By admin 
Right now, the Los Angeles Chargers are in a world of trouble after losing their first two games at home by 12 points apiece to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders. Their new offense under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel looks broken, their defense hasn’t been up to par and they will be facing bona fide contenders in each of their next seven games.
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That gauntlet begins this Sunday with a road game versus the Buffalo Bills, a team that has been scoring points with tons of ease to start this season and boasts arguably the NFL’s best quarterback in Josh Allen.
Allen will present a humongous challenge for an L.A. defense that allowed Jacoby Brissett and Kirk Cousins, who aren’t exactly stars, to play well beyond their current baselines in Week 1 and Week 2, respectively.
But he and his head coach, Joe Brady, know that the Chargers cannot be treated as a pushover — or they’re at least affecting that type of mentality.
Allen knows the Bolts have “real talent”
Allen, the NFL’s regular-season MVP for the 2024 season, mentioned two men in particular when he gave the Chargers’ defense some respect.
“I think that they’ve got some real talent. Khalil Mack’s one of the best pass rushers in the last 20 of so years. I think he still plays at a very high level. I think that their DBs are savvy. Obviously Derwin James is one of the better safeties in the league and he’s not afraid to come down and lay the boom.”
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Even at age 35, Mack is still a threat to create pressure off the edge. He has posted five total tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss, two quarterback hits and one sack to start the season. James, a five-time Pro Bowl safety, leads Los Angeles with 17 total tackles and nine solo tackles.
Brady, who replaced Sean McDermott after McDermott was fired in January and had been Buffalo’s offensive coordinator the previous two seasons, sounds like he still respects McDaniel, even if McDaniel’s offense has looked like a total mishmash to start the year.
“You have to defend every blade of grass on the field. He does an incredible job of finding the matchups and there’s a lot of motions and shifts. He makes your defense communicate a high level. They do a good job making things look the exact same and having the alternate plays off of it.”
If the Bills have a weak spot right now, it may be their defense, which gave up 31 points in both of their first two games against the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions. In particular, many consider their run defense to be faulty.
That could give L.A. running back Omarion Hampton an opportunity to eat well. He had 94 rushing yards and one touchdown on 23 rushing attempts in Week 2 versus Las Vegas, and his stock may be starting to rise just a bit.
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This story was originally published September 24, 2026 at 9:57 PM.