The Chargers are 2-0 and have settled in for a weeklong stay in Charlotte.
The Bolts are on the road again in Week 3 against Pittsburgh.
Here are five takeaways from Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh's Monday press conference:
1. An excellent O-line
Through two games, the Chargers offense ranks second in the NFL with 395 rushing yards.
On a more advanced level, the Bolts rank fifth overall in EPA per rush at 0.064.
A key reason for the early-season success?
The play up front of the Chargers starting offensive line, a group Harbaugh raved about Monday from the team hotel in Charlotte when he was asked what stood out.
"Just about everything. It was really impressive," Harbaugh said. "The surge is the thing that jumped off the tape for me. All five guys were outstanding … game ball worthy, each guy."
Sure enough, the Week 2 grades from Pro Football Focus backed up Harbaugh's praise for the group.
Of the 19 total players to get an offensive grade by PFF, a quartet of offensive linemen — Joe Alt, Zion Johnson, Rashawn Slater and Trey Pipkins III — earned the top four marks.
Alt led the way with an 87.2 overall grade, including a run-blocking grade of 87.8. Johnson was next at 85.8 overall, followed by Slater (82.7) and Pipkins (79.3).
Alt and Slater could be forming the league's best tackle tandem. They were at the head of their class in Week 2 as the top-rated tackles across the entire league.
And it's not as if center Bradley Bozeman had a poor game as his 60.9 grade ranked ninth among all offensive players Sunday.
"All five were individually outstanding, excellent and much improved with just playing as one," Harbaugh said. "A cohesive unit."
Harbaugh said the group embodies the standard that has been set so far in 2024.
"It's just the kind of competitors that they are," Harbaugh said. "Just another sign of the selflessness, the togetherness of the team.
"I've noticed it from Day 1," Harbaugh added. "If you don't have the ball and you're a blocker, that's the standard. But they've set it and is not something that was ever talked about."
2. An update on Herbert
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert played all 69 snaps Sunday against Carolina.
But he did appear to get banged up midway through the third quarter when he fumbled the ball away on a sack.
Harbaugh was asked about Herbert's status on Monday.
"He got rolled up on, X-rays were negative. I'm sure there will be further evaluations as the week goes on," Harbaugh said.
As for the play where Herbert fumbled, Harbaugh said he had no qualms about his quarterback trying to extend the play rather than take a sack.
"You don't understand what he's capable of doing. I don't understand what he's capable of doing," Harbaugh said. "It's at an otherworldly level.
"How can I coach him and make him not a victim of coaching and not take away that superpower that he has? I'm not going to be the one to do that," Harbaugh added.
Harbaugh was also asked about wide receiver Joshua Palmer, who slipped and appeared to injure his arm against Carolina.
"As far as Justin and all the players, we'll have a lot more information on Wednesday when the injury report comes out," Harbaugh said.
Browse through live action photos of the Bolts Week 2 matchup against the Panthers in Carolina.
3. Defense stays fresh
The Bolts defense ranks at or near the top of the league in multiple categories.
And Sunday was another productive outing as the Chargers limited Carolina to only 159 scrimmage yards on the day. That marked the sixth time since 2000 that the Chargers have limited an opponent to under 175 scrimmage yards in a single game.
The Panthers also went 1-for-12 on third downs and were a combined 2-of-15 on third and fourth downs.
"Great team defense," Harbaugh said.
But a hidden stat from Sunday is that the Bolts employed a steady rotation of players that allowed everyone to stay fresh.
Only safety Elijah Molden played all 48 defensive snaps as multiple position groups used a convoy of players.
Khalil Mack, for example, played only 32 snaps. Bud Dupree and Tuli Tuipulotu played 31 snaps each while Joey Bosa played just 14 and had a sack after working through a back injury last week.
Depth players such as Teair Tart, AJ Finley, Tony Jefferson, Troy Dye, Deane Leonard and Cam Hart all saw more playing time than Week 1.
"Great observation," Harbaugh said when asked about the rotation by Chargers.com. "We had 22 players who played on defense. The rotations were really good.
"More importantly, anytime anybody went in, they played really well," Harbaugh added.
Keeping players fresh early in the season is key, especially with the 2-0 Steelers awaiting in Week 3.
4. Assessing the 2-0 start
Harbaugh quipped before Week 1 that a season opener was like jumping out of an airplane and hoping your parachute was packed correctly.
Put another way, there are a lot of unknowns in the first month of the season.
Harbaugh on Monday was asked if anything had surprised him about his squad getting off to a perfect 2-0 start.
"You don't know until you go out and play the games. We really don't know," Harbaugh said. "I mean, we had a [season and home] opener against the Raiders and we had the opener on the road against the Panthers.
"Our team looks really good at openers, you know, so let's just start treating them all like openers," Harbaugh added.
Did we mention that the Steelers have their home opener on Sunday?
Per NFL research, the Steelers are only the 10th team since 2014 to start the season with a 2-0 record with both wins on the road.
Harbaugh on Monday was effusive in his praise and respect for the Steelers and the city of Pittsburgh.
"This week really, going to Pittsburgh, the challenge that's going to be … this is opener against the playoff team. Against the Pittsburgh Steelers," Harbaugh said.
He later added: "There's an aura there."
Both teams are 2-0 and have displayed dominant defenses through two games.
The Bolts rank first with 13 total points allowed while the Steelers are second with 16 points allowed.
"Let's find out what we're made of," Harbaugh said.
5. Embracing the rain
Chargers players had an off day Monday in Charlotte.
But the weather didn't cooperate as it rained all day in the Queen City.
Not that Harbaugh minds the gloomy weather.
The Chargers Head Coach said he actually embraces it and hopes a practice at UNC Charlotte later this week gets a little wet.
"I hope we have a rain practice," Harbaugh said. "I'll be hoping that one occurs, you'd like to get practice in liquid sunshine, we like to refer to that as.
"You know we're going to have a game like that on one of these Sundays," Harbaugh added. "If we can get a practice in the rain, it would be really good for us."
Sunday's weather forecast in Pittsburgh is expected to be a high of 78 degrees with a slight breeze and partly cloudy skies.
