Before the 2026 NFL season, if one said that the Las Vegas Raiders would be a better team than the Los Angeles Chargers, even through the first few games, they'd be portrayed as a madman. Now, it seems like those who don't hold that opinion after Week 2 are in full-fledged denial.
Not only did the Silver and Black somewhat handily take down the Chargers on Sunday to advance to 2-0, while Los Angeles moved to 0-2, but something peculiar happened in the process. Suddenly, fans of the Chargers are out on Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel.
At least, a lot of them seem to be.
After years of that fanbase taunting Las Vegas, even though they had no real ground to stand on, Raider Nation certainly doesn't feel bad that the Chargers are spiraling. In fact, it is twice, perhaps three times as sweet knowing that Klint Kubiak's team sent the Bolts into their vicious descent.
It took 1 game for Raiders' Klint Kubiak to end the Chargers as we know it
Los Angeles was already trending down before Week 2 after a 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals on opening weekend. But the vibe in that fanbase seemed to be that the Chargers would obviously rebound against the Raiders, their perceived little brother. They may even blow Las Vegas out.
But they couldn't have been more wrong, and now it is hilarious to see their fanbase losing their minds. One Silver and Black victory over Harbaugh, Herbert, and McDaniel, and Chargers fans are grabbing their pitchforks and questioning literally everything. And I mean everything.
Over at Bolt Beat, our sister site that covers the Los Angeles Chargers, Jason Reed wrote a column on Monday morning after the loss that will make Raiders fans absolutely crack up. Reed suggested that the Chargers should really consider opening the phone lines and potentially trading Herbert.
Yes, Herbert, the "If Man" himself, whom Los Angeles supporters have sworn up and down over the years, is an MVP-level player. The same quarterback who has been above blame or accountability for the Chargers' annual playoff meltdowns and shortcomings. The guy who has owned Las Vegas.
That guy.
At the onset of the season, belief in Herbert was sky-high. McDaniel was going to come in and transform the offense, making it more modern and unlike what Greg Roman ran in recent years, which apparently limited Herbert and didn't show his full abilities.
Harbaugh even said Herbert may end up as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. McDaniel also swore that a new part of his playbook was going to be opened up due to Herbert's immense ability and talent.
Chargers fans bought it, hook, line, and sinker. But now, they are collectively sinking into a pit of self-pity, as an 0-2 start and a loss to the Raiders was all they could take. Reed is also questioning what Harbaugh even does, and analysts are ripping McDaniel and Co. apart.
Based on my research, it doesn't seem like anyone is disagreeing all that much with these very extreme sentiments. The Chargers have hit rock bottom so early in this campaign, and it doesn't help that the optics are stunningly bad in Los Angeles as well.
Herbert and McDaniel look... let's just say uncomfortable or disconnected in the video from Sunday's broadcast that is making the rounds on social media. And our old friend Khalil Mack leaked the fact that he "blanked out" when Harbaugh was talking in the locker room after the Week 2 loss.
Nothing is going right for the Chargers, and while these frustrations may have been brewing for some time, that fanbase certainly was not showing it. It seems like, all of a sudden, Los Angeles is in a full-blown crisis, and losing to the Raiders is what set it off.
Trading Herbert is a discussion. Firing Harbaugh is a conversation. Giving up on McDaniel after two games is already being talked about. GM Joe Hortiz is being raked over the coals for wasting the team's money in free agency and blowing draft picks.
It is all coming to the surface at once for Los Angeles fans. Suddenly, they are seeing clearly. These folks are down in the dumps, and after they kicked Las Vegas fans when they were down, it is hard to feel too bad for those Chargers supporters.
I'm not anointing the Silver and Black just yet; Kubiak and the team have a long, long way to go. But I will take a premature victory lap because the Raiders certainly have a better outlook than Los Angeles does at this point.
And if Chargers fans taught me one thing, it's that it is not always necessarily just about what happens, but also very much about how things look. About what could happen. About where things may go. About what your team is possibly capable of.
So, I will live in hypothetical land and dunk on Los Angeles while I have the chance.
Much more fun when the shoe is on the other foot, isn't it?
Add us as a preferred source on Google