(photo credit: https://twitter.com/JameyMessina )

See that dude in the featured picture? He’s my front runner for defensive rookie of the year 2 weeks into the season, that’s how great Derwin James has been playing. I’ll get more into one of my new favorite players on the Chargers later in the blog but, what a relief it is to be at .500 right now. Not that a majority of Chargers fans were nervous about losing to the Bills, who may honestly be the worst team in the NFL right now, but if you’ve been a Chargers fan for long enough you know how some of these “easy” games go.

Bills fans knew they were in a tough spot out of the get go, even with that sweet little rap song that the Kale chick on twitter did. These fears were confirmed throughout the first half. Captain Rivers made good use of his receivers leading the team down the field, contributing to the Chargers scoring on 4 out of their first 5 drives. Usually I would now start talking about how Melvin Gordon did in the rushing attack, but the lead RB position looked to be held by none other than Austin Ekeler, who ended his day with two more rushing attempts than Melvin and 77 yards to Gordon’s 28. At 5’10” 200 lbs Austin Ekeler looked more like a young Marshawn Lynch, barreling through opponents and fighting for every inch of yardage. It’ll be interesting to see what happens to the running game moving forward as it’ll be hard to look past Ekeler’s recent production, we may be looking at a running back by committee approach if he keeps it up. Other tidbits from the offense include Virgil Green(3 Recs, 55 yds) actually looking like a pass catching tight end albeit for the near fumble he contributed to and although he was only targeted twice, Mike Williams has arrived! The touchdown he received was nothing short than a thing of beauty and the reason why Telesco drafted the 6’3″ receiver in the first place. Looking forward to seeing him leap over double coverage for many more games to come.

On to the defensive side of the ball…. you know what, lets just get to my star of the game. DERWIN MOTHER FUCKING JAMES BABYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!

(I know thats not Derwin James, but I expect that’s what Keenan was doing every time D33 made a play…. also I want credit for coining his nickname)

James was an absolute machine the entire game and Bradley smartly played him close to the line most of the day. D33 led both teams with seven tackles and one sack and possibly gained a new summer home in Josh Allen’s head. I’m very interested to see how Gus uses him this Sunday against the Rams, he could be the X-factor in deciding if we walk out of downtown LA with a W. Also, I said it before the beginning of the season and I’ll say it now in week 2, Derwin James should be considered a way too early favorite for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Following Derwin’s example, the other two rookies in Kyzir White and Uchenna Nwosu also showed out. White most notably going up for a great looking interception that would lead to the final dagger being placed into Buffalo’s chest.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Chris, the second half of the game was #NOTGOOD” and you’d be right. The Chargers seemed to take their foot off the gas after halftime came around just to raise the blood pressure of all the Bolt Faithful watching. HOWEVAAAAAA, I give you former Charger Nick Hardwick’s tweet:

And he’s right. No need to show the Rams, Raiders, etc. what we want to do moving forward. Lynn and company knew what they were doing once is became apparent that there was a very minimal chance that Josh Allen could bring this team back from the dead.

This upcoming Sunday against the Rams should be a pretty accurate test on how we’re going to fare against playoff bound teams. Hopes up high, heads down low!

#BoltUp

-Chris

Twitter: @ducksNbolts