The first game of the season — and the Jim Harbaugh era — is in the books for the Chargers.
With a gritty 22-10 win over the Raiders, the Bolts were able to start the year on the right foot.
They also caught the eye of some of those around the league who were impressed by how they were able to perform in Week 1.
The Athletic's Ted Nguyen came away from the Week 1 victory feeling optimistic about the Chargers and Harbaugh's formula, which came together in a perfect way in the Head Coach's first game at the helm.
Nguyen wrote:
This is a game they would have typically lost in the past, but with Harbaugh, that's a win. New defensive coordinator Jesse Minter's defense was impressive. The combination of Khalil Mack and Joey Bosa was dominant and the run defense was much improved over last season. This is certainly a formula that could win and the passing game will keep getting better — [Justin] Herbert is just too talented. Quite the debut for Harbaugh.
Nguyen's colleague at The Athletic, Dan Pompei, echoed his sentiments and praised the Chargers Head Coach in his debut for the powder blue.
Pompei wrote he saw Harbaugh's effect on the team from the jump.
Pompei wrote:
The Chargers are not as talented as some teams, especially a certain AFC West rival, but they should be competitive in almost every game they play. To a degree, we can attribute that to the way Harbaugh coaches, which has helped him overcome talent deficits with several teams. It's partly scheme, but it's more than that. Harbaugh understands how to maximize talent both with the way he aligns players and the way he connects with them.
Get an inside look at the postgame celebration from the Chargers 22-10 win over the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium.
The Chargers got some standout performances by a number of players on both sides of the ball, including running back J.K. Dobbins with 135 rushing yards.
But Pro Football Focus' Ben Cooper tabbed outside linebacker Joey Bosa as the player of the game after being a non-stop game wrecker against both the run and the pass.
Cooper wrote:
Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa looked like his usual self, although his true impact came in run defense. While Bosa notched three quarterback pressures as a pass-rusher, he made two stops and forced a fumble on just 11 run-defense snaps.
Bosa finished the game tying for a team-high seven tackles, 1.0 sacks, one tackle for loss and one forced fumble.
Overall, it was a solid performance in the eyes of CBS Sports' John Breech, who gave the Bolts a ‘B grade’ following their tough win over their AFC West rival.
Breech wrote:
The Chargers spent the entire offseason saying they were going to run the ball more and they weren't kidding. In Jim Harbaugh's debut, they played a vintage Harbaugh game: They ran the ball at will and let their defense do the rest. J.K. Dobbins was the big reason why the rushing attack worked so well. The former Ravens running back averaged an astounding 13.5 yards per carry on 10 carries (if you're not a math person, that means he finished with 135 yards). Dobbins did almost all of his damage in the second half with 131 yards over the final two quarters. The Chargers defense forced three turnovers while also coming up with a big fourth-down stop in the first quarter, which set the tone for the game. It might not look sexy when Harbaugh's teams win, but they do win, and that's the only thing that matters.
The Chargers are on the road in Carolina for a Week 2 matchup.
