like a chair laughing, like, uh, Brian Robb who
And I'm singling out Brian Robb first because he works
within the bullpen that we do.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
You've seen it. He just he did the Austin Eckler
Pro Bowl.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
Uh okay, like the political ad Uh, he did the
draft video that you recently saw, every draft video ever.
Like he's just like naturally a hilarious dude. Uh So
some of the jokes he'll throw out there are so funny, uh, Megan, Julian,
David Bretto, Uh, you know, the whole entire team, Like
the Lauren Walker Walker uh suggested that we do teen
(19:33):
Titans for the Titans, and we were like struggling to fear,
like what are we gonna do for the Titans?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
And she was like, when we do teen Titans. I
was like, that's brilliant. This is a genius idea.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Uh. You know, it's just like it's so great to
be in like a collaborative environment with with everybody. Uh
and definitely there are definitely some people who you know,
they're they're they're sect of comedy.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Is is peculiar, but it's good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Nonetheless, Yeah, it's incredible stuff. And I can't wait to
see what you guys do next. Is there going to
be a three peet? Are we going to get the
return of the King of Anime? Schedule releases?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
You know, never say never, but like you know, I
think we'll we'll we'll worry about that when it when
we get there. There's like so many I mean, as
you know, there's just so many things that are going
on around the calendar year for football, and you know,
we're a team that is small but works hard, and
so we've got plenty of things that you know, to
worry about in front of us. Before we start worrying
(20:28):
about what what we're gonna do for year three. I'll
maybe consider it, but you know, we'll see what havans.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And just like I gotta get I gotta reset first here, but.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
I definitely got to get some breats in before I
start thinking about But you know, it's not it's a
fair question because like, how many times do we know
about like guys who cover the draft and like do
evaluation of players who are like after they finish a
whole draft class star, like all right, it's onto the
next next draft class.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
So you know, it's a it's a fair question.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
You know, DJ and all these guys already starting watching
tape on twenty twenty four guys, which is really great.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Well, tymy, did you have any other questions for Andrew
before we head out? Nope, that's it, man. I appreciate
having you on.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
You know, I appreciate you guys having me on so much.
It's a fan of the show. Watch you guys all
the time. I listened to some of y'all's podcast as
I was drawing, So thank you for keeping company through
that six weeks of work.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Thank you, man, sincerely appreciate that as well. You know,
this has been a lot of fun. Hopefully you guys
listening enjoyed the great insight into the process of the
Chargers anime schedule release. I'm gonna have to go back
now and look at some of these other references that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I might have missed that Andrew was teasing.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So Andrew looking forward to the rest of your work
throughout this season and we'll talk soon.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I'm sure. All right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, hopefully you guys enjoyed that interview. Man, I can't
thank Andrew enough for hopping on and joining us. Tyler,
any any final takeaways from that discussion with Andrew.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back and find the
things on like the Cowboys slide, a couple of shots
that they had that apparently a lot a lot of
people have seen so far, So I'll have to go
back through check that out, and then I'm predicting a
three pete here. I think they're going to run it
back one more year and then be done. Get your
trilogy out of the way, and then you're done.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, the trilogies are all the rage obviously, so
I think that people want another trilogy. Man, you know,
this is something that people want so excited to see
how that one goes. I like, like I told Andrew,
I'm not super into anime. I don't really watch a
ton you know. He talked about Cartoon Network, Like that's
like my experience of anime.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So there's a lot of.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Stuff in there that I just don't know what it's
like referencing. So curious there. All right, So, like I
said earlier, we are going to dive into some individual
player matchups tonight that we're excited about on the Chargers schedule.
Chris Harry and Matt Muney Smith talked a lot about
quarterbacks obviously on Chargers Weekly, so we're not we're limiting
(22:54):
this to non quarterbacks. We're gonna take this into some
trench Matt, some corner receiver matchups, some running back, linebacker matchups,
all that good stuff. So I'm curious to see where
Tyler ends up here, but really excited about this. I
know people who know me know I'm probably gonna spend
most of my time talking about trenches tonight.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
But Tyler, what's the number one player matchup you are
most excited about on the Chargers schedule?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Ooh, the number one player matchup? If I'm going individual now,
it's not this simple, right, It's not like one guy's
always on one guy. It's not that simple. But I'm
looking at Tyreek Hill versus Michael Davis in Week one,
if you want to extrapolate that and say Tyreek Kill
and Jalen Waddle versus Michael Davis and a Sante Siamo junior. Fine,
(23:42):
but overall that's what I'm looking at because we need
to see this defense repeat what they did last year
against the Dolphins. Staley had a great scheme. Everyone is
playing fantastic. This is really the game where I think
a lot of fans noticed Alohi Gilman right off the
bat breaking up that pass. So I really need to
see these two corners. I'm assuming here that jac Jackson
(24:03):
is not healthy. Yes, I'm just assuming, but we need
to see these two corners go out and have a
great game, and in particular Michael Davis versus Tyreek Hill.
Michael Davis was fantastic last year, particularly against the Dolphins,
and it just took the random gopher down the sideline
that tripped him for Tyreek Hill to get his big touchdown. Otherwise,
Michael Davis locked it down that whole game and it
(24:24):
was a really, really big game for him. He needs
to have an excellent game if this is going to work.
The last time we saw the Chargers when they had
Michael Davis, it was great, and then they lost him,
and then they lost Michael Davis is a big part
of this defense, and so that matchup, while it isn't
always the same one guy versus the other guy, I
think Michael Davis versus Tyree Hill is a big one.
And if you look at in particular, if you just
(24:46):
look at the scheme overall, and Michael Davis is a
big part of this scheme. Tua toungue I Looa has
struggled historically. Granted, it's only five games against the stalely
Fangio Tree. So if you look at his EPA pri
play against every other team that's not one of those
Fangio Tree disciples, or just against Fangio himself, his EPA
per play is zero point one two seven. In terms
(25:09):
of EPA per dropback is that zero point one two
seven is actually point zero zero one higher than Herbert
versus everybody else at zero point one two six. That
zero point one two seven drops all the way to
zero point zero zero one when Tua is facing Saley
Fangio kind of disciples. Granted it's only five games, not
a big sample size, but the point is Michael Davis
(25:30):
is a big part of this scheme. The scheme has
shown to work really really well against someone like Tuatunga
Bai Loa, and so Michael Davis versus Tyreek Hill is
probably the most fun matchup for me and arguably the
most important of the year for making a scheme work
against a quarterback who isn't good against this scheme.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, there's a lot of common misconceptions out there that
happen on Twitter. Obviously shocker who knew that. But one
of them is that you know that Justin Herbert struggles
against the Vicvangio tree and more so than maybe others,
and you know, the numbers just don't back that up,
whereas Tua and obviously some other quarterbacks. I mean, this
Vicvangier tree is all over the league at this point
(26:10):
do struggle versus the Vicvangio tree. So we'll see how J. C.
Jackson factors into that equation. You know, it's all positive
on the JC Jackson front. But Michael Davis was their
best cornerback last year on the Chargers, and he was
somebody who was top five in the league in forcing
completion percentage rate in the back half of the season,
(26:31):
and he was playing his best football of his career
because just like you could tell the comfort zone that
he was in in this kind of defense, and so
he also has a lot of positive history against Tyreek
Hill and players of that kind of speed profile. So
I imagine mc McDaniel and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddel
are going to be very motivated to prove that. You know,
(26:54):
last year was maybe a bit of an aberration against
the Chargers, that it was just kind of a bad
day at the office. But you know, Tyreek Hill versus
Michael Davis, I think is a very juicy matchup for sure.
All Right, so I mentioned trench play, this is definitely
the first one to go.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
We're talking.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
In schedule release day two, a certain Raiders edge rusher
had some issues with the Chargers taking a shot at
him and the team via the pop Tart comparison. That
is one mister Max Crosby. So Max Crosby, after he
saw the pop Tart video, tweeted out something saying, you're
(27:32):
basically along the lines of like this is all I need,
Like this is this is a lot of motivation for me.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
And you know, Max Rosby has had some good moments
against the Chargers for sure. He's averaging basically a round
eight pressures per game against the Chargers in Week one
last year had a ton of run stops, was fantastic
in that regard. But the one thing he's never really
done in the three matchups that have been possible is
go up against Rashawn Slater. There have been basically three
(28:01):
or four times per game where he'll go up against
Rashawn Slater for a few snaps here and there, and
then he'll just go back to the other side. So
call this a challenge if we will, maybe for Max Crosby,
instead of lining up against the right side, go against
the all pro left tackle man, go up against the
Rashawn Slater. I would love to see that matchup happen
more often, you know, not to say that I'm not
(28:21):
excited about the Trey Pippic inside of that thing, because
I do think that Trey as well has taken some
big steps. And he did not play in the second
game last year because he was injured dealing with the
MCLs brain So Trey has really come into his own
obviously at the talent end of last season.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
He'll be healthier presumably this year.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
So I'm saying Max Crosby versus whatever charges offensive tackle,
but I want some of that with Rashawn Slater smoke
if I'm Max Crosby after.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That video, Wow, I can't believe for this to be
cropped out after he has twelve treasures. I can't wait
to see you on the Raiders podcast network, Sorr. I mean, listen,
if you're gonna have faith in any it's Rashawn Slater.
But you know, we'll see where things end up. I
certainly wouldn't be calling out Max Crosby because I've seen
(29:07):
him do quite a bit of damage against the Chargers. Sure, unfortunately,
but hey, you know, you have a lot of faith
in Rashawn Slater. He's growing a beard now, which I
think makes him an instant all pro I believe, So yeah,
I'm I'm all for it. Really, any matchup on this
schedule will be fun. I want to see Rashawn Slater
out there period, like as is. If we're talking about
(29:28):
more trenches stuff, I think Chargers versus like the Dallas
Cowboys offensive line or excuse me, defensive line would love
to see that. So yeah, Rashawn Slater versus anyone would
be a fun matchup.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Max Rosby is a fantastic player, certainly one of the
top five pass rushers in the league. A ton of
respect for what he does as as a down to
down player. I just want to see him go up
against Shawn Man like I just I want some more
of best on best, and that's something I really respect
from Micah Parsons. You mentioned the Cowboys. Micah Parsons is
very deliberate again in going up against elite left tackles,
(29:59):
like he was very deliberate against going against Tred Williams
and the playoffs and stuff like that. So that could
have been maybe choice number one is Parsons versus Slater
some draft class matchup, but I had to talk about
Max Crosby because he apparently took some issues with the
Pop Tart reference.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Lovely Yeah, Chargers offensive line versus Cowboys defensive line. I
was looking it up and that Cowboys defensive front. In
terms of Parsons Smith, excuse me, Smith just got drafted Parsons,
Lawrence Williams, Odigezua, and Hankasa Thanks. That group generated two
hundred two pressures in twenty eight sacks last season, and
then they added Mazzie Smith in the first round, who
(30:38):
you loved. I really liked, so not really like a
pass rusher. But still adding to a stack defensive line
versus the Charges offensive line in general, that's arguably their
best unit overall. I would say that outside of just
you know, quarterback being Justin Herbert, that's probably their best
unit in terms of the guys that they have and
the floor and the ceiling. So that's gonna be a
huge matchup. My next visual one though again it's not
(31:02):
this simple, but it's going to be Eric Kendricks versus
Derrick Henry. And you could really see Eric Kendricks versus
any other running back on the schedule. But this is
the one. We'll figure out pretty early on if the
Chargers made the right decision by having Kendricks instead of
Drew Tranquill and to some extent, over someone like Kaiser White.
They now have Eric Kendricks. They've had good linebacker play,
(31:24):
but the Chargers really want to get great linebacker play,
and throughout his career, Kendricks has had great linebacker play.
Brandon Saley thinks that he is a great linebacker, one
of the best linebackers in the league. That's why they
signed him, That's why he's got a two year deal,
and that's why he is the starter on this defense
right now, and you'll find out pretty early on if
(31:45):
Kendricks is it. I'm not saying that this game decides
everything for the rest of the season, but I want
to know if this decision to go with Kendricks paid off,
and specifically, are they making plays whereas Kendricks making plays
closer to the line of sage, even behind the line
of scrimmage? Is he better against the run in the
way that Drew Trankwill maybe was not as much now
(32:07):
that Drew Draankle was a bad player. In fact, I
think he's a really good player who did a lot
of great things for the Chargers, but the one thing
they wanted to upgrade was that run defense, working downhill,
getting clip plays closer to the line of scrimmage. And
that's why he brought an Eric Kendricks so early on.
Eric Kendricks versus teen Titan Cyborg Derrick Henry, that's a
matchup that I'm really looking forward to, and that's early
(32:28):
in the season.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, you know, the run defense was a topic of
conversation today at the press conferences with Sebastian, Joseph Day
and Derek Hansley, And you know, we'll see right away
if the Chargers are going to be able to fix
that that solution. So I was just looking right now
if there was any like previous history to go off
(32:50):
of with Kendricks versus Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
There is.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I see one game in twenty twenty. Do you want
me to tell you the numbers on that one?
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yeah, if you want to say that, while I was sure,
while I keep looking, Yeah, So twenty twenty, Derek Henry
had twenty six carries for one hundred nineteen yards and
two touchdowns in that game. Eric Hendricks had six tackles
under pressure of that game. So Derek Henley Henry definitely
had his way. But again, it's it's it's really the
whole defense, right, sayan Kendricks versus Henry is not accounting
(33:21):
for so many things. And even the last time the
Chargers played Henry, it was really about spashing Joseph Day,
Brandon Fojoco and the defensive line. So again, it's not
that simple. But that's really the first one we're going
to see if this run defense is improved because of
the play of their linebacker.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I just wanted to see if there was a ton
of history there or not and obviously NFC North, AFC South,
there's probably not a ton of you know, crossover there.
But you know, everything that everybody is talking about with
Eric Hendricks is obviously first and foremost, like the run defense,
like how established he has been, his leadership, you know,
his ability as as that play caller on defense. So
(33:58):
you know last year they did such a good job
against Derek Henry obviously, like you mentioned, because of the
defensive line, which allowed guys like Kenneth Murray and Trew
Trenkle to go and really focus in on that. Obviously,
Drwin played a wait to Durren play in that game. No,
he was out.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Now, I can't remember. That was after the Colts game.
I think twenty twenty two was a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Yeah it was, It was such a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
But no, I think that's a spot on one.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
I think Eric Kendricks versus a number of these running
backs would be a good one there. Talking about the Vikings.
My other one here is going to be.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
J. C. Jackson versus Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
This is probably one of the number one reasons why
the Chargers went out and got j. C.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Jackson.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
And again we'll see about his health, right, but they
wanted to go out and get a guy who could
truly shadow number one receivers, and turns out they might
have two of those guys now with Michael Davis. So
this is gonna be a big opportunity for j C.
Jacks to prove that he's healthy, that he's himself, that
he can go out and go up against guys like this.
(35:07):
And I know that there's some you know, revisionist history
when it comes to j C. Jackson's play against DK
Metcalf in particularly if you really watched that game before
j C. Jackson got hurt, he went after DK Metcalf
and had some really good reps at a pass breakup
and was in position to get an interception before he
ultimately got injured against Marquise Goodwin.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
So j C.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Jackson against Justin Jefferson, he's one of the best, if
not the best, wide receivers in the league.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Obviously, the last.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Time Justin Jefferson played against the Chargers, it did not
go very well. Michael Davis left injured in that game.
I believe there were some other injuries as well. This
was back in twenty twenty one, and Justin Jefferson had
nine catches for one hundred and forty three yards, Like
there just was no stopping him that day. But now
(35:56):
the Chargers theoretically should be much more well equipped to
handle a player like Justin Jefferson. Maybe you don't even
need to do the whole shadow thing because you have
Michael Davis and j C.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Jackson.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
There's also the added layer here of the Vikings getting
Jordan Addison in the draft.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
They traded for T. J.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Hawkinson last year, So in twenty twenty one, it was
really just Jefferson and Thieling and it's still like didn't
really matter. So the way that the Chargers go about
matching up with elite receivers I think is super key
to the season in general. But this theoretically, with this
matchup with the Vikings theoretically should be right about when
(36:32):
jac Jackson is really kind of rounding into form, and
so I think the schedule here with the Vikings might
indicate an opportunity for j. C. Jackson to go out
and shadow Justin Jefferson and get back to his former self.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, what a game to try to get back to
your former self after a horrific injury. Here's Justin Jefferson
good luck. I'll have to root for j C. Jackson
while Justin Jefferson is on my fantasy team, So conflict
of interest there for sure. But you're definitely more optimistic
about j C. Jackson's health then. I don't want to
say that more optimistic than I am, but going against
(37:07):
Jefferson in week three, that is pretty optimistic.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Well, I mean, he himself is saying that he wants
to be one hundred percent by the start of the season.
I still am like my preference with JC, like I
said on our show, is that maybe you give him
the first few weeks.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
And then after the bye he comes back.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
But you know, if he's one hundred percent healthy by
the start of the season, we'll be able to tell
in week three. So I'm still kind of cautiously optimistic
here with jac selth have you been through that same
injury myself?
Speaker 1 (37:38):
But this is this would be the.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
First test, like, this would be the first indication of
us being able to find out really where jac is
at with his health and with his confidence level as well.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, all right, I'll flip it to my last matchup,
another wide receiver versus corner matchup again, not as simple
as this, but I have to go Quentin Johnson versus
Lagarious sneed Trent McDuffie in some order. We don't really
know exactly where Johnston's going to play, so I'm not
going to assign him one corner just yet. If it's
more in the slot, then it will be sneat. If
it's more outside, maybe it's McDuffie, some combination, whatever. But
(38:12):
the Chargers got Johnston. Yes, to be better on offense,
Y has to win the Super Bowl, all those things,
but really, outside of winning the Super Bowl, the number
one thing is to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Once
would be good, Twice would be best, maybe three times
in the playoffs, who knows. But they got to beat
the Kansas City Chiefs and they need more offense, and
that's why they went and got him. They do not
(38:34):
have someone or they did not have someone like Johnson
last year when they played the Chiefs, no matter who
was healthy, not healthy, whatever, there was nobody on the
team like Quinton Johnston. And so he's going to have
to be big. And I think, you know, getting acclimated
to the NFL, working through things at the beginning of
the season, all good but at some point, you know,
midway through the season and then very late, at the
very last game of the season, Quentin Johnson's going to
(38:56):
be out there and maybe they're fighting for a postseason spot,
maybe they're fighting for the AFC West, who knows, maybe
they're fighting for the number one seed. Let's say I'm
not optimistic for the Chargers. Johnson needs to be that guy.
You know, when Mike Williams in one play on Sunday
Night Football or whatever it was, Mike Williams great play,
got hurt and they really didn't have a whole lot
(39:17):
to go off of with Keenan kind of being you know,
halfway in, halfway out. They need that other guy. They
need Quinton Johnson. They need him to be an explosive guy,
a stabilizing force in the room, you name it. So
that game in particular, not because I think that's the
greatest corner versus receiver matchup on the schedule. It's not,
but it's arguably one of the most important because they
(39:38):
need to beat the Chiefs and they have not beaten
the Chiefs. Therefore, Quentin Johnson needs to step up so
they can beat the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, No, that's a good one, and I think that
also will give us, you know, a good indication of
where he is at, because that Chiefs secondary is really
good as well. So how they go about attacking that
chief secondary with Quinton Johnson is in general, is going
to be a very interesting story line here. So how
they create those mismatches with Kellen Moore is gonna be fascinating.
(40:06):
Last one here for me, I'm gonna go with Keenan
Allen versus JayR Alexander again, a matchup that we don't
necessarily see.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
A ton of.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
I don't remember if JayR played in the last Packers
Chargers matchup. I want to say that might have been
his rookie season at best, you know that being back
at at stub Hub back in twenty nineteen. So Alexander
one of the best corners in the NFL, and really
the cornerback group in general for the Packers is probably
(40:36):
their best position group. Maybe offensive tackle if David Baktiaris
is able to get healthy, maybe the edge rusher group
if for Shuan Gary can get healthy. But cornerback wise,
they're pretty stacked man with JayR, with Eric Stokes and
Rasull Douglas as well. So Alexander is their number one guy.
He travels into the slot. He's not somebody that's like
(40:57):
exclusively an outside corner. So Jaire versus Keenan Allen I
think is gonna be a ton of fun to watch
because that's that's the top dog, and the top dog.
We don't really see a ton of truly elite corners
follow Keenan into the slot. You know that doesn't You
know a lot of guys these days are are you know,
kind of more pigeonholed into being an outside in the
(41:19):
slot guy. But JayR will go into the slot against
Keenan Allen. And obviously there's the Brandon Staley versus Oh
my gosh, I'm totally blanking on his name right now.
He was the Charges linebacker coach for like a day
and then the Packers swiped him.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Joe Barry.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Joe Berry is their defensive coordinator, so there's some familiarity
there in terms of scheme obviously from Joe Berry's days
with the Rams. But Jay Alexander turns back from his
injury last year. It plays at an all pro level. Again,
like I said, one of the better cornerbacks in the league.
So just just a matchup with that we don't really
see a lot and a just battle that we don't
(41:56):
see a lot, Like I mentioned with Keenan Allen playing
so much in the slot, doesn't get a lot of
elite cornerback attention anymore.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Yeah, that'll be a fun one. I think the Chargers
receivers have a pretty good history against the Packers. Again,
none that that matters. We're talking, they don't play every year,
but you know, Keenan Allen had that like fourteen catch,
one hundred and fifty something yard game against the Packers
in twenty fifteen, Mike Williams had his first hundred yard
game against the Packers, and I think it was Shane
Stige's first game as offensive coordinator if I'm not mistaken.
(42:24):
Whole different topic for another time. But yeah, I'm very
excited abut watching box right there. Yeah, not gonna talk
about that one right now. Yeah, so I'm very excited
about that one for sure. I actually didn't even consider
that matchup, but that's a really good one because the
Packers do have a good secondary.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I had another one that I wanted to talk about,
but it's another Chargers Chiefs one, So I wasn't too
sure if I want rapid fire, so rapid fire, we'll
talk about it. But Jyr Alexander did play in the
twenty nineteen matchup against the Chargers, so that day, let
me see, he gave up four catches for one hundred
(43:05):
and twenty nine yards on five targets. I assumed that
was to keen it out, So maybe a little bit
of a revenge game for Jig.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
Alexander as well.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
One of the ones that I'm definitely interested in in
general is Joey Bosa going back up against the wall
of Jawan Taylor, because I think that was obviously not
a great experience for Joey. You know, there was definitely
some frustration from Jowan Taylor maybe getting some false start
advantages that that should not have been happening, some holding advantages.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
As well as obviously Joey and his injury.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
So I think Joey is always highly motivated against the Chiefs.
He always plays well against the Chiefs, but I think
this year, with Jawan Taylor going back at right tackle
for the Chiefs, I think there's gonna be some extra
juice in that matchup.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Ooh, I completely forgot about that one because when you
as soon as you mentioned, I'm like, well, he's on
the Jaguars, but no, that's right, he's on the Chiefs. Now,
that's an intriguing storyline. Shoot, I wish I thought of
that one. I was thinking, like Khalil Macbers, Pine Sewel,
that's just more for my enjoyment than anything else. But yeah,
Joey Bussen versus Jawan Taylor and the kind of little
extra stuff in there that's fun.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Yeah, you look at these right tackles that the Chargers
are playing this year. There's a lot of good ones,
including Piney Jawan Taylor obviously, so it should be a
lot of fun. This is a great schedule, man, Like,
there's so many juicy individual matchups that we could have
gotten to. Any other ones that you wanted to shout
out really quickly.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Here Zion Johnson versus Chris Jones. That worked out well
the first game, maybe not as great the second game,
although I believe he was hurt. Zion Johnson's making that switch,
and I want to see him in a new offense
that suits him in between two all pros in his
second year at his quote unquote natural spot playing against
one of the best defensive tackles in the lead.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Yeah, Chris Jones, I think kind of became that. Well,
what happens if Aaron Jones missus time guy. You know,
everybody kind of looked at him as as kind of
the best cheer guy. Zion versus Quinn Williams, I think
is an interesting one too, because, like like you mentioned,
the same kind of conversation, Quinn Williams one of the
better guys in the league. Zion shouldn't be more comfortable
(45:08):
on the left side as well as coming into year two.
So he played really well in moments against these top guys.
Definitely had some struggles. I remember Jeffrey Simmons got him
on a rep one time, Chris Jones as well, like
you mentioned, But you know, there's enough good signs there
to make me excited about those matchups with the intier
players this year. M So, no pressure anything, guys, just
(45:29):
you know, justin Jefferson, Quinn Williams. Max Crosby highlighted on
the show today.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
Yeah you'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
You got this. Yeah, you'll be fine. You're good.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
At the end of the day, we'll talk about it.
You guys have to go out and do it, so,
you know, here's what it is, all right, Tyler, any
final thoughts before we hit out now?
Speaker 3 (45:45):
I'm good man, Andrew, thank you so much for jumping on.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Man.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
It was great to see that schedule released and get
great to hear that behind the scenes discussion about it.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Absolutely cannot think Andrew enough for joining us tonight. Thanks
for Brian for pretty seeing. Thanks to Tyler for joining
me tonight. As always, make sure and subscribe to the channel.
Comment let us know what you think, and make sure
you check us out on our own channel, Guilty of
Charge podcasts as well. That's gonna do it for us today.
We will see you guys next week.
Hey, what is up? Everybody?
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Welcome to the Guilty and Charge Podcast, presented by the
Chargers Podcast Network. As always, my name is Stephen and
I am the host, and joining me tonight is my
guy Tyler.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Tyler, what's upman? How you doing tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:24):
I'm doing it fantastic. Just came off a great Mother's
Day weekend. My mom had a very good time. Hello Mom,
I know you're watching. I love you. She had a
great weekend. So everybody had a great weekend. Steven, how
are you?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
I'm doing great, man. Mother's Day was a success up here.
You know, it's a hot weekend, but a good weekend
up here in the Central Valley.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
So not ready for the heat, but you know it
is what it is.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
So really excited about today's show that we have for
you guys. We're gonna dive further into the twenty twenty
three schedule, and part of that is going to be
an interview with Andrew at Kordova, who is the kind
of mastermind behind the anime schedule.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
Lease if you will.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
We're also going to dive into some individual player matchups
that we are really excited about on the Chargers schedule,
and we'll.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
See how that one goes.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
But first things first, of course, as always we are
independent contractors for the Chargers. We are fans at the
end of the day, and our opinions shared on the
show will not always reflect the opinions of the actual
Chargers organization. You know, we are fans just like you guys.
We just happened to be here talking about the team
on the Chargers channel. So really excited about this episode today.
(01:31):
And that being said, let's welcome on Andrew. What's up, man,
how are you doing tonight?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Good? Thank you so much for having me man.
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, we're really excited about this. Obviously, you know, we
had to work out this schedule. You know, we had
a little bit of a flight thing to work out here,
but we're stalked about this. This was a request that
you know, Tyler had made and this was you know,
Tyler's idea to be able to have this conversation with
you to dive into the schedule lease, which was a
huge hit. I mean that was all over the web,
(02:00):
you know, anime sites, football sites. Everybody seems to really
love it. So in my opinion, it's a rare sequel
that topped the original. So congratulations there I'm a big
fan of your guys' work. So what is the Yeah,
what has the past few days been like for you
as you've been able to kind of settle in here
and react to the feedback over the last few days.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Good.
Speaker 5 (02:23):
Well, first of all, let me just say thank you
for accommodating me for recording so late.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
I appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
The reason being is, after about like two weeks before
I was going to finish this episode, I was like, hey,
I should probably like take some time off once we're
done here, and so I just decided to take this
weekend to go see my twin brother in Oakland. And
so it's been generally pretty RESTful the past three days
and very relaxing and so good time to be able
(02:51):
to just charge my batteries after doing that gauntlet of
a production.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
So it's been fun but tiring.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Good good to hear, and we'll get into it. So
when did you guys know you were going to do
this again after last year's success? Was it pretty early on,
like yeah, we got to do this, or to just
you get enough material after a while where you thought, okay,
we really do have to do this At some point.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
Selfishly like all last year, I was like, okay, if
we do a sequel, like, what are the things that
we're gonna have to do? What are some things that
we learned from last time that we'll want to take
into this time. That process was always kind of running
in the back of my head. But to answer your
question about like, I want to say, a month and
(03:38):
a half ago, we were pretty certain that we committed
to doing it again. Before that, we spent a couple
of weeks really just trying to you know, turn over
every rock and see if there was any other ideas
we think we're worth pursuing. And that's always that's just
like the process that we always have in this department,
And it really doesn't matter you know what, uh what
(04:01):
project it specifically is. I think we're always very open
and we like to have everybody give input before we
you know, devote a lot of resources to something. And
so yeah, so i'd say about a month and a
half was when we decided that we were going to
do it again. Thankfully, I had already like mentally prepared
for what kind of things we would want to do
(04:22):
the second time around.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, I'm sure you were kind of just chopping in
the bit with a bunch of ideas. So, you know,
I want to kind of dive into the process here,
because the Social team obviously tweeted that screenshot of like
the whole the whole board with all the sticky notes.
You know, what what kind of processes is there in
terms of like whittling and down, Like did you guys
have like a top five and then narrow it down
(04:43):
to like a top three? Or was this like, hey,
we have like two really good ideas, but let's let's
lean all into the anime.
Speaker 5 (04:50):
I think what it was is like we definitely did
like start very wide first, like a like a wide
cone first, and then kind of narrowed ideas down. But
really like we did that as a means to just
kind of get ideas going, to get the brain kind
of turning, and then if there were some ideas that
we felt were that there was more to them, you know,
(05:12):
we'd let whoever came up with that idea kind of
give more spiel or give more projection of like what
that idea could look like.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Already.
Speaker 5 (05:22):
Unfortunately, you know, I kind of had an unhe head start,
you know, thinking all throughout the year of like exactly
what we would be doing, or at least having a
rough idea of what we would be doing. So, you know,
it just so happened through our process that Anime Part
two was what we ended up deciding to go with.
But it we will meet, you know, once or twice
(05:42):
a week, just during the off season before the draft.
It was a periodical thing that David Bretto, uh, one
of our senior producers, kind of oversaw and helped facilitate.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
So yeah, it does that answer your question?
Speaker 1 (05:57):
No, yeah, I definitely did. You know.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
I've heard from people at like Pixar, like they've done interviews, right,
and it's like, you know, a lot of people have
wondered like, oh, like what was the deal with like
Incredibles one and two, like the gap being so big,
and one of the producers there was saying that it
takes them like so long to do these shots. So
I'm just curious, Like you look at that screenshot of
like Times Square or like you can look at the
(06:20):
screenshot of one of any of these stills, right, like
how long does it take you to get one of
those shots like complete?
Speaker 4 (06:29):
Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 5 (06:31):
It depends on like the scope of like what the
prompt is right, which the prompt would start with the
white writer's room and who have and as we all
collectively decide, like, Okay, this is the joke that we're
going with, this is the scene we're going with. That's
kind of the starting point. So it really depends on
how vast that prompt is. But for the most part,
it's about like a day to a day and a
(06:51):
half to two days. Some of the bad ones were
like three days to be able to like render all
of those things out. It takes time, like illustrating, animating, blocking,
like all the things that go into like animation projects
that you're probably familiar with, takes a substantial amount of
time and effort.
Speaker 4 (07:11):
I kind of said this last year.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
I mean, it would not be possible if we weren't
already referencing and or working off of something that already exists, right,
So like that's why we're like we're trying to give
ode to a lot of anime scenes or anime environments,
pieces of work that already work, right, So, like we're
using a lot of the groundwork that you would otherwise
(07:35):
be doing originally at like a Pixar or a Disney
and you're just kind of copying off of that, so
like it's in a means you kind of have to
do that because you only have like a month to
be able to get the project done, but also at
the same time, it's the most time efficient for us.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
And even then it's a crunch.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
Whose idea was it to put the QR code.
Speaker 1 (07:59):
On the that was the most popular? I remember it was.
Speaker 5 (08:05):
It was such like when when I don't remember exactly
who came up with that idea. It certainly wasn't me
in the writer's room, but uh, we were just like
trying to think about like okay, like we know the
Raiders are one that we have to do a good
joke on, you know, just given the rivalry that we
have with the team, and so uh, but I think
(08:26):
it was with we we had already had the idea,
as I'm recalling it, we already had the idea for
the voucher because we knew we were gonna play off
what we did in the first game. But we were like,
maybe there's something more, like there's a deeper meta, Like
it's already meta as it is, maybe there's like even
(08:46):
a more meta way to go about it. Sure, And
I remember somebody said like, yeah, maybe the barcode or
like maybe like whatever that unique identifier on the voucher
can actually lead you to somewhere else where there's a
deeper joke.
Speaker 4 (09:01):
And we're like can we do that?
Speaker 5 (09:03):
I don't build that, and we're like, yeah, we have
a website, Like, we'll figure it out. And thankfully we did,
and it was probably one of the best jokes, if
not the best joke that we made. Well, I'm very
I'm very happy with Like it's it's an awesome, extra
level joke for those who, uh, it's rewarding to the
people that really do try to like read into what
(09:26):
the schedule re lease is, you know, And so I'm
glad we were able to execute that.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
It worked off really well.
Speaker 5 (09:32):
Shout out to the website team for pulling that one off.
Speaker 4 (09:35):
It was great.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
I ended up finding that one on accident because I
was just trying to take a picture of that still
but I wasn't trying to find a QR code, so
it just happened to take me. There is there anything
that fans haven't found yet? I think they've got everything.
I'd imagine everything's been found, But is there.
Speaker 5 (09:53):
Anything that was right they've found pretty much everything. There
are some things that some people have found that called
attention to that most other people are not aware of,
Like there's one in the Dallas one that people haven't
really and again they're like so meta of anime jokes
that Okay, unless you're not unless you're like not in
the community like you'll be, it'll go right over your head.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
But uh, you know, that's like the best part about.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
Like making some of the like Easter eggs is just
seeing like, Okay, which community is going to respond to
this compared to the other community, And it's just it
speaks to just how like crazy social media is and
the reach that it has and the amount of different
people that you can reach through creating content on the
kind of platforms that we have now, And so it's
(10:38):
super cool.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Yeah, I'll have to go back through it and see
if any of these references hit me like a bus.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Not as far as Doug Prescott.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
It was super cool because I'm not super into anime,
you know, I like I have a basic understanding of
some of the references, especially when you know, like when
Joey was like talking about the attack on Titan thing
after the to the.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
Bills game celebration.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
But I had like people who don't watch football like
text me and say, like, man, this was so cool
the Chargers to do this, And like, you know, my
brother is a big anime fan and he was messaging
me about all the different things your interest in anime?
Has this been a lifelong thing for you? When did
you kind of figure out that, hey, I can maybe
(11:22):
turn my love of anime into like a pet project
of mine essentially for the Chargers.
Speaker 5 (11:27):
To be honest with you, it hasn't been something that
I followed on like my entire life. It's something that
much like probably a lot of people in my generation
growing up watching like Cartoon Network, Like if you remember
the Tunami Block, it was like a dedicated hour for
syndicated Japanese programming to be sent to like an American audience.
(11:49):
Basically this is where a lot of people like learned
of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, like kind of the Big
Four that everyone hears about, right, So that was kind
of like the main touch point, or at least the
most way I interacted as a child. I also have
a grandmother that is Japanese, uh, and so like occasionally
whenever I'd go to her house. You know, some anime
would you know, occasionally be playing as well, So you know,
(12:12):
there is a lot of different ways that anime has
been kind of like influenced I guess my art or
like the things that I've consumed, but really like the
idea kind of spawned when I was at my old
job at NFL Films and shout out to a former
player who actually works there now. His name is Darryl Campbell.
He's also a huge anime fan, bigger anime fan than
(12:35):
I am. And at the time, you know, like right
around like Pandemic era, like you know, everyone was going
back inside and like we had nothing to do, and
there was some some good anime that I had heard
about from just like being online and or like through
memes and stuff, and I was like, hey, you know,
maybe I should go back and like start watching some
(12:56):
anime again, just like how I did back when I
was a kid.
Speaker 4 (12:58):
And that's how I come jumped back into it.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
And through the conversations that I had with this my
former coworker, we would just be gushing.
Speaker 4 (13:07):
About like, yo, this scene is so cool, and we'd.
Speaker 5 (13:09):
Be like, man, there's so many similarities between like a
usual anime and like the things that football players go through,
like the tournament arcs, the training arcs, the you know,
the overcoming adversary.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
They're very long backstories.
Speaker 5 (13:22):
There's just so many different things about that are just
jam packed, and anime that just kind of oddly parallel
things that you would see from sports or just football especially,
And so it was from then I was like, Man,
these things parallel so well together that there's got to
be a way to be able to combine both those things.
I don't know how that's gonna happen, but we should
(13:43):
probably do it, and if it does, it'll probably work.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Do you remember the first one that you kind of
dreamed rep and you're like, oh my gosh, Chargers this
and Anime that or something like, Do you remember the
first still that played in your brain? Because it seems
like you're planning this for a very long time and
your references are always churning through your brain. Do you
remember like the first one when you either thought of
this idea, when you share this idea that you guys
mocked up.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
Yeah, there was like.
Speaker 5 (14:07):
From last year I I I And if you ever
asked like David Bretto about like the process of how
this came to be. I remember last year he came
to the documentary crew at the time. It was Brian
Thomas and I and you know, we were like knee
deep in all In at the time, and he was
like he came to us, He's like, hey, we haven't
(14:29):
found an idea just yet for schedule release, and you know,
we just kind of want to ask everybody before we
you know, go and move on on separate ideas.
Speaker 4 (14:38):
If you have any ideas, like, let us know.
Speaker 5 (14:40):
And I was like, hmm, maybe it would be cool
to just like mock up like a player running like
a Chargers player running like you would see in like
an anime opening.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
You know, there's.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Countless of the shots to like pull from that are
similar to like that. And I was like, I just
spent like a weekend, like two or three days smocking
something up, and then on Monday I sent it to
him overslack and I was like, hey, hey, this is
like kind of an idea I was having. I think
I have like a prompt or a concept based off
all these other things that I've identified throughout the years.
(15:10):
You know, let me know if you think this might
be a good idea. And it took off from there.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Well that's incredible.
Speaker 4 (15:17):
Yeah, shut up David for being open minded.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
I mean, like we we were talking on our show,
like the amount of creativity and homework that you guys
do on a day to day basis like really shines
through in that. And I mean if you would have
told me five years ago that, like, you know, the
Chargers were going to break you know, ground right and
do an anime schedule release, like, I think I probably
would have been very skeptical of it being such a success.
(15:43):
And for you guys to do it in back to
back years I think speaks to like you, like you're
just saying, you know, the the openness, uh and creativity
that this production team has has been able to put
out over the last few years.
Speaker 4 (15:56):
Yeah, absolutely, man.
Speaker 5 (15:57):
And I think like as long as you give somebody
space and the support they need to kind of incorporate
their passions into their art you use, that usually results
in something that is decent, that is good, And I
think I have felt very supported throughout this entire process
(16:21):
and hopefully you know, it creates that culture where you know,
everyone is open and free to be whoever they want
to be, uh, And it just makes that much, And
I think that's why it resonates with with audiences, because like,
if you can tell it's coming from a genuine place,
even if even if like technically the art maybe it
(16:41):
could be better, Uh, you know, it'll still it's still
it will still land with your audience, and you know
it's it's a good thing to know that two years
going on, that.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
It's done that in terms of that openness and the support,
I do want to ask, because you guys got everyone,
and you went after everyone as much as you could,
I think like was there a line that had to
be drawn? And you don't have to say what or who,
but like was there stuff that ended up on the
cutting room floor where it's like, no, you actually can't
say that we're totally screwed.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I think, especially when it comes to like anything comedic, right,
you have to like be somewhat conscious of like the
things that you're saying and the things that you're joking about.
So like, certainly there might there might have been times
where we'll like.
Speaker 4 (17:28):
Topic, should we talk about this?
Speaker 5 (17:29):
Should we not to even even start framing that in
like a comedic way, right, And because you're with a
group of people and it's a safe place, like you know,
you can do that and explore that. That is pretty
universal amongst all comedy writing. Uh So that was more
or less like the process with that. There was definitely
(17:50):
things that you want to be respectful of and that
you want to be mindful of, but also at the
same time, we're just trying to also have fun. I mean,
and we also make fun of ourselves too, so you know,
it's not something that should be taken too seriously.
Speaker 2 (18:03):
Yeah, you know, the making fun of yourselves too. I
like kind of glanced over the first few seconds, right
because I was just like so excited about this, and
then our friend ken Jack, who works for Barcel Sports,
pointed out and he did like an Easter egg breakdown,
and you know, he reminded me about the receipts video
leading up to the Jaguars playoff game, and that's the
(18:24):
first thing that you see is the twenty seven zero receipts.
So I think that kind of lays the table like, hey,
like we're not above reproach here either.
Speaker 4 (18:32):
Yeah, it's the Internet.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I am curious though, who's maybe the driver who's like
the funny guy or funny girl in this setting that
maybe kind of would kind of help push you guys
a little bit more towards the jokes in this video.
Speaker 5 (18:49):
That's like hard to like say, because like, honestly, there's
so many hilarious people that I work with day in
and day out that like constantly make me like fold
over like a chair laughing, like, uh, Brian Robb who
And I'm singling out Brian Robb first because he works
within the bullpen that we do.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
You've seen it. He just he did the Austin Eckler
Pro Bowl.
Speaker 5 (19:10):
Uh okay, like the political ad Uh, he did the
draft video that you recently saw, every draft video ever.
Like he's just like naturally a hilarious dude. Uh So
some of the jokes he'll throw out there are so funny, uh, Megan, Julian,
David Bretto, Uh, you know, the whole entire team, Like
the Lauren Walker Walker uh suggested that we do teen
(19:33):
Titans for the Titans, and we were like struggling to fear,
like what are we gonna do for the Titans?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
And she was like, when we do teen Titans. I
was like, that's brilliant. This is a genius idea.
Speaker 5 (19:42):
Uh. You know, it's just like it's so great to
be in like a collaborative environment with with everybody. Uh
and definitely there are definitely some people who you know,
they're they're they're sect of comedy.
Speaker 4 (19:52):
Is is peculiar, but it's good.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
Nonetheless, Yeah, it's incredible stuff. And I can't wait to
see what you guys do next. Is there going to
be a three peet? Are we going to get the
return of the King of Anime? Schedule releases?
Speaker 5 (20:06):
You know, never say never, but like you know, I
think we'll we'll we'll worry about that when it when
we get there. There's like so many I mean, as
you know, there's just so many things that are going
on around the calendar year for football, and you know,
we're a team that is small but works hard, and
so we've got plenty of things that you know, to
worry about in front of us. Before we start worrying
(20:28):
about what what we're gonna do for year three. I'll
maybe consider it, but you know, we'll see what havans.
Speaker 3 (20:35):
And just like I gotta get I gotta reset first here, but.
Speaker 5 (20:39):
I definitely got to get some breats in before I
start thinking about But you know, it's not it's a
fair question because like, how many times do we know
about like guys who cover the draft and like do
evaluation of players who are like after they finish a
whole draft class star, like all right, it's onto the
next next draft class.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
So you know, it's a it's a fair question.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
You know, DJ and all these guys already starting watching
tape on twenty twenty four guys, which is really great.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Well, tymy, did you have any other questions for Andrew
before we head out? Nope, that's it, man. I appreciate
having you on.
Speaker 5 (21:10):
You know, I appreciate you guys having me on so much.
It's a fan of the show. Watch you guys all
the time. I listened to some of y'all's podcast as
I was drawing, So thank you for keeping company through
that six weeks of work.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Thank you, man, sincerely appreciate that as well. You know,
this has been a lot of fun. Hopefully you guys
listening enjoyed the great insight into the process of the
Chargers anime schedule release. I'm gonna have to go back
now and look at some of these other references that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I might have missed that Andrew was teasing.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
So Andrew looking forward to the rest of your work
throughout this season and we'll talk soon.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
I'm sure. All right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Well, hopefully you guys enjoyed that interview. Man, I can't
thank Andrew enough for hopping on and joining us. Tyler,
any any final takeaways from that discussion with Andrew.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
Yeah, I'm gonna have to go back and find the
things on like the Cowboys slide, a couple of shots
that they had that apparently a lot a lot of
people have seen so far, So I'll have to go
back through check that out, and then I'm predicting a
three pete here. I think they're going to run it
back one more year and then be done. Get your
trilogy out of the way, and then you're done.
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
You know, the trilogies are all the rage obviously, so
I think that people want another trilogy. Man, you know,
this is something that people want so excited to see
how that one goes. I like, like I told Andrew,
I'm not super into anime. I don't really watch a
ton you know. He talked about Cartoon Network, Like that's
like my experience of anime.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
So there's a lot of.
Speaker 2 (22:33):
Stuff in there that I just don't know what it's
like referencing. So curious there. All right, So, like I
said earlier, we are going to dive into some individual
player matchups tonight that we're excited about on the Chargers schedule.
Chris Harry and Matt Muney Smith talked a lot about
quarterbacks obviously on Chargers Weekly, so we're not we're limiting
(22:54):
this to non quarterbacks. We're gonna take this into some
trench Matt, some corner receiver matchups, some running back, linebacker matchups,
all that good stuff. So I'm curious to see where
Tyler ends up here, but really excited about this. I
know people who know me know I'm probably gonna spend
most of my time talking about trenches tonight.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
So we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
But Tyler, what's the number one player matchup you are
most excited about on the Chargers schedule?
Speaker 3 (23:22):
Ooh, the number one player matchup? If I'm going individual now,
it's not this simple, right, It's not like one guy's
always on one guy. It's not that simple. But I'm
looking at Tyreek Hill versus Michael Davis in Week one,
if you want to extrapolate that and say Tyreek Kill
and Jalen Waddle versus Michael Davis and a Sante Siamo junior. Fine,
(23:42):
but overall that's what I'm looking at because we need
to see this defense repeat what they did last year
against the Dolphins. Staley had a great scheme. Everyone is
playing fantastic. This is really the game where I think
a lot of fans noticed Alohi Gilman right off the
bat breaking up that pass. So I really need to
see these two corners. I'm assuming here that jac Jackson
(24:03):
is not healthy. Yes, I'm just assuming, but we need
to see these two corners go out and have a
great game, and in particular Michael Davis versus Tyreek Hill.
Michael Davis was fantastic last year, particularly against the Dolphins,
and it just took the random gopher down the sideline
that tripped him for Tyreek Hill to get his big touchdown. Otherwise,
Michael Davis locked it down that whole game and it
(24:24):
was a really, really big game for him. He needs
to have an excellent game if this is going to work.
The last time we saw the Chargers when they had
Michael Davis, it was great, and then they lost him,
and then they lost Michael Davis is a big part
of this defense, and so that matchup, while it isn't
always the same one guy versus the other guy, I
think Michael Davis versus Tyree Hill is a big one.
And if you look at in particular, if you just
(24:46):
look at the scheme overall, and Michael Davis is a
big part of this scheme. Tua toungue I Looa has
struggled historically. Granted, it's only five games against the stalely
Fangio Tree. So if you look at his EPA pri
play against every other team that's not one of those
Fangio Tree disciples, or just against Fangio himself, his EPA
per play is zero point one two seven. In terms
(25:09):
of EPA per dropback is that zero point one two
seven is actually point zero zero one higher than Herbert
versus everybody else at zero point one two six. That
zero point one two seven drops all the way to
zero point zero zero one when Tua is facing Saley
Fangio kind of disciples. Granted it's only five games, not
a big sample size, but the point is Michael Davis
(25:30):
is a big part of this scheme. The scheme has
shown to work really really well against someone like Tuatunga
Bai Loa, and so Michael Davis versus Tyreek Hill is
probably the most fun matchup for me and arguably the
most important of the year for making a scheme work
against a quarterback who isn't good against this scheme.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, there's a lot of common misconceptions out there that
happen on Twitter. Obviously shocker who knew that. But one
of them is that you know that Justin Herbert struggles
against the Vicvangio tree and more so than maybe others,
and you know, the numbers just don't back that up,
whereas Tua and obviously some other quarterbacks. I mean, this
Vicvangier tree is all over the league at this point
(26:10):
do struggle versus the Vicvangio tree. So we'll see how J. C.
Jackson factors into that equation. You know, it's all positive
on the JC Jackson front. But Michael Davis was their
best cornerback last year on the Chargers, and he was
somebody who was top five in the league in forcing
completion percentage rate in the back half of the season,
(26:31):
and he was playing his best football of his career
because just like you could tell the comfort zone that
he was in in this kind of defense, and so
he also has a lot of positive history against Tyreek
Hill and players of that kind of speed profile. So
I imagine mc McDaniel and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddel
are going to be very motivated to prove that. You know,
(26:54):
last year was maybe a bit of an aberration against
the Chargers, that it was just kind of a bad
day at the office. But you know, Tyreek Hill versus
Michael Davis, I think is a very juicy matchup for sure.
All Right, so I mentioned trench play, this is definitely
the first one to go.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
We're talking.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
In schedule release day two, a certain Raiders edge rusher
had some issues with the Chargers taking a shot at
him and the team via the pop Tart comparison. That
is one mister Max Crosby. So Max Crosby, after he
saw the pop Tart video, tweeted out something saying, you're
(27:32):
basically along the lines of like this is all I need,
Like this is this is a lot of motivation for me.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
Whatever.
Speaker 2 (27:39):
And you know, Max Rosby has had some good moments
against the Chargers for sure. He's averaging basically a round
eight pressures per game against the Chargers in Week one
last year had a ton of run stops, was fantastic
in that regard. But the one thing he's never really
done in the three matchups that have been possible is
go up against Rashawn Slater. There have been basically three
(28:01):
or four times per game where he'll go up against
Rashawn Slater for a few snaps here and there, and
then he'll just go back to the other side. So
call this a challenge if we will, maybe for Max Crosby,
instead of lining up against the right side, go against
the all pro left tackle man, go up against the
Rashawn Slater. I would love to see that matchup happen
more often, you know, not to say that I'm not
(28:21):
excited about the Trey Pippic inside of that thing, because
I do think that Trey as well has taken some
big steps. And he did not play in the second
game last year because he was injured dealing with the
MCLs brain So Trey has really come into his own
obviously at the talent end of last season.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
He'll be healthier presumably this year.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
So I'm saying Max Crosby versus whatever charges offensive tackle,
but I want some of that with Rashawn Slater smoke
if I'm Max Crosby after.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
That video, Wow, I can't believe for this to be
cropped out after he has twelve treasures. I can't wait
to see you on the Raiders podcast network, Sorr. I mean, listen,
if you're gonna have faith in any it's Rashawn Slater.
But you know, we'll see where things end up. I
certainly wouldn't be calling out Max Crosby because I've seen
(29:07):
him do quite a bit of damage against the Chargers. Sure, unfortunately,
but hey, you know, you have a lot of faith
in Rashawn Slater. He's growing a beard now, which I
think makes him an instant all pro I believe, So yeah,
I'm I'm all for it. Really, any matchup on this
schedule will be fun. I want to see Rashawn Slater
out there period, like as is. If we're talking about
(29:28):
more trenches stuff, I think Chargers versus like the Dallas
Cowboys offensive line or excuse me, defensive line would love
to see that. So yeah, Rashawn Slater versus anyone would
be a fun matchup.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Max Rosby is a fantastic player, certainly one of the
top five pass rushers in the league. A ton of
respect for what he does as as a down to
down player. I just want to see him go up
against Shawn Man like I just I want some more
of best on best, and that's something I really respect
from Micah Parsons. You mentioned the Cowboys. Micah Parsons is
very deliberate again in going up against elite left tackles,
(29:59):
like he was very deliberate against going against Tred Williams
and the playoffs and stuff like that. So that could
have been maybe choice number one is Parsons versus Slater
some draft class matchup, but I had to talk about
Max Crosby because he apparently took some issues with the
Pop Tart reference.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
Lovely Yeah, Chargers offensive line versus Cowboys defensive line. I
was looking it up and that Cowboys defensive front. In
terms of Parsons Smith, excuse me, Smith just got drafted Parsons,
Lawrence Williams, Odigezua, and Hankasa Thanks. That group generated two
hundred two pressures in twenty eight sacks last season, and
then they added Mazzie Smith in the first round, who
(30:38):
you loved. I really liked, so not really like a
pass rusher. But still adding to a stack defensive line
versus the Charges offensive line in general, that's arguably their
best unit overall. I would say that outside of just
you know, quarterback being Justin Herbert, that's probably their best
unit in terms of the guys that they have and
the floor and the ceiling. So that's gonna be a
huge matchup. My next visual one though again it's not
(31:02):
this simple, but it's going to be Eric Kendricks versus
Derrick Henry. And you could really see Eric Kendricks versus
any other running back on the schedule. But this is
the one. We'll figure out pretty early on if the
Chargers made the right decision by having Kendricks instead of
Drew Tranquill and to some extent, over someone like Kaiser White.
They now have Eric Kendricks. They've had good linebacker play,
(31:24):
but the Chargers really want to get great linebacker play,
and throughout his career, Kendricks has had great linebacker play.
Brandon Saley thinks that he is a great linebacker, one
of the best linebackers in the league. That's why they
signed him, That's why he's got a two year deal,
and that's why he is the starter on this defense
right now, and you'll find out pretty early on if
(31:45):
Kendricks is it. I'm not saying that this game decides
everything for the rest of the season, but I want
to know if this decision to go with Kendricks paid off,
and specifically, are they making plays whereas Kendricks making plays
closer to the line of sage, even behind the line
of scrimmage? Is he better against the run in the
way that Drew Trankwill maybe was not as much now
(32:07):
that Drew Draankle was a bad player. In fact, I
think he's a really good player who did a lot
of great things for the Chargers, but the one thing
they wanted to upgrade was that run defense, working downhill,
getting clip plays closer to the line of scrimmage. And
that's why he brought an Eric Kendricks so early on.
Eric Kendricks versus teen Titan Cyborg Derrick Henry, that's a
matchup that I'm really looking forward to, and that's early
(32:28):
in the season.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, you know, the run defense was a topic of
conversation today at the press conferences with Sebastian, Joseph Day
and Derek Hansley, And you know, we'll see right away
if the Chargers are going to be able to fix
that that solution. So I was just looking right now
if there was any like previous history to go off
(32:50):
of with Kendricks versus Derrick Henry.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
There is.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
I see one game in twenty twenty. Do you want
me to tell you the numbers on that one?
Speaker 3 (33:00):
Yeah, if you want to say that, while I was sure,
while I keep looking, Yeah, So twenty twenty, Derek Henry
had twenty six carries for one hundred nineteen yards and
two touchdowns in that game. Eric Hendricks had six tackles
under pressure of that game. So Derek Henley Henry definitely
had his way. But again, it's it's it's really the
whole defense, right, sayan Kendricks versus Henry is not accounting
(33:21):
for so many things. And even the last time the
Chargers played Henry, it was really about spashing Joseph Day,
Brandon Fojoco and the defensive line. So again, it's not
that simple. But that's really the first one we're going
to see if this run defense is improved because of
the play of their linebacker.
Speaker 1 (33:35):
Yeah, no, one hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
I just wanted to see if there was a ton
of history there or not and obviously NFC North, AFC South,
there's probably not a ton of you know, crossover there.
But you know, everything that everybody is talking about with
Eric Hendricks is obviously first and foremost, like the run defense,
like how established he has been, his leadership, you know,
his ability as as that play caller on defense. So
(33:58):
you know last year they did such a good job
against Derek Henry obviously, like you mentioned, because of the
defensive line, which allowed guys like Kenneth Murray and Trew
Trenkle to go and really focus in on that. Obviously,
Drwin played a wait to Durren play in that game. No,
he was out.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Now, I can't remember. That was after the Colts game.
I think twenty twenty two was a long time ago.
Speaker 3 (34:22):
Yeah it was, It was such a long time ago.
Speaker 1 (34:26):
But no, I think that's a spot on one.
Speaker 2 (34:28):
I think Eric Kendricks versus a number of these running
backs would be a good one there. Talking about the Vikings.
My other one here is going to be.
Speaker 3 (34:37):
J. C. Jackson versus Justin Jefferson.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
This is probably one of the number one reasons why
the Chargers went out and got j. C.
Speaker 1 (34:45):
Jackson.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
And again we'll see about his health, right, but they
wanted to go out and get a guy who could
truly shadow number one receivers, and turns out they might
have two of those guys now with Michael Davis. So
this is gonna be a big opportunity for j C.
Jacks to prove that he's healthy, that he's himself, that
he can go out and go up against guys like this.
(35:07):
And I know that there's some you know, revisionist history
when it comes to j C. Jackson's play against DK
Metcalf in particularly if you really watched that game before
j C. Jackson got hurt, he went after DK Metcalf
and had some really good reps at a pass breakup
and was in position to get an interception before he
ultimately got injured against Marquise Goodwin.
Speaker 1 (35:28):
So j C.
Speaker 2 (35:30):
Jackson against Justin Jefferson, he's one of the best, if
not the best, wide receivers in the league.
Speaker 1 (35:35):
Obviously, the last.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Time Justin Jefferson played against the Chargers, it did not
go very well. Michael Davis left injured in that game.
I believe there were some other injuries as well. This
was back in twenty twenty one, and Justin Jefferson had
nine catches for one hundred and forty three yards, Like
there just was no stopping him that day. But now
(35:56):
the Chargers theoretically should be much more well equipped to
handle a player like Justin Jefferson. Maybe you don't even
need to do the whole shadow thing because you have
Michael Davis and j C.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Jackson.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
There's also the added layer here of the Vikings getting
Jordan Addison in the draft.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
They traded for T. J.
Speaker 2 (36:12):
Hawkinson last year, So in twenty twenty one, it was
really just Jefferson and Thieling and it's still like didn't
really matter. So the way that the Chargers go about
matching up with elite receivers I think is super key
to the season in general. But this theoretically, with this
matchup with the Vikings theoretically should be right about when
(36:32):
jac Jackson is really kind of rounding into form, and
so I think the schedule here with the Vikings might
indicate an opportunity for j. C. Jackson to go out
and shadow Justin Jefferson and get back to his former self.
Speaker 3 (36:46):
Yeah, what a game to try to get back to
your former self after a horrific injury. Here's Justin Jefferson
good luck. I'll have to root for j C. Jackson
while Justin Jefferson is on my fantasy team, So conflict
of interest there for sure. But you're definitely more optimistic
about j C. Jackson's health then. I don't want to
say that more optimistic than I am, but going against
(37:07):
Jefferson in week three, that is pretty optimistic.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Well, I mean, he himself is saying that he wants
to be one hundred percent by the start of the season.
I still am like my preference with JC, like I
said on our show, is that maybe you give him
the first few weeks.
Speaker 1 (37:22):
And then after the bye he comes back.
Speaker 2 (37:26):
But you know, if he's one hundred percent healthy by
the start of the season, we'll be able to tell
in week three. So I'm still kind of cautiously optimistic
here with jac selth have you been through that same
injury myself?
Speaker 1 (37:38):
But this is this would be the.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
First test, like, this would be the first indication of
us being able to find out really where jac is
at with his health and with his confidence level as well.
Speaker 3 (37:49):
Yeah, all right, I'll flip it to my last matchup,
another wide receiver versus corner matchup again, not as simple
as this, but I have to go Quentin Johnson versus
Lagarious sneed Trent McDuffie in some order. We don't really
know exactly where Johnston's going to play, so I'm not
going to assign him one corner just yet. If it's
more in the slot, then it will be sneat. If
it's more outside, maybe it's McDuffie, some combination, whatever. But
(38:12):
the Chargers got Johnston. Yes, to be better on offense,
Y has to win the Super Bowl, all those things,
but really, outside of winning the Super Bowl, the number
one thing is to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Once
would be good, Twice would be best, maybe three times
in the playoffs, who knows. But they got to beat
the Kansas City Chiefs and they need more offense, and
that's why they went and got him. They do not
(38:34):
have someone or they did not have someone like Johnson
last year when they played the Chiefs, no matter who
was healthy, not healthy, whatever, there was nobody on the
team like Quinton Johnston. And so he's going to have
to be big. And I think, you know, getting acclimated
to the NFL, working through things at the beginning of
the season, all good but at some point, you know,
midway through the season and then very late, at the
very last game of the season, Quentin Johnson's going to
(38:56):
be out there and maybe they're fighting for a postseason spot,
maybe they're fighting for the AFC West, who knows, maybe
they're fighting for the number one seed. Let's say I'm
not optimistic for the Chargers. Johnson needs to be that guy.
You know, when Mike Williams in one play on Sunday
Night Football or whatever it was, Mike Williams great play,
got hurt and they really didn't have a whole lot
(39:17):
to go off of with Keenan kind of being you know,
halfway in, halfway out. They need that other guy. They
need Quinton Johnson. They need him to be an explosive guy,
a stabilizing force in the room, you name it. So
that game in particular, not because I think that's the
greatest corner versus receiver matchup on the schedule. It's not,
but it's arguably one of the most important because they
(39:38):
need to beat the Chiefs and they have not beaten
the Chiefs. Therefore, Quentin Johnson needs to step up so
they can beat the Chiefs.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
Yeah, No, that's a good one, and I think that
also will give us, you know, a good indication of
where he is at, because that Chiefs secondary is really
good as well. So how they go about attacking that
chief secondary with Quinton Johnson is in general, is going
to be a very interesting story line here. So how
they create those mismatches with Kellen Moore is gonna be fascinating.
(40:06):
Last one here for me, I'm gonna go with Keenan
Allen versus JayR Alexander again, a matchup that we don't
necessarily see.
Speaker 1 (40:14):
A ton of.
Speaker 2 (40:16):
I don't remember if JayR played in the last Packers
Chargers matchup. I want to say that might have been
his rookie season at best, you know that being back
at at stub Hub back in twenty nineteen. So Alexander
one of the best corners in the NFL, and really
the cornerback group in general for the Packers is probably
(40:36):
their best position group. Maybe offensive tackle if David Baktiaris
is able to get healthy, maybe the edge rusher group
if for Shuan Gary can get healthy. But cornerback wise,
they're pretty stacked man with JayR, with Eric Stokes and
Rasull Douglas as well. So Alexander is their number one guy.
He travels into the slot. He's not somebody that's like
(40:57):
exclusively an outside corner. So Jaire versus Keenan Allen I
think is gonna be a ton of fun to watch
because that's that's the top dog, and the top dog.
We don't really see a ton of truly elite corners
follow Keenan into the slot. You know that doesn't You
know a lot of guys these days are are you know,
kind of more pigeonholed into being an outside in the
(41:19):
slot guy. But JayR will go into the slot against
Keenan Allen. And obviously there's the Brandon Staley versus Oh
my gosh, I'm totally blanking on his name right now.
He was the Charges linebacker coach for like a day
and then the Packers swiped him.
Speaker 1 (41:32):
Joe Barry.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Joe Berry is their defensive coordinator, so there's some familiarity
there in terms of scheme obviously from Joe Berry's days
with the Rams. But Jay Alexander turns back from his
injury last year. It plays at an all pro level. Again,
like I said, one of the better cornerbacks in the league.
So just just a matchup with that we don't really
see a lot and a just battle that we don't
(41:56):
see a lot, Like I mentioned with Keenan Allen playing
so much in the slot, doesn't get a lot of
elite cornerback attention anymore.
Speaker 3 (42:02):
Yeah, that'll be a fun one. I think the Chargers
receivers have a pretty good history against the Packers. Again,
none that that matters. We're talking, they don't play every year,
but you know, Keenan Allen had that like fourteen catch,
one hundred and fifty something yard game against the Packers
in twenty fifteen, Mike Williams had his first hundred yard
game against the Packers, and I think it was Shane
Stige's first game as offensive coordinator if I'm not mistaken.
(42:24):
Whole different topic for another time. But yeah, I'm very
excited abut watching box right there. Yeah, not gonna talk
about that one right now. Yeah, so I'm very excited
about that one for sure. I actually didn't even consider
that matchup, but that's a really good one because the
Packers do have a good secondary.
Speaker 1 (42:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:40):
I had another one that I wanted to talk about,
but it's another Chargers Chiefs one, So I wasn't too
sure if I want rapid fire, so rapid fire, we'll
talk about it. But Jyr Alexander did play in the
twenty nineteen matchup against the Chargers, so that day, let
me see, he gave up four catches for one hundred
(43:05):
and twenty nine yards on five targets. I assumed that
was to keen it out, So maybe a little bit
of a revenge game for Jig.
Speaker 1 (43:10):
Alexander as well.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
One of the ones that I'm definitely interested in in
general is Joey Bosa going back up against the wall
of Jawan Taylor, because I think that was obviously not
a great experience for Joey. You know, there was definitely
some frustration from Jowan Taylor maybe getting some false start
advantages that that should not have been happening, some holding advantages.
Speaker 3 (43:34):
As well as obviously Joey and his injury.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
So I think Joey is always highly motivated against the Chiefs.
He always plays well against the Chiefs, but I think
this year, with Jawan Taylor going back at right tackle
for the Chiefs, I think there's gonna be some extra
juice in that matchup.
Speaker 3 (43:49):
Ooh, I completely forgot about that one because when you
as soon as you mentioned, I'm like, well, he's on
the Jaguars, but no, that's right, he's on the Chiefs. Now,
that's an intriguing storyline. Shoot, I wish I thought of
that one. I was thinking, like Khalil Macbers, Pine Sewel,
that's just more for my enjoyment than anything else. But yeah,
Joey Bussen versus Jawan Taylor and the kind of little
extra stuff in there that's fun.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
Yeah, you look at these right tackles that the Chargers
are playing this year. There's a lot of good ones,
including Piney Jawan Taylor obviously, so it should be a
lot of fun. This is a great schedule, man, Like,
there's so many juicy individual matchups that we could have
gotten to. Any other ones that you wanted to shout
out really quickly.
Speaker 3 (44:26):
Here Zion Johnson versus Chris Jones. That worked out well
the first game, maybe not as great the second game,
although I believe he was hurt. Zion Johnson's making that switch,
and I want to see him in a new offense
that suits him in between two all pros in his
second year at his quote unquote natural spot playing against
one of the best defensive tackles in the lead.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Yeah, Chris Jones, I think kind of became that. Well,
what happens if Aaron Jones missus time guy. You know,
everybody kind of looked at him as as kind of
the best cheer guy. Zion versus Quinn Williams, I think
is an interesting one too, because, like like you mentioned,
the same kind of conversation, Quinn Williams one of the
better guys in the league. Zion shouldn't be more comfortable
(45:08):
on the left side as well as coming into year two.
So he played really well in moments against these top guys.
Definitely had some struggles. I remember Jeffrey Simmons got him
on a rep one time, Chris Jones as well, like
you mentioned, But you know, there's enough good signs there
to make me excited about those matchups with the intier
players this year. M So, no pressure anything, guys, just
(45:29):
you know, justin Jefferson, Quinn Williams. Max Crosby highlighted on
the show today.
Speaker 3 (45:33):
Yeah you'll be fine.
Speaker 1 (45:35):
You got this. Yeah, you'll be fine. You're good.
Speaker 2 (45:37):
At the end of the day, we'll talk about it.
You guys have to go out and do it, so,
you know, here's what it is, all right, Tyler, any
final thoughts before we hit out now?
Speaker 3 (45:45):
I'm good man, Andrew, thank you so much for jumping on.
Speaker 5 (45:47):
Man.
Speaker 3 (45:48):
It was great to see that schedule released and get
great to hear that behind the scenes discussion about it.
Speaker 1 (45:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (45:54):
Absolutely cannot think Andrew enough for joining us tonight. Thanks
for Brian for pretty seeing. Thanks to Tyler for joining
me tonight. As always, make sure and subscribe to the channel.
Comment let us know what you think, and make sure
you check us out on our own channel, Guilty of
Charge podcasts as well. That's gonna do it for us today.
We will see you guys next week.
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