[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]
[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]
[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]
Wilkins trying to mess with Alt on the kneeldowns. Fuckers. Joe was having none of it. Feels like a very good debut for him!
Hahaha! Well, that’s one. Let’s keep it rolling. Damn that feels good.
Safe Travels Buck. It wasn’t pretty, but a W is a W.
@evolz3737 thx man. Just got home.
Lotta work to do but yeah….it’s a W. Last year it likely wouldn’t have been.
My game ball goes to Bosa. I’ve fed him plenty of crap and likely will again but he came to play today.
I’m not overly concerned but I gotta say this….I really hope Roman doesn’t turn Herbert into a game manager. He has too much talent for that.
Attendant to that statement….I didn’t see our receivers getting much separation today. Makes it pretty tough to get the passing game going. Add in near constant pressure and you get a pretty mundane stat line.
I try very hard not to let a football game affect my mood, but I’ve been a few pounds lighter all evening. Bolt Up!
Without having read all the posts in this 27 page thread, I predict there were plenty of doom and gloom posts based on how the game went. If true, let this be an example of why we all need to let the game play out enough before passing judgment.
Ever since Hortiz and Harbaugh arrived, they have done what they said they would do. Today’s game is another example of that (e.g., committed to running game, committed to good defense).
I will offer you neither doom nor gloom. It was a meh win, but it was a win. Let’s hope this team rolls to another one against a not-so-good opponent next week.
@smith same here. The defense looked good. A few shaky moments in pass coverage but better as they ramped up pressure on Minshew.
The offense? A work in progress, I suppose. Dobbins broke a couple & got a TD….that’s the good. Pipkins looked ineffective, had a lot of trouble with stunts. IOL didn’t get much push in general.
I’ll of course take the win. Not at all sure a team led by a better QB wouldn’t have beaten us. Looking to see improvement next week.
If that’s doom & gloom, so be it. I consider it a fair take. No one called for Harbaugh’s head. I AM glad to see Minter’s half time adjustments which dialed up the pressure on Minshew.
On offense, Pipkins was by far the weakest link. Pushed around. Couldn’t pick up stunts. Just bad. From my eye, it looked like Bozeman was OK, Johnson was pretty good and Alt/Slater were great. If I’m playing the Chargers, I’m scheming to defeat Pipkins all day long.
@kevdiego that’s my take on the OL too. I read one pundit who thought Pipkins held up and Zion was the weak link. I was in a bar surrounded by Commanders and Cowboy fans, Cowboys game commentary blasting, but I didn’t think I got it backwards.
Pipkins’ weakest parts of his game are overall strength and anchoring. Now he’s facing guys weighing on average 30+ lbs more than most edges with good short area quickness and strong punches. Then on stunts he’s gonna face the edges with a head of steam. I just don’t see this working out well. Inside pressure is tough on almost any QB.
Tau, view it as an Article, not in the forum. Comments are organized “newest” down to oldest, and has much less pages.
For Game Day threads, I highly recommend the Article page.
I am ecstatic with the win because this team no longer plays an attacking instead of bend but don’t break defense, stopped the run especially on third and fourth down, can run the ball when it counts to close out games in the fourth quarter, and plays a full 60 minutes unlike much of what this team has been through the TT years. To me it was a breath of fresh air after 12 or so years of mediocre to poor coaching.
The O line struggled early (essentially 3 new starters since Pipkin was moved to guard playing against Wilkin and Crosby in their first start together) and Herbert did not have his best game with a mostly brand new WT/TE group and yet they still won. I think his lack of practice due to the injury showed at times and there was always going to be an adjustment after losing KA and MWill.
It’s a new era and I love it.
@gbgh fair take. I was glad to see the halftime adjustments the defense made. More pressure on Minshew was the right choice.
I hope the IOL gels. Not sold on Pipkins at guard….wasn’t before the game and that hasn’t changed. Bozeman was…steady. Better push in the run game in the second half. Stunts were an issue for him and Pipkins. Zion held up pretty well.
This game plan worked against a Minshew-led Raiders team. Lotta work to do to run with KC. I expect to get there but I doubt it’s this year. That’s not meant to be negative. It’s the reality of digging out of a hole.
Yes moving in the right direction with a lot of work to do before they compete with KC.
Pipkins had a tough tough matchup in Wilkins for game 1 plus Crosby stunting across him. Not all games will be so difficult and I expect him to improve as he gains experience. I am going to remain hopeful with him but I take your point he is a weakness at this point in the season.
As a QJ detractor after last season, and to your earlier comments about him, he looked good on the crossers and had not just burst but some wiggle after the catch. Looked much more confident in those routes. Glad to see Roman took your advice and ran routes where QJ can succeed. I am moving to cautiously optimistic that QJ can be a meaningful contributor after yesterday.
My happiness stems from a game where I did not yell at the TV once because I knew they were well coached and the HC would make good decisions. They certainly could have lost but the style of play – the fight when the Raiders tried to bully them early, the discipline to keep running the ball when it looked futile early, the beauty of watching a RB in the fourth quarter break a long run while Herbert got to stand there and watch, a defense that understands their assignments, stops the run and is attacking but not recklessly as I thought the Raiders D became in the second half. These to me are foundational to winning games now and in the playoffs.
I am so happy with this win and seeing a different team in the 4th quarter in a close game. I know it wasn’t a great overall game and the beatdown we all hopef, but Raiders games are always close, IMO. Amazing to see a great defense and a dominant rushing rushing attack win this game!
And frankly, I haven’t read all the comments, so I don’t know how everybody else feels or if this has been said, but I just came to say:
F— Crosby and Wilkins. 2 players out to stir shit and fight. How do they not get disqualified too by throwing down Johnston and Dissly after the fight was over. 2 P’s of 🤡 !!
Thoughts on the game:
- Sunday around 2 hours into the game was the most confident I’ve been in a Charger win in the last 10+ years.
- The interior Chargers DL played significantly better than I expected. Stout. Fox helping on a sack. They were good. The Raiders ran for 71 yards. So refreshing watching a sound defensive scheme executed by well-coached players.
- Pipkins is not a good guard. I thought the other 4 OL played well, but Pipkins was by far the weakest link.
- It was fun watching Alt control Crosby. It was really clear that Max was frustrated in the 4th quarter. I wanted the Chargers to trade back or draft a WR, but man, Slater & Alt give the Chargers a huge advantage.
- The Raiders defense is very good. It will be interesting to see how this offense grows over the season. I expect a much better showing against the Panther’s next week, with lots of running.
- The Raiders offense is NOT very good. Week 4 against the Chiefs will tell us much more about the Chargers defense. I’m grateful that the Chargers start the season against two mediocre teams. The first two weeks should leave the Chargers 2-0 with lots of film to learn from.
I hope the Chargers take care of business this week – should be a game the Chargers dominate.
What a relief it will finally be to have coaches who can make half time adjustments that matter. I hope it continues.
@bolt_dk indeed.
I’ll admit being disappointed in how flat the offense looked first half and the missed tackles and not enough pressure by the defense. But I held out hope that there would be appropriate adjustments….and there were. That’s a damn good sign.
Stronger teams will require faster starts. I’ll be expecting targeted improvements next week as another sign of positive change.
What I really liked about yesterday’s game (aside from the win, of course), is that this team has a clear identity now. They talked about it all offseason, & now we finally got to see it in action. They were physical on both sides of the ball. Defense played disciplined, & the offense wore down the Raiders as the game went on. You can clearly tell that the Raiders were frustrated late in the game. I fully expect to see this exact script many more times as the season goes on.
As much as I’d love to see Herbert sling it around, it’s now time to play winning football. There will be many moments where he’ll need to do that. But the game plan cannot be the same every week with hoping Herbert rescues the team. In this particular game, he wasn’t asked to do too much. And that’s totally fine with me when it results in a win.
Did anyone else notice the gang tackling all game? Seems like every player was swarming to the ball to get in on the tackle. I can’t remember seeing that enough in the past that I actually took notice. I would still like to see more wrap up tackling rather than the hit stick shoulder blocks, that resulted in the Raiders TD. Anyway, as coach said after the game there are things to clean up, but it is nice to have a victory Monday after week 1, no matter how we got there.
[/et_pb_row]
[/et_pb_section]
