MIAMI — A few weeks ago, the Rams and Chargers got off to matching 2-0 starts for the first time since 2001, triumphant launches that even prompted some wistful and way-too-premature ponderings of an All-Los Angeles Super Bowl.
Now, like two bottle rockets veering wildly off course, the NFL franchises cross paths again and face similar predicaments.
Both are 3-2, coming off soul-stomping losses at SoFi Stadium, and are looking to right themselves with East Coast games against 1-4 teams in downward slides.
The Chargers play at the Miami Dolphins, who just lost to the Carolina Panthers and out-of-nowhere running back Rico Dowdle. He ran for 206 yards and was used so heavily that in the fourth quarter he had to leave the game temporarily because of cramping in both legs. He drank four jars of pickle juice before reentering, a hiatus that probably cost him the club’s single-game rushing record.
The Rams play at the Baltimore Ravens, coming off a 44-10 collapse to Houston. In a cruel twist, the Ravens are horrible on defense, typically Baltimore’s strong suit, and not just because they had to replace five injured defensive starters with rookies last week. They were bad before that. And quarterback Lamar Jackson is injured, too, so journeyman backup Cooper Rush is starting in his place.
These should be get-right games for the two L.A. teams, although the Rams are on footing that’s significantly more solid than the Chargers. The Rams would be 5-0 but for a blocked field-goal attempt at Philadelphia and a fumble at the goal line against San Francisco. That’s the way the NFL is, though, with a lot of games hinging on a play or two — and the Rams failed to make them.
After the Baltimore game, the Rams travel to London to face Jacksonville. When the schedule was released, that overseas game looked like the easier of the two. But the Jaguars have beaten San Francisco and Kansas City in consecutive weeks and figure to give the Rams all they can handle.
Meanwhile, after a 3-0 start against their AFC West foes, the Chargers are in a dire situation. They have lost two in a row, to the New York Giants and Washington Commanders, and their offensive line is a disaster. They have lost their two top running backs, too, and cannot protect Justin Herbert, absorbing more hits than any quarterback in the league.
This is a huge test for Jim Harbaugh, who has an established record of improving teams in his second season as coach. Last year’s Chargers made the playoffs and never lost more than two games in a row, so the standard has been set.
While the Rams and Chargers work to regain their equilibrium, others in their respective divisions are making a move. The 49ers have beaten all three NFC West opponents. The Denver Broncos, although they lost to the Chargers, are gathering momentum, including a win at Philadelphia last week.
The Eagles, it’s worth noting, are emblematic of the weirdness of the NFL. They’re coming off a Super Bowl win and have been so dominant, yet they lost Thursday night to the Giants.
With that in mind, it’s premature to write off the Chargers despite their problems, which don’t have a clear and immediate solution. It’s an unpredictable league.
The Chargers and Dolphins have more in common than misery. In an alternate universe, Herbert could be the quarterback in Miami, and Harbaugh could be his coach there.
Back in 2019, the widespread conjecture was the no-hope Dolphins were going to intentionally lose their games to get the No. 1 pick. Some fans coined a catchphrase — “Tank for Tua” — a reference to Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who did in fact wind up in Miami.
But by the end of that college football season, Louisiana State’s Joe Burrow was the projected top pick, and the Dolphins — led by coach Brian Flores and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick — refused to roll over. They won five games, securing the fifth pick, and chose Tagovailoa over Herbert, who went sixth to the Chargers. There was real debate in Miami over those two players.
As for Miami’s pursuit of Harbaugh, that came almost a decade earlier, when he was coaching at Stanford. In January 2011, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross hopped on a jet with his team general manager Jeff Ireland and advisor Carl Peterson and flew to the Bay Area, making a quiet (and failed) pitch to Harbaugh to be their next coach. It was embarrassing to the franchise when that word got out, because the Dolphins hadn’t fired existing coach Tony Sparano. Ross later held a news conference to apologize to Sparano. Days later, Harbaugh was hired as the new coach of the 49ers.
That’s all in the distant past, of course. The Chargers are focused on the present, as are the Rams. Who can stop the spiral? We should learn a lot in one Sunday.
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