Chargers Get Physical in Win Over Raiders: Bosa's Dominance, Joe Alt's Debut, and Dobbins' Comeback

hello everyone welcome to another episode of w breakdowns here on the guilty is charge podcast YouTube channel I am Alex your host as always and for now who has it better than us nobody at least through one week uh that the Chargers take down the Raiders 22 to10 uh in week one this is the bolt breakdowns postgame show you will see this every week after the Chargers play a game whether that's on Thursday or Monday or Sunday um so uh let's get right into the game and you know I thought in general this was a pretty wir towi effort gritty win uh if you want to call it for the Chargers in the head coaching debut of one Jim Harbaugh uh big win over a division rival always always big you know Sofi was packed with what looked like 70% Raiders fans and once again they do not win at Sofi Stadium which was uh a really good feeling Raiders fans were talking crazy uh so it was just nice to get this win and really you know getting into kind of what was on the field now I had big questions about what this defense was going to be and you know anytime you heard a player talk about this defense that Jesse Minter was installing it was hey he wants us to react fast we don't have to think we play fast we play aggressive and you know at certain points in the offseason you're like yeah but like let's see it right uh even K Mack you know sort of was asked about Jesse M's defense and he said hey I'm ready to put it on tape against the Raiders a couple weeks ago um you know entering you know this you know prep week so clearly I think there was some anxiousness to get out there but there were also some questions that needed to be answered about exactly how this would look um and it's just one game you know you don't want to overreact and jump to conclusions you know about what the of the season is going to look like but this was a really really good effort uh for for a week one game and um I I think some of the stops that the Chargers got or early on the Raiders really changed what this game looked like uh particularly the Run stops that they had on early drives Joey Bosa was in there Puna Ford was in there then Puna Ford getting that fourth and one stop really changed the complexion of this game and I think the Raiders only ended up rushing for 63 yards something like 19 carries uh a and that you take that as a WID if you're the Chargers and we've we've opined about the run defense particularly in recent Seasons run defense was a little bit better for the Chargers and certain games last year but obviously then the past defense kind of went on them um but you know again wire to Wire complete defensive effort to the point where you know you take the running game out for the Raiders and basically Force Garder mchu to throw to beat you right and muu obviously did not had the greatest game by his standards uh today the Chargers corners for the most part uh were pretty solid held Devonte Adams you know in check compared to what we've seen him do in some previous Chargers games so overall I mean you got to be really impressed with the defense and I think it all started particularly up front mentioned Puna Ford who I think had the big fourth and one stop that really set the tone uh for the game right because even in that uh fourth quarter where Antonio Pierce fourth and one for the Raiders big moment really like all the analytical models say the Raiders should go for it uh and they decide not to now as uh Jim Harbaugh I think it was said in his postgame press conference part of that was the Chargers offensive struggles right they had a lot of three and outs so if you're the Raiders maybe in some way you go okay well they're probably not going to score on this drive or we can count on our defense to get a stop let's play it safe here um but I think even in the back of Antonio Pierce's mind a little bit was like oh like they've been playing some really solid run defense with Mack with Bosa uh with with Ford as I mentioned before Otto Bona getting quite a bit of push and so that looked a lot different than I was expecting it to in terms of the physicality and just the difference of you know outside of Ford mostly the same players we've seen in recent Seasons but just have a certain re-energized uh look to them right uh I thought it was you know tremendous performance from Joey Bosa uh I I don't think it can be stressed enough I think he only ended up having you know one sack but ton of pressures knocks the ball out for the fumble also um I would go as far as to say they don't win this game without him um and this is really the first big Bosa game I think in a number of years going back to maybe the Bills game in 2020 uh the Chiefs game in 2021 maybe uh where both of was kind of flying around this was one of those types of efforts from him and you know obviously a lot in the offseason in previous seasons has been made up of hey is Joey Bosa gonna be healthy and bosa's even said himself um you know nobody cares about how great I feel in the off season you know I have to get there on the field and and kind of show it for myself and he came out there and and made some really impressive run stops like I mentioned before uh obviously the sack and you know poking the ball out he was just all over the place and I think the way that Mack and Bosa played in particular really freed up the interior the defensive line uh to be as physical and as assertive as they were and really even going back to the Brandon Staley uh era for a minute like that was the vision that Brandon Staley to some extent wanted as well right you know kind of when they signed Sebastian Joseph day when they you know uh tried to get you know both on Mac obviously to be healthy at the same time for years it really felt like even that vision and into this Harbaugh Vision like when you have even average interior play combined with those two guys on the edge plus you know Tully tuy pelou and Bud Dupri as well um that's kind of what you get and they forced Gardner mchu obviously into some pretty bad decisions uh and you know forc the Raiders to uh kind of just you know not have their passing game be much of a factor uh in terms of their you know Red Zone drives later in this game and I really think they kind of wore down the Raiders offensive line as the game went on so you know you tip your hat to Kil Mack obviously having two sacks in this one as well uh that that last one he had where he was just taking you know a bunch of guys to the weight room it felt like um you know the the one with Morgan Fox as well um he he was insane he always goes off against the Raiders um obviously he's probably not going to top his six sack game against the Raiders from last year um but I just thought from start to finish him and Bosa in this game were so so so massive uh cannot be undersold just how good they were how good this defensive line was up front and that's the big takea away from me in this m defense and getting into that also um it just felt like everyone was a lot more comfortable uh in terms of what they should be doing right I mentioned sort of players talking about this as it was a read and react defense and you know you're just going to go okay but want to see it right and the players looked fast they looked aggressive and they didn't look like they had to have a second thought on like oh I'm supposed to be there right who am I supposed to be covering at all times it really felt like they were you know well disciplined in that regard um you know Devonte Adams Burns him a couple times uh but overall they kind of held him in check relative to you know what we had seen prior um they didn't really let any other you know receiver gained some momentum uh it it felt like every wide receiver every tight end was kind of blanketed for really second quarter after that touchdown on and so you know we talked about the issues in coverage last year I certainly don't expect upcoming games against the Chiefs or you know any of the other difficult teams on the Chargers schedule to be as you know simple to some extent as going up against Gardner mchu you know with you know the the Raiders offensive line performance uh particularly later in the game it's not going to come that easy and there are going to be times where this defense does struggle but I think in terms of setting the tone week one being really really aggressive in the trenches they did the best job that they could uh and I really think that this secondary uh played well too right uh even you know Sant Samuel Jr early in that game right gives up uh the touchdown to Alexander Madison both him and Dion Henley missed the tackle it was right back to work right uh and asj was pretty locked down I would say you know uh played really unfall kind of the rest of the game and unflappable and um that is a big difference from this team in previous years where you would just kind of see those mistakes snowball throughout the game um you know whether it was like Miss tackles uh I prict ularly I remember the Dallas game in this regard last year but plenty of games in recent years where you can remember Miss tackles or uh a dropped interception or something like that just kind of like snowballing for the team in a way where they would not be able to get off the field and just overall as a whole today uh they ended up being really really welld disciplined uh defensively so you know you got to obviously hand it to them in terms of how the defense cleaned up this game game I'm just going to read some of the team stats you know again very efficient on third down as well Raiders go five for 14 on third down 0 for one on the fourth down um so yeah all all around this was uh a really really Transcendent effort from a defense that I think after last year after the last number of years really needed this kind of game uh to to go out out there and assert themselves now you know you see how Carolina looked today right that's you know hopefully a good game for the defense as well where they can just kind of keep stacking these weeks obviously you know it's the NFL it's not going to look perfect every week and I I I certainly don't expect it to going forward when they play some some more difficult teams and some worse quarterback matchups for them uh but for the time being this was you know a really really good effort uh from this defense and I'm I'm honestly not shocked because I think we all felt that the Jesse Minter defense itself would be good um but I'm shocked at how quickly it sort of came together in this game I thought there would be some moments where it's like okay here's a 100 yard Devonte Adams game okay here's you know a big rushing performance like I did think the M defense would look good later on in the season but the fact that they already hit the ground running in this game uh is is huge a bunch of guys uh just to kind of read the stats out over seven tackles you know Joey Bosa Derwin James Dion pretty physical throughout the game Perryman uh with a couple run stops as well um mentioned the the play of Puna forward CLE Mack in this game as well uh you know with with two sacks two quarterback hits and um yeah not not a whole lot more I think you could say about the defense other than they set the tone took care of business you know when some lucky turnovers might have been given to them uh and you know all of a sudden it it just feels like this was the best game I have seen this defense play in a way that matters in a while right um going back probably to 2021 or 2022 maybe that Dolphins game from 2022 uh in terms of a first quarter two fourth quarter type of effort uh some stats here from PFF Joey Bosa three pressures Mack Dion Henley and Puna Ford with two pressures each and then you have Morgan Fox Scott Matlock uh JN Taylor and Junior Coulson all with one pressure as well so overall really great day from the defense uh don't necessarily want to overstate it but that is certainly the thing I was most impressed with this game let's talk about the offense um I think for what it's worth it looked better in the second half um just in terms of particularly the the story of this game I think was the offensive line blocking in the first half where it was a nightmare right you had Zion Boseman and Trey pipkins convert uh kind of converging into getting beaten on some of these you know stunts that the Raiders were doing a play Early in that game where Max Crosby goes to the top you know runs through the interior uh and it's an immediate pressure on Herbert Wilkins was giving them fits uh in the first half and it it just kind of felt like one of those games where the offensive line doesn't get their is together for lack of a better term um it could be a long night for the Chargers and luckily in the second half things pick up I thought Trey pipkins had a really great performance particularly uh in the second half that block on Wilkins um was was great and obviously opens up you know scoring opportunity for the team there so we can talk about that obviously uh I think Zion for what it's worth played a better second half compared to uh the first Boseman as well uh and then you know gotta talk about Joe Walt who went up against Max Crosby I think on uh eight plays one-on-one didn't allow a single pressure right and that is is a litmus test that he packed pass now it wasn't a perfect game from Joe Walt there's another play where I think in the first half he you know gets absolutely thrown down by Wilkins but those are rookie growing pains right those are going to happen in the league and in sort of a welcome to the league type of fashion uh for alt but holding your own against Max Crosby in this sort of atmosphere in this sort of game even when the offensive line wasn't and particularly the interior wasn't playing well in the first half for joal to play through all that uh and and play as well as he did uh you know commitment to him Slater again we could talk about him every week but it feels like it's quiet every week just because you know he he takes care of his business um but obviously he's a huge part to what they were able to do today so overall I think the story of this game and where the it turned for the Chargers was when the offensive line started responding to a lot of the stunts and the simulated pressures and the things that the Raiders were throwing at them uh in the first half and it that didn't come as sweet to them certainly in the second half so big commitment to them there um you know big commends big round of applause for them uh in terms of picking it up and JK Dobbins I do think we had to talk about the JK Dobbins game you know um both him and Edwards to some extent struggle in the first half um primarily due to the offensive line more so than anything but then there was that turn and and Dobbins cracks off those you know two long runs uh he finishes the game with 10 for 135 and and the touchdown and um I didn't think that he had you know that type of you know the long speed for him you know after the injuries and stuff like that will never go back but what Dobbins you know I questioned I guess coming into this season after the injuries and everything his body has been through the last couple of years is that burst at the line of scrimmage and if you watch this game particularly in the second half that burst to run through those holes like and and get you know cut and do everything successfully it was there and that is the kind of talent that obviously he was drafted from you know in college and showed in his rookie season in Baltimore prior to all the injuries you know the last couple of years um and it really felt like he was back uh not 100% back athletically but you know you talk about potentially taking running back one by the horns uh and and Greg Roman as he said like I'm gonna go with the hot hand he kept feeding JK Dobbins in that second half you know sort of turned down the Gus Edwards snaps a little bit um but incredible performance from him him and Gus from the standpoint of pass protection as well uh I think you notied them pick up a few key blocks here and there that just like it feels like particularly last year Eckler for the most part was a good pass protector but last year I think that was something that was severely lacking from the running back room was that aspect of pass protection and and Herbert even mentioned that um in his press conference uh in regards to you know what uh those two backs in Edwards and Dobbins were doing so nice to see the gain that doin's had and you know I don't think he's going to have 135 yards every week uh I don't think he's necessarily going to break off those two long runs every week but if you can just kind of keep stringing those performances together uh and get that confidence and make teams respect the Chargers ability to run the ball which is you know the goal of this new coaching staff to a degree um that's a massive win for the Chargers and so great performance from Dobbins today let's talk a little bit about the pre- snap penalties uh particularly in the first half and and harball already said they hey they have to clean it up uh you had will dley I think with three called on them you had makoni with another pre- snap penalty in the first half and some of this was was Jitters I think to some degree but just cannot have that happen um you know all of those I think five pre- snap penalties or something like that in the first half the second half they end up kind of settling in um but you know not something that you want to see happened particularly in one of these big rivalry games and it's just like they knew what the noise levels in Sofi were going to be throughout the whole week so I was surprised to see them come out maybe as nervous a little bit as they were and as skittish as they were you know just in terms of getting set to play offense in that first half but you know they settled in in the second half and and and credit to them in that regard and you obviously hope you know that kind of continues throughout the season um now that game one is out of the way that they're not a heavily penalized team particularly in pre- snap stuff that like really sets the drive back uh so you know uh you want to see the offense certainly in that regard be a little bit more disciplined um want to talk about the wide receiver room uh this is something I said on on Twitter that I've got a little push back for but I really felt like until kind of the fin drives of that game it just became a little bit apparent that you know on a number of fronts the Chargers uh do not have necessarily the optimal wide receiver one right they're obviously playing without Keenan no Mike uh as you know we've talked about you know with their offseason decisions and it was kind of a question mark of like okay this is Josh Palmer Quinton Johnson lad mcon in this game Brendan rice a uh inactive DJ shark is out like who are going to be the guys that step up and they went with Palmer and Johnston primarily in that like on those uh 12 Personnel looks 11 personnel you saw lad makoni starting the slot on the field um and for about three quarters uh it wasn't great I think certainly part of this is you know uh is is Herbert getting chemistry with those guys right misses the two weeks uh of training camp and Greg Roman even said at the time really valuable time to miss right you can't necessarily recreate those reps uh that were lost and so that is a big part of this I think but still um you know I I just thought for large parts of the game it did look a little rough I think later in the game Quinton Johnson Starts to put it together mononi starts to put it together um but I really do Wonder just like how sustainable this is I guess and I don't necessarily like want to poop on the receiver room in week one particularly after they win this game and makoni gets the touchdown um but I really did think that they felt the loss of Kenan and Mike in this one in a significant way where they don't necessarily have that guy in crunch time on money Downs that is that well defined and they played through it today and JK toins had 135 yards today so it didn't matter but it's something I think to watch going forward in terms of Herbert building the chemistry with these guys that are going to be in his wide receiver room uh so that's something that I'm interested to see going forward here is just how quickly the Chargers are able to get those connections uh going in between guys and for the record like yes I think by the end of the season it look better today I don't want to necessarily like belly ache about the wide receiver room too much but there were some moments some drops obviously uh that I wish I think they wish they could have back which I I think is very fair um you know the the challenge of this wide receiver room is like not having a set Target number one guy but hoping that this is a bit of a strength and numbers thing for them that guys like makoni and QJ and and Palmer gain confidence throughout the season so something to watch but just something that I kind of noticed in this game was could have been a little bit better let's talk about Herbert um so I think let me just look at the final numbers that Herbert ended this game with um o overall I think you know not the best game from him you know I think that's fair to say Obviously the Chargers running game game in the second half was working well enough to the point where they didn't need Herbert to necessarily like go out and you know steal this game for them finishes with a qbr of 31.8 passer rating of 92.5 for the record I do not think partic given the second half and and you know Herbert kind of finding his Zone there that this was a bad game from Justin Herbert and from a statline perspective given which Jim Harbaugh and and Company and GRE Roman want this offense to be yeah you probably have to get used to a couple you know 150 200 yard games for Herbert uh in general going forward and Harbaugh even kind of remarked at that in his uh postgame press conference where he talked about you know Herbert having a hundred or whatever yards but not caring because you know was best for the team and stuff like that um I just thought the timing you know was a little bit off today particularly early in the game you know now a lot of pressure and fairness to Herbert was getting thrown in his face right particularly from the get-go but I thought there were a couple wide open shots that he just kind of missed right the one in the back of the end zone where you know he threw it out H you know could potentially had Hayden Hurst on that play um even the Josh Palmer drops I kind of thought were a little bit more on Herbert you know putting those balls quite a bit behind him uh so wasn't the best weren't the best throws in that regard some questionable just just processing things but then you know like I said as the third quarter went on you did feel that Herbert started to find his Groove a little bit um obviously the Run game you know and and sort of marrying the pass and the Run helped the Chargers in this uh a lot and and herper talked about the performance of dobins postgame uh they needed that one right and you know there are some got to be some games where Herbert throws for 25 passes there going to be some games where he throws for 40 passes right it's just a matter of uh what offense needs and and how it's clicking at any given time um but this was a game where you know you hope certainly for better protection in the first half but even considering the better protection um this was probably a subpar game by Herbert standards I I think I think that's fair enough to say you know missing enough open looks even after settling into it later you know against a better offense you know I don't know if that ever gets the job done but you know and and this is part of the culture that Harbaugh and M and all of these guys to some degree want to build is hey even if Herbert doesn't necessarily play at his best level we can still win it as a team right and if you look at Herbert's record in games where the Chargers you know allowed under 20 points versus when they allowed over 20 points um you know you could say that for any quarterback in his defense but that was particularly true for Herbert um so to be able to win a game and buy a game particularly when he wasn't necessarily at his best I think is to some extent a huge Testament to what he was building here and still he had his fair share uh of good throws and good decisions in the second half as well so um you know hope to see it more uh from him as the season goes on obviously I think there were chemistry issues you know from his time that he missed like we mentioned uh and just you know this is his first game not just since the end of last season but also his first game since December 10th right basically didn't play the whole last month of last season didn't have any you know preseason reps or anything like that so I think to some extent a lot of it is uh rust related issues uh that we are going to talk about with Herbert uh as he sort of you know gets back to playing full football games again right you know a lot of quarterbacks have those adjustments the first uh you know one to four weeks or so so not hitting the panic button by any means but wasn't his best performance today that being said they got through it uh and big credit to everybody involved uh on offense particularly as the second half shifted including Herbert uh making some better decisions so let's wrap it up uh I think that you know let's do offensive and and defensive stars of the game to a degree my first star of the game is going to go to Joey Bosa on the defensive side of the ball uh thought he played an absolutely outstanding game uh that is his best game in three or four years um and you know we want to see a whole season of Bosa and Mack healthy uh you know for starters and this is the first step into that so hopefully they get a whole season of them of those guys together and as we saw today and as we've seen in previous games when both of those guys are clicking it is just a different defense uh on the offensive side of the ball I would go with Jo Walt uh in this game I I thought you know holding Crosby uh like he did and just not making any you know particular mistakes that held the Chargers back big game uh in what was probably the worst possible matchup he could have week one from both an individual and offensive line standpoint you know with what the Raiders were able to throw at them in the first half of that game uh so for joal to essentially come out of this one unscathed uh I think is a big Testament to the work that he's put in uh so you know great stuff from them I didn't really talk about special teams much today couple couple confusing moments but obviously special teams star of the game is Dicker Darius Davis a little weird today JK Scott uh kind of a bad game from him relative to what we expect but Dicker uh was on the money Nails another 50- yard field goal uh and you know proves worthy of the contract that the Chargers gave him uh but that'll do it for today let me know your guys' thoughts in the comments below as always drop a like helps the show out quite a bit as well um and yeah on to Carolina Chargers will take on the Panthers next week and after that game uh is when you will hear from me next week so until next week who's got it better than us nobody and also bolt up uh and have a great Victory Monday