INGLEWOOD – The easy – and I guess cynical – way to describe the Chargers’ 2-2 start is this: They’ve run into two teams worse than they are in late-game situations, the Minnesota Vikings last week and the Raiders this week.
And the way the outside world looks at the Chargers – as a team that looks prosperity in the eye and then looks away, a team that has inspired a verb in the Urban Dictionary to describe losing in the worst possible way at the worst possible time – isn’t the way the players and coaches in the building look at themselves. It can’t be. Otherwise they couldn’t function.
So yes, there was this feeling of impending doom in the stands Sunday afternoon at SoFi Stadium, at least among those wearing blue. Meanwhile, members of the Southern California chapter of Raider Nation were likely rubbing their hands together in glee when Las Vegas pulled within 24-17 with 3:59 left in the game on Josh Jacobs’ 1-yard touchdown run at the end of a 12-play, 60-yard drive, then got the ball after the Chargers couldn’t convert fourth-and-1 at their own 34 and then had their own first-and-goal from the 3 with 2:39 left.
But this is the NFL, America’s preeminent reality programming. And this time the home team had a few surprises in store: Asante Samuel Jr.’s interception on that aforementioned first-and-goal with 2:33 left in the game denied the Raiders, and Justin Herbert’s 51-yard strike to Joshua Palmer on third-and-11 after the two-minute warning got the Chargers to the Raiders 38, allowed Herbert to run out the clock on a 24-17 victory and provided some breathing room going into the bye week.
“I trust (Palmer) in those situations,” Herbert said. “Third and long, we wanted to take a shot, and he did a great job coming up with it.”
Asked if he were surprised at that call, Palmer said: “Not at all. You know, as a receiver I’m biased. I think we should always throw the ball on third and fourth down.”
Careful, Joshua. Brandon Staley gets second-guessed often enough as is, and those fateful moments at the end prevented a 1-3 start and kept already hot seat from becoming outright hellish.
This was an escape in a lot of ways on an afternoon when both sides were missing key components. The Chargers are without Mike Williams the rest of the way. Austin Ekeler was out again with an ankle issue, while veteran center Corey Linsley is out with what the club called a non-emergent heart ailment. Joey Bosa was sidelined, as were safeties Alohi Gilman and JT Woods. And while cornerback J.C. Jackson wasn’t on the injury report and there don’t seem to be any specific reasons why he can’t play, he mysteriously stayed on the sideline all day, obviously a coach’s decision.
Even so, the Chargers came up with a superior defensive effort. Khalil Mack had a franchise-record six sacks of rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who was playing because Jimmy Garoppolo couldn’t, and Mack also forced two fumbles. Samuel had the huge late interception and the Chargers defensive front held the Raiders to 76 rushing yards in 23 tries.
“So many people played their part in it,” said Sebastian Joseph-Day. “You know, those are real tough guys. Real, real tough rugged guys in this room. Resilient guys.”
Or, as Mack put it: “You got a bunch of dawgs on our side of the field. There’s always a belief that the offense is gonna (succeed). But when they don’t, we gotta ride. We gotta ride whether it’s good or bad.
“I feel like we playing solid football. Situationally, we have to get better, especially penalty-wise, I feel like we were having a lot of penalties, especially on the back end. We’ve got to get better at that. But all in all, it’s coming together. It’s coming together. When we piece it together, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to look a lot better.”
Meanwhile, Herbert played the last three series wearing a splint, and while he only completed two passes in those last three series the last one was huge. Palmer has a greater role now that Williams is done for the year, and he had two catches for 26 yards before the 51-yarder at the end. The offense was smooth in the first half and especially the second quarter, but choppy in the second half.
Choppy at the end has been the story of the Chargers’ season so far, losing to Miami and Tennessee by a total of five points and using big defensive plays at the end of the last two games to hold off the Vikings and Raiders.
“Our team is comfortable in those situations,” Staley said. “I think, through four weeks, 70 percent of the games are (decided by) less than a touchdown, and that’s the NFL. So you’ve got to be good when you’ve got to have it, and you’ve got to be comfortable in those spaces. Our guys have thrived in that the last couple of weeks.”
And yes, as you might expect, Staley said “we could easily be 4-0 … We’ve gotten better and that’s where my focus is as a head coach.”
So the calls from the faithful – or the cynical, your choice – for a coaching change will quiet for the next couple of weeks. Staley can be polarizing to those on the outside, both for his willingness to roll the bones in situations where others wouldn’t and for his insistence that things are rosy, or at least fine, even when they don’t appear to be.
Then again, he knows his personnel better than we do. If he says they’re improving, and the scoreboard at the end of the day verifies it, that’s the only evidence that matters from week to week in the NFL.
jalexander@scng.com