The Chargers put the glove on their hand and smacked the Rams in the face with it before the 2017 season, declaring war with their new in-city rivals and demanding satisfaction.

They even had a catchy slogan and a TV ad called the “Fight for L.A.”

Cute stuff. However, the Rams met that challenge with a collective shrug and a “meh.” Because the Bolts stumbled to an 0-4 start and had trouble filling a small soccer stadium with their own fans. The Rams, meanwhile, started the Sean McVay era by going 11-5 and winning the division for the first time since 2003.

What’s more, according to Forbes, the Rams are now among the five-most valuable NFL franchises at $3.2 billion.

So, the Chargers have wisely backed off their ill-conceived motto from 2017 and on Sunday, get a chance to take a swipe at the Rams at the Coliseum. And while there are plenty of reasons to be excited for football season, there will be a sizeable contingent of media who will be focused on different things.

How many Chargers jerseys will we see? How many empty seats will there be? The obvious answers are very few and a decent amount, respectively. Speaking as an Angeleno, I can confirm, that the NFL hasn’t fully grabbed a hold of the populace’s attention.

Sure, I’m thrilled beyond belief to have the Rams back, but other franchises still have the city in a stranglehold. The Dodgers could find themselves in the playoffs again in just days and in a few weeks, Los Angeles will turn its complete attention to LeBron James.

But I’m not worried in the long term. It will be a process, but as long as the wins keep coming, the fans will eventually show up. We in Los Angeles are a fickle people, to be sure, but we really love a winner.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

SUPER BOWL CHECK

Time for a progress report on the teams I picked to reach the big game. The Steelers are now 0-1-1 after losing to the Chiefs, and are on the verge of becoming a total dumpster fire. Le’Veon Bell is sitting out, Ben Roethlisberger is being weird and Antonio Brown is doing what he does best besides catching footballs: making everything about himself.

I’m still not giving up on them. Like I’ve said before, this organization has seemed to thrive on drama in recent years.

Meanwhile, the Saints evened out at 1-1 thanks to a horrific performance from the Browns kicker. And suddenly, their Week 1 loss to the Buccaneers doesn’t seem as bad after Tampa took down the Eagles on Sunday.

All isn’t lost for me.

NFL’S TOP 10

1)  Rams – That’s right! The ultimate homer pick. Don’t @ me. However, I have facts to back it up. Since halftime of their Week 1 game against the Raiders, the Rams have outscored the opposition 57-0. The scary part is, I don’t feel they’ve played particularly well yet. They haven’t produced much of a pass rush, but once they do, we could be in uncharted territory.

2) Jaguars – Do I really think this is the second-best team in the league? No, but I always give extra credit for beating the Patriots. And Blake Bortles looked, gasp, great in the process.

3) Chiefs – Sure, maybe I’m falling for the flashy Andy Reid offense and Patrick Mahomes does look like the second coming. However! The Chiefs always look great in September, so I won’t be surprised if the wheels come off the bandwagon at some point. But for now, it’s all roses.

4) Vikings — They had a chance to beat the Packers when they got bailed out by a BS penalty on Clay Matthews in overtime. So, I guess it’s karma they missed the field goal to win it and had to settle for a tie. Everybody hates ties. They do deserve credit for fighting back from a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

5) Eagles – Bad loss on the road. It can’t be a coincidence that Carson Wentz will be back in the lineup for Sunday vs. the Colts.

6) Patriots – As a football fan, I was upset the Patriots traded for a talent like Josh Gordon. As a guy who has Gordon on his fantasy team, I was ecstatic. The Patriot Way will fix him! New England is just treading water until Julian Edelman gets back and once he does, this offense will look better. The Patriots are the anti-Chiefs in that they usually have a shaky September performance, but will have their house in order by November.

7) Packers – How long can this team survive on Aaron Rodgers’ gimpy leg? So far, so good. They’ve got three winnable games in a row coming up, so things should be fine in the short term.

8) Buccaneers – Credit where it’s due. Beating my Super Bowl favorite and the defending champions in consecutive weeks with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center? You can’t beat that.

9) Chargers – I still like this team a lot. But we’ll learn a lot more about this team’s potential on Sunday. More on that later.

10) Bengals – It must be a nice feeling to not just be 2-0, but to get your Thursday game out of the way early. They’ll be coming off a nice break when they face the Panthers on the road on Sunday.

WHAT’S THE CHATTER?

Kaep to Pats?: Colin Kaepernick’s lawyer dropped hints that two NFL teams are interested in signing his client. One is the Raiders, which makes no sense since they already traded for AJ McCarron to back up Derek Carr. The other? None other than the Patriots. That would be delicious.

Ben in the crossfire: Stormy Daniels doesn’t just take shots at Donald Trump in her new book. She says Ben Roethlisberger “terrified” her the day after she had sex with the president when the Steelers QB asked her for a “good night kiss.” Ugh. I’m not going to bring up Big Ben’s alleged past exploits, but they aren’t good. And this isn’t good. Maybe I should give up on the Steelers.

Sinking Seahawks: At some point, Russell Wilson will have to take some blame for holding the ball too long. Yes, his offensive line is terrible, but he needs to learn how to throw the ball away and live for another down. And Pete Carroll continues to give strange answers to simple questions.

QB sympathy: Ravens QB Joe Flacco is one guy who feels bad for defenders getting called for roughing the passer penalties. “This is football, man. We all sign up to get hit.” Well said, sir.

Put the kid in: Did you see the shot of Josh Rosen yawning on the sideline during the Cardinals’ blowout loss to the Rams? Hell, you might as well let him play. This team is awful and going nowhere fast. Give Rosen some reps.

Kickers suck: I don’t have anything to add to that. They’re responsible for tie games. And again, everyone hates ties.

 

WHAT TO WATCH IN WEEK 3

Saints at Falcons: I’m all about NFC South matchups. Always a good watch and plus, I get further data on my precious Saints.

49ers at Chiefs: Jimmy G and his Kyle Shanahan offense get their shot in Kansas City against the video game Chiefs. I expect both head coaches to stay up all night to add special gadget plays to win the war of minds.

Colts at Eagles: Carson Wentz is BACK! Hopefully he gets out of this one without aggravating his knee.

Bengals at Panthers: This is exactly the type of game the Bengals screw up. On the road and coming off a solid performance. Let’s see if Cincy can break the trend.

Broncos at Ravens: I’m not impressed with Denver. I think the Ravens are hungry to get the bad taste out of their mouths and will give the horsies a thumping.

Chargers at Rams: Appointment television. The Bolts are going to be hungry for this one and are undoubtedly looking to make a statement. I think they’ve got it in them to pull off the upset. That’s right, I said it.

Sid Saraf
Sid Saraf

NFL Analyst

Currently a Mobile Editor at Yahoo, Saraf spent 5.5 years (Oct. 2010 – Feb. 2016) working for FOX Sports as an NFL Editor and Writer. Prior to that, Saraf worked for CBS Interactive for 4.5 years (May 2006 – Oct. 2010) as a Staff Editor.

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