We’ve just released Episode 125 of the Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast.
Our synopsis is below:
The first quarter turned out to be a liar on Sunday at SoFI Stadium. The Chargers took an early 10-0 lead. But from there, the Commanders played lights out football scoring 27 unanswered points and winning the game comfortably as the Bolts committed multiple penalties, turnovers and suffered some more untimely injuries (including to first round rookie phenom Omarion Hampton). Today, we recap the action from Wk 5. And then, following back-to-back defeats, we thought it was as good a time as ever to bring out the #TDUMailbag and answer some listener questions. Don’t miss it!
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Hope you enjoy the episode! Thanks so much for listening 🙂
Alister (@TDU_Alister)
Long time team fan, podcaster (with Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast), husband to a beautiful wife, friend to all fellow Chargers fanatics, and father-to-be!
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Pipkins and Salyer officially out for this game.
As expected, the starting line will be: Deculus, Johnson, Bozeman, Becton, Hart
Reserves: Andre James, Sarell
Matlock is also inactive, which is kind of addition by subtraction.
Whew. I think I would run behind the IOL and have Dissley/Fisk help the tackles on any pass attempt that takes more than 2 seconds to develop.
Pipkins out, Salyer questionable….
The OL practicing this week, according to Popper:
That is some bottom-of-the-barrel shite. Roman needs to have a plan to keep Herbert upright. Run the ball. Quick passes. Dissley and Fisk protecting on any play requiring more than 2 seconds to develop.
It would be nice to see some RPO, moving pockets and maybe a heavy dose of zone runs to help the OL. Asking below average linemen to pull with power and gap runs seems more difficult than just asking them to get into space and find work and hopefully Vidal and Haskins can find some creases.
At this point just getting in someone’s way would be an improvement.
I watched on YT so I will comment there as well, but I agree with feeding Ladd this week vs Miami. On the watch back of the last two games, it appeared that he was getting open better last week than he was in NY. I’m not sure if he was dealing with something, but he looked way better against Washington. I would also like to see Harris more involved. I know they had him wide open last week, but the rush got home before Herbert could hit him, but maybe they can get the ball in his hands on some bubble screens or smoke routes? With Hampton out, we have to find some more ways to use the short passing game to act as a running game.
Thanks Erick!
On the show we try to uncover the most interesting data points and explore problems 360 degrees. Sometimes though I think “Are we over-complicating this? Ladd is 3rd in targets on the team. Maybe just throw it to Ladd some more?” That was my approach this week at least!
Tre Harris is starting to show visible signs of frustration on the field. It wasn’t just the wheel when the pressure had an effect (I agree). He also ran a deep corner earlier in the game (top of screen) that Herbert had a chance to throw between defenders and give him a chance to make a play. I’d be frustrated too if I wasn’t being given the chance to prove myself as a second round productive rookie.
Honestly, I know everybody myself included is praising QJ’s start to the season, but I still prefer him as a big play option on minimal targets across a game, rather than the guy you’re throwing to 6-8 times including on quick hitch routes. I’d love to see more Ladd, Tre and Gadsden targets generally. But there’s only one ball to go around I guess!
They will let QJ get his 1,000 yards and walk next year into a nice contract and high comp pick for the Chargers and then Tre gets to step up.
Assuming they do not exercise his 5th year option, which I would not do given the high cap hit for that, he becomes a UFA after the 2026 season. If he walks and generates a comp pick, that would be in the 2027 draft. I certainly hope the team is not allocating opportunities to Johnston in the 2025 offense with an eye toward a 2027 comp pick.
I’m not sure the team will want to hold Harris (and KLS?) back in favor of Johnston for that long. If they do, that would imply to me that Harris is a disappointment.
Tau,
Agree 100% about the comp pick. It doesn’t make any sense to do that.
As far as Harris, do you think its a matter of QJ already knowing the system and really showing development adding to the fact that Roman has started to use him properly as the main reasons he is receiving so many targets? It might not be the case that Harris is a disappointment as much as there is a log jam at the position since all 3 guys ahead of him are vets that Herbert trusts that are playing at a high level?
100%.
I’m not saying they’re holding Harris back, but its a natural segway between the two. Most rookies are not necessarily going to be like Ladd last year and Ladd was a way more polished prospect than Harris. I expected Harris to come on slow (but hopefully not as slow as QJ)
And also don’t forget the only competition Ladd had was Palmer and an underdeveloped QJ. And Ladd didn’t really hit his stride with Herbert until about mid season. Harris has looked OK when he’s been on the field. He has thrown some great blocks to spring big plays. I’m not concerned about him yet. He wasn’t a Chase or Jefferson type talent coming in, so maybe continuing to develop without having to be thrust into a full time role immediately will help him?
Good show, guys.
I have a t-shirt that says “Don’t give up the ship!” One of my favorites. Good stuff, Jack.
IMO Alister was generous on the Ficken special teams grade. Agree with the other coordinator grades.
Since it was my question to grade Hortiz, I’ll comment. I would give him a lower grade than you guys did. IMO you guys could possibly be influenced by comparing him to Telesco, which would make him look more favorable, as opposed to judging him on his own merits.
It is obviously early to judge him, so I will hold off on any strong judgment. But in hindsight (which is always 20/20), I don’t think he has followed the path I expected for a Hortiz (Ravens-like) / Harbaugh team. I would have expected more significant resources (picks, free agency) invested in OL beyond just the 2024 1.5 pick and signing Becton. In particular, I expected him to draft a center in the 2024 draft, and he didn’t, which I still think is the biggest miss of Hortiz’s tenure with the Chargers. I would have expected more significant resources invested in IDL and Edge, especially with the decision to let Ford and Bosa go combined with Mack’s age. Maybe the Oweh trade will help on that front.
All that said, I’m not really down on Hortiz, but I think the honeymoon is over. The bottom line matters, and the jury is out on the bottom line for 2025 right now.
Thanks Tau!
What are the chances?! Is this because you have a naval or other military background we aren’t aware of, or do you just like the catchphrase?
I think that’s fair. Ficken’s last two seasons of strong performance probably influenced my grade a bit. C- is below satisfactory but to go lower than that I would need to feel more of a ‘sense of dread’ every time Special Teams takes the field than I currently do. I still trust that Ficken’s methods ensure there won’t be botched snaps, or horrible missed kicks, or Travis Benjamin moments. That’s my standard for a D or below graded Special Teams. They need to improve though, no question.
It’s certainly possible that having a GM who actively scours, trades, brings in guys for tryouts, constantly churns the roster is influencing our grading. It’s been a breath of fresh air.
I’m trying to reflect on every single move Hortiz has made as GM: transaction, draft pick, 53 decision, contractual decision, roster-building decision. I think the vast majority of his moves have been smart.
Colson/Eboige > IOL, Hampton in Rnd 1, not acquiring some better FA talent this past offseason with the significant cap space they had, are all the moves I’m critical about.
The bottom line matters.
I really do sympathise with the current situation because with Slater at Left tackle and Alt at Right Tackle (as it should be), this team would be at minimum 4-1 (I think). And Hortiz did a pretty good job in my opinion preparing depth at RB2 and OT3/4, but even some of those players are now on IR or playing through injuries.
We’ll see how this Dolphins game goes. Chubb/Phillips/Chop/Judon are going to put strain on our makeshift line. I’m hopeful the team can return to the winner’s circle and then we can assess against the Colts & Vikings (better OLs) whether the Odafe Oweh move was a nice in-season decision by Hortiz.
No naval/military background, though I have spent most of my career working for US DoD contractors, including a lot of US Navy work. (And our business is involved in AUKUS, so I expect I will make it Australia sooner or later.)
But I love the phrase!
No team gets away with no injuries, but the Chargers have been especially unlucky (not as bad as Bengals losing Burrow or Ravens with Lamar) with losing their 2nd, 3rd and 4th most important players.
I think that if this team had a healthy Slater, Alt and Mack but still had injuries at lets say WR, DB or LB instead they’d be 5 – 0.
I agree that the Dolphins front could be another tough one against their rushers. For some reason I have a feeling that Harbaugh is going to have this team lean into more of a buttoned up, simple, physical offensive game plan where we make an effort to run the ball and use the play action. I would be surprised if he wanted to get into a track meet with Miami’s offense.
Not that I am a pro coach, but when I coached my son’s town league hoops team, every team had like 2-3 good players, like 3 average players and the last 5-6 were awful, which makes it difficult because all the kids have to play the same amount of periods a game. The first year I was over coaching trying to run backscreen plays, rotation plays and man defense with switches. This was easy stuff for any Middle School team, but the talent and Basketball IQ of the team couldn’t grasp it. I was talking to my dad about it after the season and he said, “Make it simple. You don’t have the talent for anything more.”
I think this is what Harbaugh does. Not being to complicated, but being physical and simple. Like Lombardi said, “they can know what’s coming, but you can still win by out executing them.”
Thanks for sharing your story, Erick. Seeing some of the struggles Kenneth Grant & Co have had stopping runs straight up the middle keeping it simple behind Zion/Bozeman/Becton might be the best recipe. Don’t love the chances of running effectively outside tackle with the RBs/OTs who’ll be in the game.
Hey TDU I went to Apple podcast to listen, but it was replaying the Giants pod under the Commanders Pod title. Not sure if something is screwed up on my end, but I’m watching it on YT. Thx.
Should be fixed now! Thanks Erick
All-22 Clips from the Commanders Game from our X Page:
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Clip 6: https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1975714957716300059
Clip 7: https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1975708533086949737
Clip 8: https://x.com/TDU_Chargers/status/1975763017569870093