Chargers Say They Will Continue to Fight After Loss to Raiders

It was just another tough loss for the Chargers. They had an opportunity to win it at the end, and the ball came loose from Donald Parham’s hands.

Was it a touchdown? Was it a drop? It depends on whom you ask.

The reality is the Chargers are now 2-6 on the season.

“It sucks,” said Henry. “We put a lot of work into this. The guys in the locker room worked their tails off. Everyone works hard. It’s frustrating. It is frustrating to put it all out there and for it to come up short. It hurts definitely this one hurts.”

Frustration has to be a word that describes the Bolts locker room, but it was not just tonight.

Last week, they had a 21-point lead over divisional rival Denver Broncos. They started gaining momentum and were able to flip the game on the Chargers. They powered through and won the game on the field play of the game.

“Sh*t, I could talk about this since the second week of the season,” said Allen. “Just close games. We’re not winning them. That’s just been the story of the season so far in the first half.”

The Chargers celebrated tonight after they thought Parham had scored the touchdown. Looking at their faces, it was a relief that they had come back and won a game. Not have a team comeback on them. The referees overturned the touchdown.

“Just tough, man,” said tight end Hunter Henry. “That we got to keep fighting, we still turn this thing around. Obviously, every game right there. We got to find one.”

So what now?

“I don’t know what it is going to take,” explained Allen. “I don’t know what we got to do. We are going to keep working, and we’re going to keep fighting.”

One common word being used after the game was “fighting.”

The players say they will continue to fight to regain their season. They are now 0-3 in the division. They are calling good plays on offense but stall at times. They make stops on defense, but at one point, they start giving up big plays.

There have been question marks by people outside of the Chargers facility asking if Anthony Lynn is the right coach? Is Gus Bradley’s defense too predictable? What is going on with special teams?

There have been people calling for Lynn or Bradley to be fire. What does the future of the franchise believe?

“I believe in our coaching staff, and I believe in the team we have here,” said rookie quarterback Justin Herbert. “It hasn’t gone our way over the past couple of weeks. We’re a tough team. We’re tight locker room, and I believe 100% in all the guys and all the coaching staff that we have here.”

Does he feel like his team believes in the coaching staff?

“100 percent,” said Herbert.

There are questions, but the team won’t likely make a big move barring anything significant happening. The team still has eight games left on the schedule.

Can they turn it around?

It remains to be seen.

One thing that jumps out since the game week two matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs is that the team has found their quarterback of the future, and he is starting to step up as a leader on this team. He said the only other time he had a season resembling this was his freshman year at Oregon when they went 4-8. He said they stuck together and turned it around.

So what is his message now?

“You can’t give up,” said Herbert. “Losses are always tough. I’m not saying that they’re not. But you have to come together, and you have to stick together. You realize that it’s only us out there. Yeah, we’ve lost the last couple, but we’re going to stick together and have a good week of practice. We just got to keep fighting.”

Bulaga exits early

Chargers right tackle Bryan Bulaga started in his second consecutive game of the season. This was his fourth time dressing this season. He has only played in 100 percent of the snaps in two games. Today he lasted just two snaps.

He sustained a back-injury week three against the Carolina Panthers and was out for three games. Lynn said after the game, it is the same back injury. They will evaluate him further.

Special teams not so special

The Chargers special teams have been a thorn on the side this season. Today it happened again. It started on the second drive of the game; kicker Michael Badgley had an opportunity to put the first points on the board but missed a 48-yard field goal.

When he spoke to the media on Friday, he said he tries not to overthink it and get back out there when he misses. He did hit two later in the game, one from 45 the other from 29.

Lastly, the Bolts were down by two points with bout 8:20 left on the clock in the fourth quarter. The defense came up with a big stop. AJ cole punted to the Chargers, but KJ Hill muffed the ball, and the Raiders recovered. They settled for a field goal, but instead of being down by two, they were down by five. Special teams have hurt the Bolts at times this season.