At least the Chargers might spare everyone the wait this year.
uncertain
Chargers → spare → wait
Usually, it takes a while.
asserted
it → take → while
Enough promise to convince otherwise reasonable people that this is finally the season the Chargers stop being the Chargers.
asserted
Chargers → convince → people
Then comes the disappointment.
asserted
disappointment → come → ?
If they lose Sunday to the Raiders at SoFi Stadium, they will have considerably shortened the process.
asserted
they → lose → process
An 0-2 start, including a home loss to a rebuilding division rival, would get everyone to the familiar destination without all the trouble of building expectations first.
asserted
start → include → expectations
Unless, of course, the Chargers intend to do something about that.
asserted
Chargers → intend → that
Sunday would be a good time to start.
asserted
Sunday → start → ?
An energized Raiders team comes to Los Angeles with a victory over the Dolphins and an opportunity to send the Chargers deeper into an identity crisis that predates this season.
asserted
that → come → season
Those questions might sound harsh one week into a season.
uncertain
questions → sound → season
But the Chargers were embarrassed in the playoffs last season, and some of the same protection problems that left Herbert vulnerable followed them into their opening loss to the Cardinals.
asserted
that → embarrass → Cardinals
At some point, the benefit of the doubt becomes something a team has to earn back.
asserted
team → become → doubt
The Chargers have received plenty of it.
asserted
Chargers → receive → it
We spend so much time admiring their talent, imagining their ceiling and explaining why things should be different that we sometimes forget to demand proof that they actually are.
asserted
they → spend → proof
Then they make everyone who believed look foolish again.
Jim Harbaugh understands the immediate assignment.
asserted
Harbaugh → make → assignment
“It’s a feeling of when you get punched,” Harbaugh said.
asserted
Harbaugh → ’ → ?
“And how we respond is what I’m thinking about right now.”
There it is.
The punch.
With the Chargers, the concern is never simply whether they will absorb one.
asserted
they → respond → one
Every NFL team does.
asserted
team → do → ?
It is whether the next blow will expose the glass jaw people keep suspecting is there.
asserted
people → expose → jaw
That perception — soft, fragile, too easily knocked off course — follows them into every season.
asserted
perception → knock → season
No matter how promising things look, everyone seems to wait for the other shoe to drop.
asserted
shoe → look → ?
The Chargers don’t have to agree with that depiction.
asserted
Chargers → have → depiction
They do have to stop supplying the supporting evidence.
asserted
They → have → evidence
Against Arizona, their offense failed in the situations that separate an impressive collection of players from a dependable football team.
asserted
that → fail → team
“We didn’t get conversions when we needed to, didn’t move the ball when we needed to, and we turned the ball over too many times,” Herbert said.
asserted
Herbert → get → ball
“We can’t expect to win like that, and we have to be better because of it.
asserted
we → expect → it
But it’s reasonable to be concerned that they will carry into this Sunday and beyond.
asserted
they → ’ → Sunday
The Raiders produced five sacks against Miami, showing that Maxx Crosby now has help getting to the quarterback.
asserted
Crosby → produce → quarterback
If the Chargers cannot protect Herbert, their third-down problems against the Cardinals could quickly become a second-week issue and maybe a season-long worry.
uncertain
problems → protect → Cardinals
And every wasted possession creates another opportunity for Ashton Jeanty to help the Raiders control the game.
asserted
Raiders → waste → game
“It’s on us and offense to not have penalties, we got to score the points in the red zone, really execute those third downs and move the ball like we needed to,” Herbert said.
asserted
Herbert → ’ → ball
The transition to Mike McDaniel’s offense offers a convenient explanation for some early unevenness.
asserted
transition → offer → unevenness
Herbert is not reaching for it.
asserted
Herbert → reach → it
“I think it’s on us to execute.
asserted
it → think → us
We’ve run those plays since OTAs and since camp, so we know them and we just have to go out there and do what we’re capable of,” Herbert said.
asserted
Herbert → run → what
“That hasn’t been an issue at all, so we’re going to watch the film and see where we went wrong and learn from it.”
asserted
we → go → it
Because the Chargers have forfeited the right to explain away their failures.
asserted
Chargers → forfeit → failures
What they need now is a response that holds up when something goes wrong.
asserted
something → need → What
A defensive stop when Jeanty starts finding room.
asserted
Jeanty → start → room
Show that adversity can be limited to one bad possession instead of becoming the personality of an entire afternoon.
asserted
adversity → show → afternoon
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
