The NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend is over, and frankly it was significantly less exciting than Week 18. Who would have thought Regardless, I still sat through three days of football because the NFL is a great product and I’m a sucker for the playoffs.
This was the first time we saw Patrick Mahomes in the Wild Card round and the first time we’ve seen Derek Carr in the playoffs. Now let’s look around the AFC West to see what’s going on.
Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers have been relatively quiet as they head into their offseason. They have a great quarterback, so they are immune from quarterback rumors. They have a rookie head coach and somehow the Chargers are less dysfunctional than the Houston Texans, so Brandon Staley is safe for this year. However, not everyone was safe…
The #Chargers fired special teams coordinator Derius Swinton II, source said.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 14, 2022
Who in the world could every have imagined that the Chargers were unhappy with their special teams?? This has been an ongoing problem for the Chargers. We’ve laughed about it over the years. So now, the hunt begins. The Chargers have started interviewing potential candidates for the open special teams position:
Chargers interview New York Giants’ Thomas McGaughey for special teams https://t.co/iZnltFYwUC pic.twitter.com/Ramq63vi7O
— L.A. Daily News (@ladailynews) January 18, 2022
These interviews aren’t widely reported because people don’t care all that much about lower level coordinators but this could be an important change for the Chargers looking ahead to next season.
For players, their long offseason begins, but for some, they saw themselves named to the All-Pro Team (Second):
trust 'em, they're the pros
— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) January 15, 2022
Congrats to these players who are All-Pros, and yet, they are watching the playoffs from home. Good luck next year, Bolts.