‘Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!’
Those words have now echoed through the Los Angeles Chargers locker room for a third straight week.
The chant, coined by head coach Jim Harbaugh, may be slightly exaggerated, but with each passing week the number of teams who seemingly ‘have it better’ than the Bolts gets smaller and smaller.
In Week 10, the Chargers beat the struggling Tennessee Titans 27-17 at SoFi Stadium to move to 6-3 on the season. With the greatest respect to the Titans, any team with playoff ambitions should be beating Tennessee in 2024.
Before that the Chargers beat the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints, so admittedly the calibre of teams beaten in this run has not been eye-catching.
However, what is noticeable is the change in mentality surrounding the team. Just take a look at the vibe in the locker room after Sunday’s win.
stay til the end for the justin speech pic.twitter.com/8LlIDamuU1
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) November 11, 2024
Under previous coaches, the Bolts still resembled a team who could crumble at any moment – even when winning.
As recently as 2021, a 3-11 Houston Texans side starting Davis Mills, Rex Burkhead and Chris Moore dismantled a play-off chasing Chargers outfit.
In 2024, the Chargers have started to shrug off that stigma which has long surrounded them.
Yes, the latest wins have come against three below average teams. But these are the games the Bolts would have faltered in in years gone by.
They have also won each game without breaking a sweat – leading by 17+ points in all three fourth quarters.
A month to decide a season
Now comes crunch time. The next few weeks will prove whether Harbaugh’s Bolts are true contenders for a deep postseason run or not.
The Chargers face the Cincinnati Bengals, Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons and Kansas City Chiefs in the next month. Lose all four games and what appeared to be a promising 2024 season will quickly disappear.
Winning two games would keep the Chargers on track for the playoffs – particularly with an easy strength of schedule to end the season.
But if the Bolts can win three or – heaven forbid – four games in that stretch, the rest of the league will be forced to take notice.
