The Los Angeles Chargers are in the Meadowlands for a showdown against the New York Giants. Both squads are banged up, and the spotlight is on rookies and replacements who will be thrust into major roles.
Key Storylines to Watch
Minter vs. Dart
Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter faces a unique challenge today: scheming against Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart, who’s making his first career NFL start. Expect Minter to mix coverages and pressure looks, forcing the rookie into mistakes and hoping to rattle him early.
Offensive Line Shuffle
The Chargers’ offensive line will look different today. With Mekhi Becton out, Jamaree Salyer slides in at right guard, while Bradley Bozeman and Trey Pipkins are both battling injuries of their own. Protecting Justin Herbert against a strong Giants defensive front will be a key storyline from start to finish.
Omarion Hampton, the Workhorse
With Najee Harris sidelined, first-round pick Omarion Hampton has a golden opportunity to prove himself as a true feature back. Hampton’s blend of vision, power, and burst will be tested against a physical Giants defense. If he can set the tone early, it could ease the pressure on Herbert and the reshuffled line.
A Personal Note
On a personal note — I’ll be in the Meadowlands for this one, meeting some of our StormCloud community members in person for the first time. Excited to finally connect with you all face-to-face, and I’ll look to share photos after the game.
Join the Conversation
This is your open game day thread. Jump into the comments with your takes, reactions, and predictions as the Chargers look to bring the storm to New York.
IMO there is a fair amount of typical losing Monday overreaction going on in here.
The coaches could not control or foresee that Herbert would throw two interceptions that would gift the Giants easy points. That was arguably the difference in the game.
They could not have expected Alt to get hurt. That might have been the difference in the game.
Could the coaching staff made some different decisions with better outcomes? Sure, but hindsight is always 20/20. Hence the term Monday Morning QB.
Hampton broke out. That is a good thing for the rest of the season, and I expect they will learn from the mistake of not giving him at least a few more carries yesterday.
Tuli also broke out. That is a good thing for the rest of the season. Just wait until Mack is back to join him.
It is also reasonable to note that yesterday’s game was a good matchup for Perryman, who will also be back at some point from IR.
If Alt’s absence is limited to 3-4 games and Becton is able to come back and stay on the field, they will be fine.
Coming into the season, I seriously doubt anyone in this forum was projecting they would open 4-0. If they had to lose any of the 4 games, this game was the preference.
Nice post, Tau.
When I watch the film tomorrow I’ll be focussing on two things:
This is all great. With regard to Tuli, he had 7 pressures, 4 sacks, 8 stops, 5 tackles for loss, and 1 forced fumble. His average depth of tackle in run defense was -0.8; no other Chargers defender was close to that.
When was the last game any Chargers Edge/DL player had a game like that? Maybe Mack’s game against the Raiders last year? How about other than that? I don’t knkow, maybe go back several years for a Bosa game?
Also, with regard to this: “Did he actually?”
Well, what do you define as a breakout? YPC? EPA? Success rate? I’m very hard pressed to believe that anyone would review his game yesterday and say it wasn’t a breakout.
I will observe that there are RBs who earn their status through steady consistent good gains (e.g., Emmitt Smith). And there are those who earn their status by breaking long plays often enough to offset not consistently getting 4+ yards (e.g., Barry Sanders).
I’m not saying Hampton is equivalent to Sanders, but simply observing that he might be more that kind of RB, who is somewhat hit or miss, rather than consistently good. Kind of like a rich man’s version of JK Dobbins, who we were mostly happy with last season.
I would also point out that Hampton so far has played 4 NFL games. All have been without Slater. About 1.5 without Becton. About 0.5 without Alt. And 2 without Fisk. Just saying, he could have had a much better situation that likely would have reflected in his performance to date.
I look forward to your analysis.
The way Hampton plays is reminding me of Jonathan Taylor. I think he’s really good.
“IMO there is a fair amount of typical losing Monday overreaction going on in here.”
We played down to an inferior opponent. Polish that turd any way you choose. I am looking at what occurred even before Alt was hurt….one team came out looking hung over. That’s all too familiar.
You can choose to take a glass half empty perspective all you want. If you want to find misery in your fandom, more power to you. I choose a glass half full perspective. YMMV.
And at this point? You can kiss my ass.
Fine. You know what you can do.
A few observations about Sunday’s game:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6671634/2025/09/28/chargers-loss-giants-jaxson-dart/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983&userId=12566676&source=dailyemail
Dart threw for 111 yards and took 5 sacks. He didn’t do much with his arm other than not make any big mistakes. He never threw the ball down the field though. The issue was the defense just got beat up on the ground and starting two drives inside the 10 after the turnovers was really costly. Take those turnovers out, and the Chargers only give up 10 points. Maybe 13? The Giants only drove down the field for a score one time.
And if a frog had wings it wouldn’t bump it’s ass every time it jumped.
Harbaugh looked like an outcoached idiot on the sidelines yesterday.
I have yet to see a game where the coaches actively involve themselves mid game to change up either the tempo, scheme or gameplan to change the momentum of a game to win it. I’m not talking about a team playing with resolve and grit to grind out a comeback or a tight game like Denver last week. I mean where the team is clearly lacking energy or focus like yesterday. They just repeatedly pounded their head against the wall hoping to break through with what they game planned with. Harbaugh needs to take a more active role in that regard. Just because he doesn’t coordinate a side of the ball, doesn’t mean he can’t start making suggestions to them to shake things up. It was clear to the real fans after two drives yesterday that this team was in trouble and very flat. How is this not evident to him? Why go down in a malaise? Tell Roman and Minter after Q1, scrap the gameplan and start coaching with your gut and what you see happening on the field, or even suggest Roman to lean on Hampton or Gadsden more as a changeup. Tell Minter to start blitzing and getting creative with packages to start to get in the rookies head. It just seemed that everyone from the top down took this game lightly.
Don’t agree at all. Did the team play like shit? Yes. Outcoached? Not really.
Nailed it man.
Did the Ravens crap the bed or have the Chiefs woken up?
Really need the Ravens to come through today.
On the plus side, tell me in August the Chargers would be 3-1. I’d take that. 3-0 against AFC West, I’d be good with that, too. All that said, it feels as if the Chargers are 1-3 right now.
My gal keeps asking me, “How did that happen?” And all I can tell her is that the O-line got beaten all day. Alt’s injury was too much. A line of Deculus, Zion, (injured) Bozeman, Salyer, Pipkins is not a Super Bowl group.
I’m considering this a missed opportunity, but not a catastrophic failure. The Bolts will win plenty this season. This one sucks, though.
I would slow your roll a bit. This OL really isn’t getting that much better. Even if Alt plays with the high ankle he’s compromised. Failure to address this OL outside of Becton in the offseason is going to come home to roost. It would also be nice if Roman remembered McConkey is on the team. There never seems to be a scheme put together to feature a strength of ours on a weakness. It’s like, the plays are called with anyone an option.
Hey I just re read my comment and I apologize if it came out as douchey. I just meant that even with Alt the OL is questionable at best, and as constituted by the 2nd Q today, it’s just untenable to compete and I have no faith that Roman (or frankly anyone) can devise a scheme to compensate for such a piss poor group. Herbert won’t last 8 games getting pummeled the way he has for the first 4 games. For all the bluster Harbaugh spewed about getting Herbert help, he sure seems to see no issue with the game plans or offseason OL construction getting him beaten like a rented mule.
Nothing douchey. No worries. The OL is an absolute travesty right now and I’m fairly certain Roman is not the wizard who will turn crap into a chocolate sundae. That said, I think the offense will be able to do enough with the opportunities they get. I’m really surprised at the relatively porous defense in NY. Short fields, I get. But no way that team—without Nabors—should consistently keep drives alive.
I still have faith in this team. I can’t think of Sunday’s game in terms of the long-established history of Chargering. I’m calling it “one of them things.” If that makes me some naïf, I’m ok with that. I’ve whistled while I’ve pissed before.
I have faith also, but this had all the makings of a flat game by the team, and they delivered just that. I’m sure Harbaugh has the pulse of the team, but they sure looked like they coached and prepared like the team was razor sharp when they were completely the opposite. Just like players, coaches can have a bad game, and this was definitely one of them. My biggest concern is that the fans felt a stinker coming and saw after 2 drives the team was lethargic, but there was never anything done to change the tempo or energy of the team. They just continued to carry out what they planned, even though it was plain as day that it wasn’t working. They were playing a very inferior opponent with a first time starter at QB, who then went on to lose the only real play maker they have during the game. Even with a C+ performance that game should have been won, but they coached right into the Giants hands by
Sunday the Chargers weren’t just mildly out coached, they were thoroughly out coached and out prepared by a wide margin and we still only lost by 3. A good lesson to be learned early in the season.
On a side note I was at the game and was walking out with Joe Alt’s dad. He said every team needs a game like this, especially when you are playing well. The team will take more from this, than if they won it playing poorly. I respect his take. On to Washington.
McConkey had 6 targets and like 3 drops. He had a bad game just like about 2/3 of the rest of the players. One thing Harbaugh hasn’t shaken from the “same ol chargers” is their ability to get up for these 1pm east coast “trap” games against inferior opponents.
Even despite all of the struggles with the OL, they easily couldv’e won that game if they had brough their A game. The Chargers still committed an atrocious amount of penalties, had numerous crucial drops and didn’t force a single turnover against a rookie QB. They played bad on special teams too. It was just an ugly game in all facets.
I think this is a red herring. Last year, the Chargers under Harbaugh were 4-1 in 1 pm Eastern kickoff games, with the only loss at PIT when Herbert was hobbled. This loss makes him 4-2 with the Chargers in such games.
The biggest problem they had in the game was obviously the OL performance, especially after losing Alt. Not having Slater or Becton, losing Alt mid-game, and Bozeman playing at less than 100% had nothing to do with the 1 pm Eastern kickoff. It did have a lot to do with the opponent, since the Giants have one of the best DLs in the league.
Good points, I stand corrected.
It did feel a lot like that Steeler game, only the Chargers still had a chance to win because the Giants offense couldn’t really do anything other than score points off the turnovers.
But not having the team ready isn’t part of being out coached?
OK. I guess we have different definitions for a head coaches responsibilities.
Second game of Harbaughs tenure where they weren’t ready to play (Arizona 2024). Losing Alt isn’t ideal, but they did nothing to slow Dart or confuse him with coverages. Ladd continues to be a non factor and Roman still has no easy buttons to dial up to start or extend critical drives. The OL was a sieve today. Good thing Hortiz saved all that cap space in FA. On a positive note I talked to Joe Alts dad on the way out of the game. He said high ankle sprain. Tape and rehab and hopefully ready in week 5. Any way you slice it, Roman is going to have to design an offense that can function behind a D+ OL.
I’m pretty unimpressed with Harbaugh’s ability to have this team ready to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders, TBH. I’ve seen a few really sluggish starts.
And I also agree that for someone who seems to practically worship Herbert he’s done too damn little to keep him upright.
I know he’s not a coordinator, but every real fan saw this team was in trouble with no energy or tempo after 2 series and Dart looking comfortable. That’s the time to get on the headset and tell them to scrap the gameplans and start dialing some shit up that wasn’t planned for. Stop the robotics and start coaching with your guts. Tell Roman to feed Hampton or get Gadsden or Harris involved for some new plays. Hell, send Lambert Smith on some bombs and maybe you take them by surprise and get a PI deep down field to change the momentum with a short, quick scoring drive. Tell Minter to send some blitzes or roll out some coverages or sim pressures he hasn’t shown on tape yet. Yesterdays game screamed of doing something out of the box to wake the team up and gain some momentum, because with a first time starter at QB it was imperative to play with the lead and put even more pressure on him. Instead they just figured their talent and scheme was enough and it bit them in the ass. That game was 100% on Harbaugh and the staff.
You keep saying this, but here’s the drives by the Giants after that first touchdown that DID NOT start inside the Chargers’ 5 yard line. I agree they did not look ready to play on that first TD drive, but this is the rest of them after that:
Punt (19 yards)
FG (47 yards)
End of Half (1 play, doesn’t really count)
Punt (20 yards)
Punt (-3 yards)
Punt (21 yards)
Downs (45 yards)
Punt (21 yards)
The Giants did not move the ball more than 47 yards on ANY drive during the game with the exception of their very first drive. To me, that shows obvious adjustments were made and the defense did its job.
They lost the game because of the two turnovers and inability to protect Herbert enough to do anything on offense. I don’t see how you can really blame the Defense here? Unless your gripe is basically that they didn’t generate turnovers?
But even that is hard to do when he barely threw it downfield. His yards/attempt was 5.6 which would be in the bottom 5 of the league and his yards/completion was just 8.5 which would be tied for second to lowest.
I was at the game. The Giants offense operated comfortably all game. They never stacked the box or the middle of the field forcing Dart to make throws outside the #s. They played soft zone where he was able to make one or two reads and then take off. 3rd down defense was awful. The Giants converted 50% of their 3rd down drives. #’s aren’t the whole story. You watched the game. Who looked more flustered Dart or Herbert?
They both looked pretty flustered to me. The Giants didn’t move the ball much through the air, so I don’t know how you can say Dart was comfortable. I think Dart only completed like two passes with more than 10 air yards. Again, his yards per completion were atrocious.
To me, a “Comfortable” QB would mean they’re driving up and down the field all day and putting up a lot more than 10 points off drives that don’t start inside the opponents’ 5 yard line. They only had 250 total yards and averaged 3.6 yards per play. Those are not good numbers and any defense would be happy to give that up.
I think they figured Dart would make more mistakes. Respect to him for not. He made plays with his legs and threw some timely, accurate passes. Defense clearly played well enough to win.
Well, you can’t say they didn’t have their shot at a game-winning drive. Could not protect. At all.
Losing 3 of your OL starters is going to do that. This fucking sucks
Very true. We can admonish them all we want for not addressing the line any further than adding Becton, but the reality is that there is no team in the NFL that will play well, down 3 starters on the OL, and especially when its their 3 best pro-bowl level players.
The problem isn’t just that it’s the best three. The problem is that the “depth” behind them is poor, especially when the C and LG (even though Zion has been good) were questionable starters to begin with. Offensive lines are like pitching staffs. You need to be 7-8 deep to weather the inevitable injuries that occur EVERY season. For a team/HC that views OL as weapons, he’s drafted one in the first 5 rounds of 2 drafts and signed one notable player in FA. Doesn’t seem like the actions back up the talk.
I don’t disagree that they should’ve drafted someone in the last couple of years, no argument there. I would’ve loved to have seen a 2nd or 3rd round pick in the IOL.
That said, I don’t think there is a single O-line in the NFL that are 8 deep. There just aren’t that many good Offensive linemen, period. Before all of the injuries, the Chargers first 7 – 8 was probably top 10 in the league.
There is no Offensive line in this league that would still be good if they lost their 3 best players.
Agree completely with this.
Agree that losing Slater and now Alt is a huge blow that nobody could foresee, but they were penciling in replacement level players at starting C and LG, even though Zion has played very well. They were also banking on a RG whose 1 healthy season last year is the outlier in his career. And he’s already shuffled in and out of the lineup for the first 4 weeks of the season. Did you see Salyer play last 2 weeks? He’s terrible and he was penciled in as the swing OG. Where was the competition brought in for him or Pipkins at the swing OT? If you think what was behind the proposed starting 5 (Pipkins/Salyer/James) was good enough depth, we disagree. There were not enough resources dedicated to it, IMO.
This OL will get Herbert killed.
Jaxson Dart’s mom is pretty hot. 😁
Time to reach deep!!
Scott has had some great punts today.
That wasn’t one of them.
Oh man, Deculus makes Pipkins look fearsome. He never even touched the guy.
Complete whiff. Like a fan.
Chickenshit offensive PI call. Straight up chickenshit.
A TE screen….holy crap!! lol
OK offense, wake up and roll!!!
QJ!!!!
Tui having a game.
OOF. Welcome to the NFL, dart.
With Slater, Alt, and Becton out, we are now playing with an O-line anchored by and featuring……Trey Pipkins!
let that sink in.
Trey Pipkins is currently the best player on the OL. Absolute madness.
If Alt is out for the game, or god forbid, the year, I’m not sure what they’re going to do. Herbert has had ZERO time to set and throw so far today…
Let Herbert redshirt…lol
A screen?? A SCREEN?!?!?!
At least the defense is awake.
Hart made a great play.
Didn’t think the Chargers could look this bad against a weak team like this. The O-line is defunct right now, and NY knows it.
Pathetic
What O-line?
Well fuck me.
D needs to create a big momentum shift here.
Fellas – I’m pretty buzzed from the tailgate. Great time. Met
Arne-sixpakfrombelgium and 
Stacey Mallory in person, and had an amazing time kicking back drinks and grub while talking Chargers football with them. Pictures to come… hoping to meet up with Erick at halftime.
Devastated to see Alt get carted off. That’s borderline worse case scenario.
Hampton with a first down block on a great Herbie run.
but Alt hurt.
Not Alt….
Yep. carted off. And JH is already running for his life.
Ugh….
Chargers look jet-lagged. When did they get to NY, this morning?
Have a blast all you StormClouders! I think you’re going to watch a good one for the Bolts!
If you want a laugh, BTFB put up a list of rules for gameday threads.
Those in attendance….have a great time!!! I’m back in Richmond VA now, getting ready to walk into a sports bar to watch the game.
Let’s go Chargers!!!
Welcome home, Buck. What a great journey you must’ve had.
Thx….it was. 🙂