The Chargers asked their fans to wear powder blue on Sunday afternoon.
asserted
Chargers → ask → afternoon
SoFi Stadium turned black instead.
Raiders jerseys swallowed entire sections of the building, “Rai-ders!” chants rolled down from the upper deck to the lower bowl as silver and black easily outnumbered Chargers supporters by a 3-to-1 margin.
asserted
silver → turn → margin
By the fourth quarter, the NFL’s most expensive stadium looked less like the Chargers’ home and more like the world’s nicest Raiders bar.
asserted
stadium → look → bar
The Raiders completed their takeover on the field as well.
asserted
Raiders → complete → field
The Raiders beat the Chargers 26-14 Sunday, handing Los Angeles its second consecutive home loss to begin a season that arrived with Super Bowl expectations and has instead produced one of the NFL’s ugliest offenses.
asserted
that → beat → offenses
The Chargers have now lost their first two games by an identical score.
asserted
Chargers → lose → score
That’s not a typo, it’s a trend.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
The Chargers opened the season as heavy favorites with two winnable games at SoFi Stadium and somehow emerged 0-2.
asserted
Chargers → open → Stadium
Now they head to Buffalo searching for answers after an offense coordinated by Mike McDaniel has produced just 28 points in eight quarters.
asserted
offense → head → quarters
This wasn’t the offense that anyone envisioned when McDaniel arrived.
asserted
McDaniel → envision → that
Justin Herbert finished 15 of 26 for 192 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
asserted
Herbert → finish → touchdown
He was sacked three times.
asserted
He → sack → ?
Joe Alt committed three false-start penalties and a holding penalty that resulted in a late safety.
asserted
that → commit → safety
Cameron Dicker bounced a 58-yard field-goal attempt off the crossbar.
asserted
Dicker → bounce → crossbar
Omarion Hampton lost another costly fumble.
asserted
Hampton → lose → fumble
Speaking of fumbles, the Chargers had six of them — the most they’ve had in one game since 1987.
asserted
they → speak → 1987
The Chargers didn’t merely lose to the Raiders.
asserted
Chargers → lose → Raiders
They repeatedly helped them do it.
asserted
them → help → it
“We’re shooting ourselves in the foot,” Rashawn Slater said.
asserted
Slater → shoot → foot
“You’re never going to win like that.”
asserted
You → go → that
At this point, the Chargers might want to put the gun down.
uncertain
Chargers → want → gun
Herbert briefly gave them life when he escaped Maxx Crosby and found Oronde Gadsden for a 10-yard touchdown that gave Los Angeles a 14-10 lead.
asserted
that → give → lead
For a moment, SoFi awakened.
asserted
SoFi → awaken → moment
Then the Raiders took it right back.
asserted
Raiders → take → it
Kirk Cousins answered with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cody White, who had been elevated from the practice squad one day earlier.
asserted
who → answer → squad
Hampton’s fourth-quarter fumble was then scooped up by Jeremy Chinn and returned 43 yards, setting up White’s second touchdown.
Game over.
asserted
fumble → scoop → touchdown
What Chargers’ loss means
Jim Harbaugh is 0-2 for the first time in his college or NFL head-coaching career.
asserted
Harbaugh → mean → career
That statistic is surprising, but how the Chargers looked in these two losses is even more glaring.
asserted
looked → look → losses
Harbaugh keeps talking about “fight” and losing “in the margins.”
asserted
Harbaugh → keep → margins
Herbert keeps calling the mistakes “uncharacteristic.”
asserted
Herbert → keep → mistakes
Two weeks ago, that explanation worked.
asserted
explanation → work → ?
After two remarkably similar performances, uncharacteristic behavior is starting to look like a pattern.
asserted
behavior → start → pattern
“There’s no time for us to be patient with how we’re playing,” Herbert said.
asserted
Herbert → ’ → ?
“It’s not good enough, so we have to be better.”
asserted
we → ’ → ?
He’s right.
asserted
He → ’ → ?
McDaniel deserves time to install his offense, but the NFL doesn’t hand out grace periods.
asserted
NFL → deserve → periods
The Chargers were supposed to spend September refining a potentially dangerous offense against manageable opponents.
asserted
Chargers → suppose → opponents
Instead, they’re still looking for the instruction manual.
asserted
they → look → manual
The Chargers trailed 17-14 with less than four minutes remaining and still had a chance to steal a game they had spent most of the afternoon trying to give away.
asserted
they → trail → afternoon
Then Hampton put the ball on the ground.
asserted
Hampton → put → ground
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
