The Los Angeles Chargers were supposed to be the easiest Week 1 pick for survival pools, literally one of the biggest opening-game favorites over many years, a total lock. But hold up, because they just went 0-1, pulling off one of the most brutal upsets for anyone who thought it was a gimme. The Chargers, who were the most popular pick at Yahoo Survival Football with a massive 32.5% of players banking on them, are now sitting at 0-1, and nearly a third of all survival pool entries are already wiped out on opening weekend.
What Even Happened Out There?
Talk about a gut punch to start the season, right? The Arizona Cardinals, who closed as a 9.5-point underdog at most sportsbooks, went out there and straight up beat the Chargers 26-14. How in the world did that happen? Well, the Chargers’ defense could not get a stop early on, plain and simple. Just picture it: the Cardinals’ first five possessions of the game resulted in a touchdown, three field goals, and even a missed field goal. That’s not just a bad start, that’s letting an underdog build confidence. Everyone was buzzing this offseason about the Chargers bringing in Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator. But maybe, just maybe, everyone should have been talking more about them losing defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to the Baltimore Ravens’ head-coaching gig. Because that defense looked like it missed him, big time.
When Disaster Strikes, It STRIKES
Even after that rough start, the Chargers were still barely trailing in the fourth quarter. You’re thinking, “Okay, they’ll pull it together now, right?” Nope. This is where the real dagger came in: their special teams had a massive mistake. The Cardinals straight up blocked a punt, taking over at the Chargers’ own 3-yard line. You know what happens from there. They scored a touchdown, instantly turning what was a tight 16-14 lead for the Cardinals into a crushing 23-14 deficit for the Chargers with just 11:44 left to play. That’s a back-breaker, an absolute killer. And even after that, still with time to try and make something happen, Justin Herbert threw deep with two Cardinals defenders in coverage. Naturally, safety Andrew Wingard picked it off. After that, the Chargers just went away quietly, their big Week 1 hopes dissolving. What a collapse.
So, here we go again. This Los Angeles team got a ton of offseason hype, just like they do almost every single offseason. Everyone talks them up, only for them to turn around and disappoint everyone right out of the gate. It’s only Week 1, yeah, but Sunday was a massive, neon-flashing warning that the Chargers might be heading down that same frustrating road once more. If you had them in your survival pool, your Week 1 dreams are already over, and you’re probably not forgiving them anytime soon. What an early season upset.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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