What a bummer<\/a> for the thousands of Angelenos and other Bolts fans who filled the Kroenke Dome, marking the L.A. club\u2019s 10th season opener since the relocation.<\/p>\nThe 70,000, much like the football world at large, anticipated a comfortable victory from Harbaugh\u2019s heavily favored club, his third.<\/p>\n
They saw an entirely different performance on the fake grass.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals hogged the ball, blocked a punt, sacked Justin Herbert on fourth-and-goal and knocked Chargers star receiver Ladd McConkey out of the game with a chest injury in the third quarter \u2014 a clean blow created by a linebacker\u2019s superb read of Herbert\u2019s intention.<\/p>\n
The visiting team made fewer mistakes.<\/p>\n
It brought more force in all phases.<\/p>\n
It played faster. And smarter.<\/p>\n
So, keep an eye on rookie head coach Mike LaFleur.<\/p>\n
His Cardinals were 9 1\/2-point underdogs, the NFL\u2019s fattest margin in Week 1.<\/p>\n
At 39, LaFleur becomes the first Cardinals coach since 1973 to win his debut.<\/p>\n
The coach who did it then?<\/p>\n
Don Coryell.<\/p>\n
Harbaugh, 62, would\u2019ve endured less frustration Sunday had he sat in L.A. traffic for three hours.<\/p>\n
The defense had a bad first game under Chris O\u2019Leary, the rookie coordinator who Harbaugh promoted last winter after the Baltimore Ravens hired Jesse Minter to his first head coaching job.<\/p>\n
L.A.\u2019s offense did start fast under Harbaugh\u2019s new coordinator, Mike McDaniel.<\/p>\n
But after going 77 yards for a first-drive touchdown that tied the game, 7-7, the offense did more harm than good.<\/p>\n
In punt protection, L.A. looked clueless when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
From L.A.\u2019s 16, the unit allowed a free run up the middle by a former Charger.<\/p>\n
Simi Fehoko arrived so fast, off a cross stunt, that he all but took the ball off J.K. Scott\u2019s foot, putting Arizona at L.A.\u2019s 3.<\/p>\n
The ensuing TD, early in the fourth quarter, inflated the score to 24-13.<\/p>\n
Next to err was Herbert.<\/p>\n
On first down, he threw deep into heavy coverage for 5-foot-8 Derius Davis.<\/p>\n
Safety Andrew Wingard picked it off.<\/p>\n
Ordinarily, when an NFL team\u2019s season opener is evaluated, it makes no sense to draw a large narrative from the outcome.<\/p>\n
It takes four games to sort out a team\u2019s transition into a new season, per many NFL coaches and scouting executives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWeek 1 is always like jumping out of an airplane \u2013 you just hope it opens,\u201d Harbaugh said leading up to the opener, per the CBS game broadcast.<\/p>\n
Because of many factors, though, a mild exception must be made this time.<\/p>\n
The schedule is one of the factors.<\/p>\n
The Chargers very much wanted to be 2-0 going into a rugged seven-game stretch \u2013 Buffalo, Seattle, Kansas City on the road; home games against Denver and Houston; and a neutral-site match against the Rams.<\/p>\n
As Week 2 games go, the match against the visiting Raiders (1-0) will now carry extra importance for Harbaugh\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
If McConkey can\u2019t go against the Raiders, the Chargers will have more time to adjust to his absence than they did Sunday.<\/p>\n
But his absence was glaring.<\/p>\n
McConkey juiced the opening drive, catching three passes for 60 yards. Two drives later, he got the offense 24 yards by drawing a pass interference penalty.<\/p>\n
Almost everyone else on the offense had a subpar game.<\/p>\n
Getting trucked on a block attempt, receiver Dre Harris helped create running back Omarion Hampton\u2019s crucial fumble.<\/p>\n
When a speeding Harris tried to ram Wingard, the safety stood him up and drove him four yards backward into the ball-carrier.<\/p>\n
Rookie center Jake Slaughter was responsible for three consecutive penalties: consecutive false starts and his hold.<\/p>\n
Several defenders appeared either tentative or less explosive than normal or both.<\/p>\n
Even Derwin James fell off.<\/p>\n
After a good first half in coverage, the All-Pro safety saw All-Pro tight end Trey McBride elude two of his tackle attempts and beat him for a pair of key catches, one a touchdown.<\/p>\n
It was that kind of day in Chargers Land.<\/p>\n
The kind of day where pro-Chargers fans in San Diego probably wish they had gone to the beach or the park.<\/p>\n
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