CHARLOTTE — For a different team, this would have been a ho-hum Sunday afternoon. Beat up on a floundering, dreadful opponent. Move on to the next week. The expectation. A natural, inevitable conclusion.
For a different team. Not for this team.
Because stress-free Sundays have been difficult to come by for the Los Angeles Chargers. Over the last decade, no NFL team has been in more one-score games in the fourth quarter. At times, it has felt like tight games — no matter the opponent — were inherent to the organization.
This Sunday, however, was just the latest example of the shift occurring thanks to coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers disposed of the Carolina Panthers, 26-3, at Bank of America Stadium. They are 2-0 for the first time since 2012. Defensive starters watched from the sideline for the final Panthers drive of the game.
“We’re just trying to change the narrative around here,” said safety Derwin James Jr.
That is happening, one game at a time.
took care of business pic.twitter.com/LIWbN4gny8
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 15, 2024
This was a dominant game in the exact way Harbaugh wants to be dominant.
The Chargers ran for 215 yards on 40 designed rushes. It was their fourth-highest output since 2017. They won the time-of-possession battle by more than 12 minutes.
“We just came out and we ran the crap out of the ball,” said center Bradley Bozeman, who spent the past two seasons playing for the Panthers.
The offensive line was undeniable.
“They were taking people’s will away,” said tight end Hayden Hurst, who spent last season with the Panthers.
Last week was the first time the Chargers’ starting offensive line had been in a game together. Bozeman did not play in the preseason. It was an up-and-down first half against the Las Vegas Raiders. Sunday was a much more complete performance.
“For it only being Week 2, this thing is greased up pretty good right now,” Hurst said of the running game.
Added left tackle Rashawn Slater: “It makes the game easier, because believe it or not, running the ball is easier than throwing the ball — at least from our perspective. It’s harder to protect than attack.”
Running back J.K. Dobbins continued to reintroduce himself to the league. He led the Chargers with 131 yards on 17 carries. Dobbins is the first Charger to begin a season with back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. He had 135 yards in last week’s win over the Raiders.
“Completely thrilling,” Harbaugh said of Dobbins’ start to the season.
When asked about Dobbins after the game, Slater pointed across the locker room to his running back.
“I mean, look at that guy,” Slater said. “The way he’s always smiling, you don’t want to let him down. So you’re motivated to just hammer, and he’s going make something. He’s going to find it.”
Dobbins found a crease to the outside left on a 43-yard touchdown run late in the first half. It was his fourth run of at least 40 yards this season. Last week, he did not finish either of his explosive runs. This week, he did, somersaulting into the end zone as an exclamation point.
the flip into the endzone is crazy, j.k.
📺 | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/qijU6qo6bZ
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 15, 2024
The lead blocker on the play? Running back Gus Edwards, who lined up at fullback. Edwards added 59 yards on 18 carries.
“Gus is a Pro Bowl-caliber player, and he’s laying out for his brother,” tight end Will Dissly said of the block. “It’s what this team is built on.”
Five of the Chargers’ nine third-down conversions came on designed rushes. One of those was a third-and-3 in the fourth quarter. The Chargers had 16 third-down conversions on rushes all of last season.
“Old-school football,” Slater said. “Just smashing.”
Quarterback Justin Herbert threw for 130 yards. It was his lowest total in any full game in his career. He turned it over twice, and after a red-zone fumble late in the third quarter, Herbert took a brief trip to the medical tent. Trainers were working on his lower right leg. He did not miss a snap. After the game, Herbert said he got “rolled up” on. Herbert added that he underwent X-rays and would “know more in the next couple of days.”
Herbert has now thrown for 274 yards on the season, the fewest yards he has ever posted through Week 2 in his career. That includes his rookie year in 2020, when he did not play a snap in the opener.
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman asked a rhetorical question in February: “Can you imagine Justin Herbert with a great running game?”
The theoretical is becoming reality.
“It was just relentless,” Herbert said of the running game.
Defensively, the Chargers flummoxed Carolina quarterback Bryce Young, who completed 18 of 26 passes for just 84 yards.
“Everybody’s pouring into the belief of Coach Harbaugh,” said edge rusher Khalil Mack.
The Panthers did not convert a third down until less than eight minutes remained in the game. They did not score until the second half. Young’s longest completion went for 12 yards. It was a pass to tight end Tommy Tremble in the flat off play action.
“We’re playing team defense,” James said. “It’s not like one player is the hero every week.”
Safety Elijah Molden was one of those heroes this week. Starter Alohi Gilman was out with a knee injury. Molden, who the Chargers traded for on Aug. 28, got the start. He forced the Chargers’ only turnover by picking off Young in the first half. Molden also had a huge hit over the middle on Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard in the fourth quarter.
we’ll take that
📺 | @nfloncbs pic.twitter.com/BwFTg1jKoS
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) September 15, 2024
The constant roster churn from general manager Joe Hortiz is providing quality depth.
His offseason acquisitions are producing, from Bozeman to rookie tackle Joe Alt to Dissly to Edwards to Dobbins to defensive lineman Poona Ford.
The holdover pieces are improved, like receiver Quentin Johnston, who scored two touchdowns Sunday to match his rookie season total.
“This is a special team, man,” Dissly said. “We’re kind of a band of misfits coming together.”
Real tests await.
The Chargers will spend the week in Charlotte before playing at the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3 in one of the best home-field advantages in the league.
In Week 4, the Chargers host the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of the last two Super Bowls.
The real tests, though, do not come without taking “care of business,” as Harbaugh put in the postgame locker room.
“We want to impose our will on teams,” Hurst said. “And for two weeks, we’ve done that.”
(Top photo of J.K. Dobbins: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)
