The whole world saw on national television Sunday night what the AFC has accomplished: the Los Angeles Chargers are becoming a true power in the NFL.
Less than a year after going fifth in the draft and arguably the worst defense in football, the Chargers find themselves as one of the best teams in the league. The arrival of head coach Jim Harbaugh and a healthy Justin Herbert immediately turned around this team’s fortunes. At 7-3, the Chargers have already won more games than they did all season ago, have plenty of room to improve and are threatening to win playoff games in January. This season really couldn’t have started better.
Their 34-27 win over the Bengals was a clear sign of progress. They survived the relentless fury of Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as the Bengals desperately tried to salvage their season. The Chargers defense looked great in the first half, but when it faltered, Los Angeles was able to lean on its superstar quarterback who is currently playing lights-out football. Herbert made dazzling throw after dazzling throw as the Chargers did whatever they wanted on offense for the majority of the game.
The Chargers are closing in on a playoff spot. They currently own the fifth seed in the AFC playoff race, and with so many teams playing bad football, they could very well be able to make the playoffs if they win a few games additional. After their win over the Bengals, there’s no reason to qualify to talk about this team’s prowess – the Chargers are just plain good.
The only concern is one critical area exposed by the Bengals that shows the remains of a team that went 5-12 a season ago: its secondary.
Burrow, Chase and Higgins are capable of torching even the best defensive backs the league has to offer, so it wasn’t a surprise to see them win big against the Chargers’ coverage at times. This was an area the Chargers hadn’t really been tested in: facing an offense with an explosive passing game capable of taking over a defense. With Asante Samuel Jr. potentially out for the remainder of the season, Los Angeles is relying primarily on free agents and last-minute picks for their rookie contracts. This will likely bite them in January, even though Jesse Minter has done an incredible job coordinating this defense every week. Power is power, and the Chargers certainly had trouble keeping up with the Bengals’ Lamborghini fleet on Sunday.
The good news is that they still won and continue to win despite the weakness. Harbaugh has done nothing but develop winners at each of his coaching jobs, and the Chargers appear to be next on his resume. This season, in theory, should be the playground for the Chargers in the Harbaugh era. They still have players to develop and add to the roster that will make their staff bigger immediately and allow them to legitimately compete for a Super Bowl. Harbaugh and his franchise quarterback pose a real threat to the future of the AFC West, even to the Chiefs, if that’s what it looks like in a rebuilding year.
Next up for these Chargers is a Monday night matchup against the Ravens, led by Jim’s brother John Harbaugh, in another HarBowl that will serve as an excellent measure.
