We’ve just releasedย Episode 123 of theย Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast.
Our synopsis is below:
The Bolts dug deep at SoFi on Sunday, overcoming a 7-point deficit to storm home in the final quarter and snatch victory against the Denver Broncos. Their 3-0 start is the Chargersโ best since 2002 and Coach Harbaughโs transformative effect is clear for all to see. Facing significant adversity and a likely season-ending injury to RB Najee Harris in the first half, Greg Romanโs Offense found a way to produce two key second half TD drives and, after the Defense forced a three and out, a Cam Dicker walk-off field goal sealed the win 23-20. Herbert was relentlessly pursued by a fierce Broncos pass rush all day but showed steely resolve, unleashing an unbelievable off schedule 20 yd TD strike to Keenan Allen with the game on the line. Join us today on TDU #BoltFam as we breakdown (yet another) big Bolts victory in Season 2025. Donโt miss it!
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Hope you enjoy the episode! Thanks so much for listening ๐
Alister (@TDU_Alister)
Don’t know where to post this. I am at a bar in New York where the Die hard Bolt Club organized a meetup. At the table behind me Dean and John Spanos are sitting. The bar is draped with San Diego Chargers flags. Pretty weird and unique moment at the same time.
Did you work up the confidence to go up and introduce yourself, Arne? I bet they would’ve loved to hear from an international fan!
(Or maybe not if their concern for the fan base is any true measure… :-p)
I actually didn’t. Part of it was that I probably wasn’t drunk enough for it but I think it was mostly the fact that a mere 15 minutes before them arriving I was talking about them to my friends and I had no positives to say about our ownership as they are the ones responsible for the move to Los Angeles.
So partially my general shyness and partially my genuine disdain for what they did to the franchise made me not talk to them.
Ah well. I hope the team beats the Giant’s asses tomorrow!
Arne – Iโll be at the tailgate tomorrow
powderblue Herbert jersey with a powder blue ball cap.
760.525.8291
Great, I be there as well! I’m rocking an old powder blue Gates jersey with a Chargers cap.
Don’t have a phone number to connect with but we’ll find each other!
Another good pod. Thanks for all the effort you guys put into it.
I was very happy with Gadsden 217;s performance, but I also think it may be getting overstated after game 3. He had a 17 yard catch where he wasn 217;t covered at all until he caught the ball in a wide open part of the defensive zone. Other than that catch, I believe he had 4 catches for 29 yards. This against a team who, coming in, we knew had terrible middle field coverage due to weak LBs. I 217;m not knocking him at all, it was quite impressive for a first game. I just don 217;t know how predictive it is. Certainly, I hope it continues.
On James, he has been great for sure. But if you put any credence in PFF grades, it is woth noting that his PFF grade on defense is currently #8 among safeties with at least 50 snaps. I love his play, but just trying to temper our biased perspective on how good he has been so far.
I 217;m not really worried about Hampton 217;s longevity. He was quite durable in college. I realize that Harris also had a track record of durability before his injury, but IMO there is no connection or reason to connect worry. IMO Hampton is going to have a big workhorse RB season. I expect run blocking to get better with (a) OL gelling when they get more time together and better health (will this happen?); (b) Fisk being active more often; and (c) opponents generally not being as good on run defense as the defenses the Chargers have faced so far.
 220;Different 10? 221; I don 217;t think so. Obviously, more experience matters. But I think the biggest thing so far this season is that he has been healthy. No rib cartilage injury, no high ankle sprain, no broken finger, etc. IMO that is a big deal that was somewhat masked in the past because he played through those injuries without complaining.
In addition, I don 217;t think it can be overstated how much Herbert 217;s targets have improved since last season: Ladd (year 2) > Ladd (year 1); Johnston (year 3) > Johnston (year 2); Allen >> Palmer; Harris/KLS > Chark, et al.; Conklin >> Hurst; Gadsden > Smartt; Hampton > Dobbins. Even if you quibble with any of that, overall I think it is undeniable that this group is a big upgrade.
Frankly, in hindsight, I think Hortiz arguably failed Herbert last season. Hindsight is 20/20, obviously. And Hortiz was constrained by the situation he inherited. But I think the biggest takeaway I have from the offense this season to date is that giving Herbert quality targets equates to great offense. Unfortunately, they did not do that last season, especially in the playoff game (beyond Ladd, obviously).
Agree with the shout out for St. Juste. Good for him.
As for the RB situation, I assume the Chargers will elevate Vidal. I would love them to re-sign Miller-Hines (NC State!), but not sure they would do that since they already let him go from the practice squad.
Agree we haven 217;t seen a  220;Ladd McConkey game 221; yet, and I 217;m waiting for it. Not sure it will be this week, as I think the team can beat the Giants by running more and passing less. Will be interesting to see.
Good discussion on the Giants running vs. Chargers defense. I would like to believe there is game plan specific variance that would take effect here. Will be interested to watch.
As for the possibility of knocking out Dart, I would suggest the Chargers should prefer Dart at QB over Winston. Winston has typically thrown a lot of interceptions, but he has also thrown a lot of TDs. Would prefer to avoid him.
Thanks Tau!
On Gadsden:
On Derwin, I think it’s too early in the season for the differences in PFF grades between the Safeties in the top 8 (all graded between 80 & 90) to be meaningful.
Some of the players in that list also barely play the same position (Winfield Jnr/Cook as deep middle of the field players and Derwin as a de facto LB almost).
I suspect if he maintains this exact form all season he will be either the First-Team or Second Team All-Pro with Winfield/Kyle Hamilton/Branch. If the Chargers keep winning and their Defense ranks highly as a unit I think he should also get a bump for that given his intangibles. I usually wouldn’t consider that in handing out awards, but I would if all else is equal and the team is having great success. Derwin’s leadership is legendary. We’re very lucky to have him.
Agree with you on Hampton and Herbert. However, I’m perhaps a little more concerned about the run blocking and it’s room for growth than you. I think Bozeman and Pipkins ‘are what they are’ and their tape was a joke this week. The loss of Slater is being felt right now. Can Becton stay healthy? I’m hopeful that facing worse teams and more time together as a unit will lead to different results. I can’t say I’m confident though based on what I’ve watched so far. I would be a little more confident if it were Hampton + Najee in the backfield (who was looking good before his injury). Alas…
Also agree with everything else in your post! Thanks again for the support mate
What impressed me the most about Gadsden (aside from what you already wrote in great detail) was also his ability to seal off the defender and make contested catches. His stat line wasn’t “amazing” but a lot of his catches were crucial.
Regarding Derwin, I have long said that PFF does not know how to grade him or understand his play responsibilities which is why he never grades out elite, but everyone in the league thinks he is a top 4 safety and the team is obviously enamored with him and hence his contract.
He’s just one of those guys that has a vastly different value throughout the league than on PFF grades.
Thanks Blue Beers!
If I was creating a grading system, I wouldn’t know how to account for things that are impossible to measure.
The additional cognitive load an elite defensive player imposes on a QB who has to identify where that guy is pre-snap on every play lest he wrecks it.
The additional time an elite defensive player wastes for opposing coaches having to game plan around his potential impact
I’m glad we have the type of guy on our team who breaks grading systems ๏ปฟ ๐ ๏ปฟ
I like Derwin a lot. But I don’t agree with some of this.
I disagree that PFF does not know how to grade his play responsibilities, which generally boil down to a combination of rushing the passer, playing in pass coverage, and defending the run. He has the versatility to do all of those things well, to a greater degree than most players, but PFF knows how to grade all of those things, since they have been grading thousands of defensive plays for many years.
I’m sure the team is enamored with him, but this regime (Hortiz, Harbaugh) did not sign him to his contract, they inherited it. It will be much more telling to see how they handle his next contract extension opportunity after this season.
Kyle Hamilton reset the safety market with the 4 year, $100.4M contract he signed in August. I assume the Chargers will have to pay James no less than $25M per season in an extension, maybe more.
As much as I like James, I would not do that. This coaching staff has been able to get good DB play out of so many players, including late round draft picks, UDFAs, and low salary veterans. First off, I’d rather spend that cap space at Edge and IOL than at safety. The Chargers also have some big money contract extensions coming:
2026 offseason – James? Henley?
2027 offseason – McConkey, Becton? Tuli?
2027/2028 offseason – Alt
Can they sign enough of these key players if they give James a top of market extension?
Nice Tau.
Do you believe in teams requiring a ‘Derwin James-type” leader / heart and soul player in order to win a championship?
(There are other energetic leaders on this football team including Daiyan Henley so it isn’t binary.)
Herbert on Offense. Derwin on Defense. They seems to me to be the two pillars Harbaugh has built the entire cultural fabric of this team and his quest for a Super Bowl around. Harbaugh leads through short, easy to remember, clean messages he says over and over and over again until it sticks and becomes muscle memory for his players. The amount of lip service he pays to Harbaugh and Derwin at pressers seems strategically calculated and part of that process.
Does that stuff matter? Is it more valuable than anything else you could do with that $25m APY it would cost to extend Derwin? These are the questions Hortiz will need to ask himself.
Your answer is that you would not do that. I expect the Chargers will do it. How I feel about it? Strategically, I’ll hold my tongue until such time that a decision is required :-p
I absolutely think a team needs quality leaders in the locker room. I don’t think James is unique in this regard such that his departure would mean the team cannot fill that need via other players. IMO the strongest leader in the Chargers locker room today is Mack, not James.
No, I don’t think it is worth a top of safety market contract to retain him because they need his leadership. He has typically played well when healthy and been a positive leader. But the team is 47-42 (0.528) in the games he has played. It is a team game, obviously, but he clearly hasn’t been a difference maker in terms of winning, especially not when you consider that for his entire career, the team had either Rivers or Herbert at QB.
Like you, I expect the team to pay him, even though I don’t think they should.
A collection of All-22 clips from the Broncos game:
Clip #1 :
Clip #2 :
Clip #3 :
Clip #4 :
Clip #5 :
Clip #6 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970620643877191876
Clip #7 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970637248753524816
Clip #8 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970645376366715327
Clip #9 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970642452970414083
Clip #1 0 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970640894698336745
Clip #1 1 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970660161581916187
Clip #1 2 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970665953085268087
Clip #1 3 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970694528932946140
Clip #1 4 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970697311698440255
Clip #1 5 : https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1970698864228503620