Chargers Playoff Push: Facing the NFL’s Brutal Final Stretch & Can They Win Under Pressure?

Chargers Playoff Push: Facing the NFL’s Brutal Final Stretch & Can They Win Under Pressure?

The playoffs are very much in reach for the Chargers, but they’ll have to go at least 500 down the stretch with one of the toughest remaining schedules in the NFL. You are Locked On Chargers, your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Chargers, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. What is up and welcome into the Lockdown Chargers podcast. I’m your host, Daniel Wade, joined as always by my co-host, David Drogmire, and we’ve been covering the Chargers now for 10 seasons, but this is our eighth year as the host of the Locked on Chargers podcast, bringing you your team every day as part of the number one sports podcast network. But thank you to the everydayers out there for making us your first listen. To make sure you never miss the show, go subscribe or follow for free on the Lockdown Chargers YouTube channel and listen wherever you get your podcast from. David, what do we got today? High-powered offenses, lockown defenses. The Chargers are going to be tested throughout the last stretch of this season. And fortunately, it seems like all signs are pointing to them getting their young phenom running back Omaran Hampton back hopefully for that difficult stretch. And seems like Jesse Mentor may be getting some head coaching interviews after all. Yeah, and we knew that would happen, but obviously it’s been an up and down year for that defense. But it’s good news if he is sticking around. Today’s episode is sponsored by Prize Picks. Download the Prize Pix app today and use the code lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. David, a little bit of a schedule change this week coming off of the buy week with a special interview tomorrow with Chris Hayy that we’re very excited about. Today we are doing a buy or sell Monday getting into the biggest Charger storylines and overreactions and the playoff picture is starting to form David with the Chargers having six remaining games in 2025. It is going to be very very tough for them to do what they have to do to make the playoffs and I think the biggest buyer sell for me right now is this buy or sell. The Chargers have one of the toughest schedules remaining in the NFL over the last six games of the season. Yeah, it definitely is. I have to buy it. Um, this is going to be a challenge for sure for the Chargers. You look at this and on the offensive side, Dallas is fourth in points per game. Kansas City is ninth in points per game. And on defense, Houston number two in points per game allowed. Denver number three in points per game allowed. Kansas City number four in points per game allowed. And Philadelphia number eight in points per game allowed. So, the Chargers are going to be tested on both sides of the ball, whether it’s offensively, defensively. They’re going to have to show up. And hey, to be able to get to the playoffs, you’re going to have to go through playoff teams. And they have several of them right now that are sitting in playoff spots. And if the Chargers want to get where they need to go, they’re going to have to take care of business. And it’s not going to be easy. Yeah. And like I said at the beginning of the show, it feels like three is the magic number for the Chargers to give themselves a good chance. I don’t think it necessarily locks them in. If you get to 10 wins though, that should be enough to get you in. And I think that when you look at it, it may not be the toughest schedule out there, especially because the Chargers have the Raiders this week, but that’s it. Like the the Raiders are the last kind of, you know, team the Chargers absolutely should be that’s left on your SK on their schedule. I mean, you have other teams like the Bears who get, you know, the Packers twice, the Lions, 49ers, Eagles still left on their schedule. The Colts still have a really hard schedule. They have to play the Jags and the Texans twice and then also get the Seahawks and the 49ers. So, it could be worse. But for this Chargers team, like it they’re going to have to play better than we’ve really seen them play all year over a six game stretch for them to do enough to make the playoffs. But I do think that having to earn it against these specific teams that they’re going to have to play to do it is going to tell us something about this team because David, that’s why the next buy or sell is this buy or sell. If the Chargers beat the teams necessary to make the playoffs, they will have shown us that they can win a playoff game. Yeah, this is an easy 100% buy here. I think this is going to be a true litmus test of if this team actually can make it to the playoffs, if they are prepared, if they’re ready. They’re going to have to go play some tough games on the road. They’re going to have to play some games against some really tough defenses like I I mentioned, some games against some offenses that can put up points in in a hurry. And the Chargers are going to have to answer that. They’re going to have to have answers for those questions. And if they do, if they are able to find those, if they’re able to get those wins against these tough opponents, then yeah, I think you can feel good that once they get to the playoffs, that they will be battle tested, that they will be ready, that they’ll have momentum, and that they will be in position to hopefully pick up a much needed playoff win. Yeah. And like I think the only way that this wouldn’t be a buy is if the Broncos end up resting their starters in week 18. And I think that’s one of the kind of bigger storylines that we’ll have to talk about more going towards the end of the season is if they’ll need it. Right. Right now they’re battling it out with the Patriots at the top of the AFC with only two losses each for who’s going to be that number one seed. If they’re not playing for the number one seed and the Chiefs don’t make a miraculous comeback to chase them down for the division, there is a chance they won’t have to play their starters in week 18, which is a game obviously at that point you should win. But to your point, four top 10 defenses they have to play, three top five defenses that they have to play with the offense in the current state that it’s in right now in the specific part of it being you don’t have anyone who can protect Justin Herbert. If they can beat, you know, some of those great great defenses, that will show you something. And then you get the Cowboys, right, who over the last couple weeks, whether or not they’re going to make the playoffs or not, they look like a playoff team. you know, the addition of Quinnon Williams obviously is paying off for them, but they just they’re coming off of a win against the Eagles this week. So, like that’s a really good team with specifically a really good offense. And the one thing, you know, there’s one thing we kind of know about Jesse Mentor in his time with the Chargers so far through a year and a half is his defense has really struggled against the top offenses in the league and then even last week struggled against what was not one of the top offenses in the league. So, I think that if they can go out there and beat the Eagles with that defense, if they can beat the Texans with that defense and show you that even against some of the top defenses, like there’s some of these like the Texans game like right now coming off the game we just saw, it feels like the Chargers would be lucky to score 10 points in that game. Like with how ferocious, how mean, how fast that defense is, what they just did to the Bills last weekend. I don’t care if it’s Davis Mills or not. Like it could be Davis Webb. It could be anybody out there. it almost doesn’t matter with how good that defense is. They’re going to have to prove it. And not only that, because of the situation that they have being seven and four instead of maybe eight and three and losing to the Jaguars who now have the, you know, wildcard tiebreaker over you at that point, like you’re going to be playing in super highressured spotlight games that you’re going to have to win. So, you’re not necessarily going to get the full, you know, playoff experience in those games, but you’re going to have big time games that you’re going to have to win. You’re going to get the next closest thing. So, that’s why I think like as much as right now it feels like the Chargers, their best case scenario could be going to the playoffs and losing in round one. If they make the playoffs, they’re going to have to beat some teams that are going to be in the playoffs, right? perspective, you know, depending on what game we’re already going to have seen them beat some teams that they’re going to have to play once they get there. But let’s get to this last buy or sell here from Frank Whitman who says, “The buy or sell, the by-week is what this team needed to finish the season 4 and two down the stretch.” four and two, David, that I mean, if they could do that, I I think you can lock them into the playoffs right now. Uh I would have a much different perspective of this team if they could pull that off, man. That would be awesome. That that would be the type of finish that you would want. That’s the momentum that you want to take going into the playoffs when obviously everything is heightened, ratcheted up intensity, and of course, it’s one and done. So, if you could take that momentum and really take it into the tournament, man, that would be fantastic. But unfortunately, this by-week is not going to bring Joal back. It’s It’s not going to all of a sudden activate Rashawn Slater. It’s just not going to happen, right? So, that the same issues that they have been plagued with all season are still going to be there. Obviously, hopefully Amarian Hampton comes back and helps uh mitigate some of that from the running game aspect of it, but the pass protection is what it is. And hopefully, you know, they took this time with the players away from the building and tried to figure out their best five offensive linemen, right? To try to figure out who is going to be the guys that are going to pro to provide that protection for Justin Herbert. And it’s still there’s not a lot of good options. So hopefully they’re able to provide some decent protection, but the fact of the matter is is it’s not going to change who they have out there. They’re just going to have to try to put those guys in the best positions to have success. Yeah. Like the thing is I think the by-week absolutely helps, right? It definitely doesn’t hurt. Four and two in that stretch though. It it just seems improbable right now. Like it feels like the best they could do is three and three and three and three would still have to take them winning some games we might might not expect them to win right now. But it’s important like you don’t have the tiebreaker over the Jaguars or the Colts. you’re only a game ahead of the Chiefs, the Texans, and the Ravens, who I think in the the latter part will probably run away with the AFC North. But it doesn’t matter. Like, we’ll see what happens at the end of the year. Right now, it’s hard to see four and two, but the one thing the by-week should be bringing back is Omaron Hampton, who has quietly and maybe some people have forgotten has been one of the best backs in the NFL so far this season. So, we’re going to talk about if that could maybe potentially make Justin Herbert play a little bit less hero ball and more in today’s Locked On Chargers podcast. This episode is brought to you by Prize Picks. You and I make decisions every day, but on Prize Picks, being right can get you paid. Don’t miss any of the excitement from this sports season. 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All you have to do download the price fix app today and use the code lockdown NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code lockdown NFL for $50 in lineups after your first $5 lineup price fix. It’s good to be right, David. Well, let’s talk about some good news which we’re hoping to get and we might have by the time we talk to you. Hopefully we hear from Jim Harbaugh today on Monday and get an update and and hear some sweet words come out of his mouth that we can talk to Chris Hayy with and that is we have opened the window for Marian Hampton to return. These are things that really haven’t been broken by, you know, the major news breakers of the NFL. We’ve mostly heard it come out of Jim Harbaugh’s mouth when we’re hearing these this news for the first time. Obviously, it’s been radio silence for the Chargers over the last week during their bye-week. We should get that good news today and it should make a big difference for the Chargers offense. David which leads his buy or sell from Chargers Barney who says buy or sell with Omaron Hampton returning after the buy. Justin Herbert won’t have to rely on playing superhero ball and we’ll be smarter with the football when it comes to passes. As always, FTR r agreed on that. David, you buying or selling? I’m going to buy it. Um because I the the reason why is because the way Omar and Hampton runs the football. uh he is a load to try to take down. He he is a physical runner. He gets those extra yards. He’s constantly turning those legs and also he’s a weapon in the passing game as a receiver out of the back field. And I think Justin Herbert needs that. He needs a quick outlet, somebody you can get the ball to quickly that can go make people miss in the open field that you can feel safe, get the ball out of his hands a little bit quicker and just have more balance on offense. The Chargers are at their best when they’re able to have balance, when they’re able to dictate what they want to do running the football, set up those shorter down in distances, stay out of third and long, when you can really put your very limited offensive line at a very serious conflict. If you could try to avoid those situations, Amarian Hampton is what helped you do that. He his ability to really churn out those tough yards and be a valve, a safety valve in the passing game will absolutely help out this offense. And man, they have desperately missed the rookie out of UNCC. Yeah, I think it just changes kind of everything from a game script perspective. you hope, right, that you won’t be just having these terrible sequences of series where just nothing is going right for your offense if you’re able to use him to get ahead of the sticks and bring what he was able to do bring to the table. I think the one thing we’ve talked about consistently is just not thinking that he’s going to be able to save the Chargers offense or running game. Like you still need the blocking there and the Chargers have struggle struggled from that aspect as well. But he does help because he can overcome some bad blocking which is something they don’t have as much of with Kimmani Vidal and like for the most part Justin Irv in that last game obviously a brutal interception. We’ve also talked at length about the amount of tipped interceptions like things like that that he’s had. I don’t know if most of his picks have be been because of her ball right and Herobball also has won them kind of a couple of games this season. Not kind of. I mean won them the game against the Broncos, won them the game against the Dolphins. and it’s probably still going to be needed a lot during these final six game stretches with the teams that they have to play. So, what I would say is even though Kamani Vidal has been really good for the Chargers and better I think than anyone has expected, having both of those guys gives you two capable backs and it’s just different. Like I said, he’s more capable of kind of elevating the blocking in front of him. Amarian Hampton had 22 missed tackles forced in 66 carries so far in 2025. Kamani Vidal has 15 on 96 carries. 30 more carries, man. That’s crazy. And how crazy is that to have a third of your carries be missed tackles forced? Jonathan Taylor forces one every 3.9 carries. Bean Robinson forces one every 3.2 carries. Jir Gibbs forces one every 3.9 carries. It’s the best in the NFL of anyone that has at least 50 attempts so far this year. So that is what Omar Hampton has brought to the table so far this year. He also has the third best elusiveness rating in the league so far of anyone with at least 50 carries only behind two guys you probably heard of Jonathan Taylor and Bejan Robinson. So he has been as advertised as a first round pick at running back and those are just his running statistics. Obviously he’s brought a lot through the passing game as well but yeah it does help a little bit. They need everything they can get offensively right now. But let’s get to this one here from Jackson, who I think brings up a good point, saying, “Buy or sell. The Chargers need all caps to blow out the Raiders to get the ship in the right direction.” Also, David, you’re incorrect. It’s sweet potato casserole with the caramelized brown sugar on top as far as best Thanksgiving sides. David put out his buyer cell on that. We’re going to get and revisit that later. But as far as this, David, do you think he has a point about the Chargers needing to blow the Raiders out this weekend? Definitely 100% he has a point. Uh I’m going to buy it. They could use a big-time win in convincing fashion for the confidence and for that positive momentum. It’s not going to convince people that they’re back on track, but hopefully that momentum can carry them into the tougher matchups that are preceding this Raiders game that’s coming up. The Raiders have lost five straight. They’ve also lost nine of their last 10 games. it would be unacceptable to lose this game. Uh, you know, we’ll talk about a little bit more as the week goes on. I mean, when we get to crossover Thursday, I mean, to me, this is a must-win game for the Chargers. And like, I don’t know if they necessarily have to beat them by 30, but like be nice. This is a game that you you should not have to struggle in the fourth quarter, right? Like, that’s all I’m looking for. It should not be a close game where you’re sweating it out in the fourth quarter. We’re talking about a Raiders team that just fired their offensive coordinator Chip Kelly after another terrible loss. This time a two touchdown loss to Shador Sanders in his first start uh with 10 sacks allowed. Well, I’m sure that’ll be something that gets brought up later in the week, too. They just fired their special teams coordinator two weeks ago. So, pretty sure had like half of those. Oh, yeah. Miles Garrett has 18 sacks in 11. An absolute. All those people that said you we shouldn’t be trading two the Chargers shouldn’t be trading two first round picks for Miles Garrett when we had that combo in the offseason. 18 sacks in 11 games is what Miles Garrett could do. But we’re talking about a Raiders team that has a negative 31 point differential over their last two weeks. Like it it shouldn’t be close at all. But what can you get from that? That that is a question I think to your point. This is from John Clark who says buy or sell. The biggest takeaway from this next game is related to the makeup of this team. Even given our injuries, there’s no way this team should lose to the Raiders with the Bolts having gained so much needed rest, getting some guys back in two weeks to plan against them. What do you think? 100% the Chargers should dominate this team. Uh the the Raiders have lost seven of their nine losses have been by 10 points or more like and the other two have been very very close losses uh as so it’s kind of weird, but most of their losses have not been close. So the the Chargers have are including one of those obviously being the Chargers who beat them 20 to9 earlier in the season on September the 15th. So the Chargers are a much better football team than the Raiders in every way, every shape, form or fashion. And they should go out there and demonstrate that by beating the brakes off of them and taking that momentum into the much more difficult parts of their schedule. They absolutely need this win, especially after the embarrassment that they put on tape before their by-week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. It is definitely time to get right. It is 100%. I think though as far as this buy or sell, I think I’m actually selling it. I mean, the buyer sell is that the biggest takeaway from this next game is related to the makeup of this team. I don’t think we can learn anything about the makeup of this team in this game, right? Like I I don’t like you said, I don’t think there’s any I don’t think there’s anything they can do in this game that makes you confident that, you know, they’re the team they’re going to need to be to beat the other teams like the Eagles and the Chiefs and the Broncos and the Texans that are left on this schedule. Like I think when we learn about the makeup of this team, it’ll be against those teams in those high pressure moments that will decide whether or not they make the playoffs this season. What I would say though, to your point, maybe John is just like if they lose against this Raiders team, that might tell us something about the makeup of this team because even with as much as they’ve struggled, even with the injuries that they have right now, there is zero excuses to lose to this team, especially when you’re still so in it and you have everything that you want still ahead of you. But we do have more to get into, including one of the hot names in this next upcoming coaching cycle, Jesse Mentor. Could he be leaving? Could he be sticking around for a long time? And we’re getting into all that and more in today’s Locked On Chargers podcast. NFL season is back and honestly, there’s nothing better than being in the stadium surrounded by fans cheering on your team. But let’s be honest, getting tickets can be a hassle. Between cues, login screens, and prices jumping up at checkout. It’s frustrating. 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All you have to do, download the Game Time app, create an account, and use the code lockdown NFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, that’s promo code L C NFL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go download Game Time today. David, we still have more to get into because we have a lot more buy or sells from the everyday getting into more of the Chargers storylines and overreactions. But thank you guys as always for checking out the show and making us your first listen. If you need a second listen, make sure to check out Lockdown NFL, which has two shows per day with a very different perspective on each with Tyler Roland in the morning and Tony Wiggins later on bringing you that on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast from. Let’s get back to these buyer sells David including one from my fan favorite Air calling into the show today with some thoughts about Jesse Mter. Daniel David a buy or sell Monday. Jesse Mtor would not leave the Chargers until they won the Super Bowl. I am buying it. What are your thought? Remember he did it at Michigan. Love you my boys. Thanks. Yeah, I mean that’s the thing. You don’t know when or if they’re going to win the Super Bowl. He could be coaching them into his grave. You just don’t know. But I think it’s interesting, David, because we have start to see already that Jesse Mentor is starting to pop up as far as one of the hot names in this next up and cominging cycle of head coaching jobs. Yeah, the the insiders, guys like Jeremy Fowler and Tom Pelisero have reported that Jesse Mter will indeed be getting head coaching interviews in this next co head coaching cycle. So, uh, don’t be surprised if he’s getting getting some interviews out there. I don’t feel just the way the way my gut feeling is is I don’t feel like he’s going to leave after this season. I think he might stay another season and then after that after he’s able to put together probably a more comprehensive thorough defensive campaign, a little bit more convincing, a little bit more dominating because he’s shown some great games, had some good game plans, but he’s also had some really bad performances against the Colts, against the Jaguars. So, I think another year of him being a defensive coordinator would would not be a bad thing. But, I do love Jesse Mter. I feel like he is a a a very intelligent coach, very well spoken, very passionate, clearly uh knows what he’s doing on the defensive side, knows how to put together a great defensive coaching staff. So, I think there’s going to be very little time between now and when Jesse Mentor is leading an NFL franchise. I just hope it’s a little bit longer. Yeah, I mean, I’m going to sell it unless the Chargers win the Super Bowl in 2026, right? I think it could probably take him one more cycle, but it is a finicky, tricky game deciding when to leave a team. Like I don’t think he’s necessarily going to stay out of the goodness of his heart or state to try to prove something to Chargers fans that he can go win a Super Bowl because the thing is is like when you’re a hot coordinator, you have to be able to strike while the iron is hot. But at the same time, you want to wait for the right opportunity. I mean, look at Ben Johnson, right? He waited. He had opportunities for two off seasons. He was a hot name in the cycle. he decided to stay and now looks like he has a good situation with the Bears right now and then a quarterback setup and all of that stuff. On the flip side of that, you could be someone like Lou Anarumo whose Cincinnati Bengals defense carried Joe Burrow to a Super Bowl. He stayed with Cincinnati until the point where they lost all the talent they had on the defensive side, only paid basically the offensive players and they ended up getting fired, right? Like that is like defense from year to year can be tricky. You have to be able to take it when it’s available to you. And even with as up and down as it feels like this year, these are the Chargers ranks defensively. They’re still top 10 in points per game allowed. They’re fifth in yards per game allowed, eighth in yards per play allowed, fourth in passing yards allowed, fifth in red zone conversion percentage, and sixth in red zone efficiency as far as keeping teams out of the end zone once they get to the red zone. Now, we know what the Achilles heel has been, and I think that’s kind of where he’s going to have to show he can be different, right? 17th in rush yards allowed, 26th in yards per carry, 27th in defensive success rate against the run. Yeah, if I’m another team or a team, you know, p, you know, with him potentially being my next head coach, uh, I’m going to be pretty bothered by, you know, how bad they have been against the run so far this year. and also that the good offenses have seemed to always have the game plan to get around whatever he’s doing defensively. At the end of the day, I think Jesse Mentor maximizes the players under him. I think he has the demeanor of someone who will eventually be a head coach. And I think that’s a lot of what you’re looking for, right? Can he maximize the talent he has available? I’ve never really thought, you know, over any stretch of games that’s not a oneame sample size that Jesse Mter isn’t getting the most out of what he has available to him. So, I think if he has the chance, he’ll probably bolt, but I do think that it’ll probably take one more off season, and the Chargers, you know, we’ll we’ll have to try to get it done with him in 2026. Let’s get to this one here from Big Daddy E, who says, “Buy or sell. The coaching has been a bigger factor with the inconsistency of this team rather than the injuries. Happy Thanksgiving, fellas. The audience is thankful for your hard work and the content you bring all year. Great content.” Dave, what do you think here? This is an interesting one. I I think both have a part you play in it. Do you think the coaching has been the biggest of factors? Absolutely not. The injuries have been the biggest fa factor on the inconsistency of this football team for me and it’s really not that close. Uh whenever you lose both of your allp pro starting level tackles on both sides and lose both of your starting running backs for the majority of the season. Also, losing Khalil Mack, you know, one of the most important defensive players, scratch that, one of the most important players on your football team, period. It’s going to have an effect. All of those injuries have had significant effects. The the injuries to the tackles uh really doesn’t allow them to utilize those guys as masks to cover up all of the other obvious deficiencies and flaws that the Chargers offensive line has showcased. And for as well as Kaimmani Videll has done in, you know, the the short, you know, service that he’s been able to provide, he’s not Omaran Hampton. He’s not Naji Harris who is really just about to get rolling and unfortunately got, you know, his season cut short. Uh it it’s just it’s been a huge massive factor on how the Chargers are able to play, how they have to scheme up the the game, how they have to game plan. The injuries have affected everything. Yeah. Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I mean, I think last year you saw uh Justin Herbert’s injuries, right? Kind of limiting what the Chargers could do offensively. And, you know, that’s an excuse that Greg Roman could use for a lot of the season last year. As much as I don’t want to absolve Greg Roman and won’t absolve Greg Roman for the struggles he’s had at times this year, I think if they had Joan Slater, we would think differently about this team and probably their offensive coaching staff as well, covering up some of those deficiencies that you talked about. Then again, you know, some of the well and also, you know, some of the worst defensive performances have been in part because the offense has fallen off a cliff in those games, right? like including the Commanders game, obviously last game against the Jaguars, even in that Colts game, right? Like that obviously the defense played terribly, the Chargers turned it over twice in the red zone in that game. You think that could have made a difference? So like is Yeah, it has to be the injuries and it’s not just injuries, it’s injuries to the players who ended up getting hurt. Like you just no team has the depth at tackle to replace what the Chargers lost there. And those are the two most significant injuries that have affected the trajectory of the Chargers season the most. Um, but again, like that that means it just opens up more uh criticism for what you didn’t do on the interior of the offensive line, right? Like doesn’t absolve anyone, but I do think it is the biggest factor. Losing those guys, I think we’d feel a lot differently about that offense if we had uh if we could see those two guys still out there for the Chargers. But let’s get into a couple fun ones. David, it is Thanksgiving week and you started your buy or sell train with a buy or sell about Thanksgiving that I think is a hot take. you had a buy or sell mac and cheese is the best side at Thanksgiving. That is interesting. I don’t know. I don’t think it’s blasphemy. Uh but I would say like as much as mac and cheese to me is probably on like the Mount Rushmore of sides in general. I don’t know if it’s a traditional Thanksgiving side. I had a Thanksgiving dinner, you know, the other day. Did not have a mac and cheese on the spread. Um, but also I would have mashed potatoes. Uh, mashed potato stuffing, green bean, and potato casserole are all up there for me. Uh, but I know mashed potatoes are not an option for you. Are we Are we willing to get into the story? Because I don’t. Yeah, I I I’ll get into the story. Uh, yeah, mashed potatoes is not something that I will eat. And the reason for that is because when I was younger, my sister uh would would make food sometimes and she would make she made mashed potatoes one day. And you know, I was pretty pretty young, probably six or seven. And at the time, I was like, I’m not doing that. I don’t want that. I don’t, you know, I just try to completely uh, you know, get out of that. But my sister was having none of that. And so, she tried to force feed me the mashed potatoes. I threw them up. And then after that, I have never wanted mashed potatoes ever in my life. Scratch. one time when I had them at Hell’s Kitchen and I didn’t even know that they were actually mashed potatoes. But that is the story. Don’t like mashed potatoes. No thank you. Never again. So when you ate them at Hell’s Kitchen, did you not like them? Did you tell instantly or like once you ate them or did you eat them and you’re like, “Okay, that was fine.” And then you realize it. Yeah, it was with the beef Wellington. Actually, it was pretty honestly it was pretty good. I’m not going to lie. It might be time to open it back up. I don’t know. The trauma is real. Yeah. No, I I I get it. I mean, I think anyone’s had an, you know, situation where you get maybe not even food poisoning, but you get really sick and then kind of the last thing that you ate is like off the list for a good long time once you’re throwing it back up. Uh, you know, mac and cheese is a great side. I don’t know if it’s, you know, top Thanksgiving side. Uh, but I guess my Thanksgiving buy or sell would be buy or sell. Ham is the better main entree at Thanksgiving than turkey is. And I I’ll I’ll stand 10 toes on that one. I 100,000% agree. I do not like turkey. I don’t like the taste. I don’t like the tryptophan like make you want to go to sleep like immediately. I don’t like that feeling. I will always enjoy a nice honey glazed ham every day of the week over turkey. No question about it. Let us know if you have any uh you know buy or sell biggest storylines or overreactions regarding Thanksgiving. We want to hear about them. But yeah, I think to me like turkey it can be good. Like it can be good. But I just think there’s so much variance like you have to cook it perfectly. Whoever’s doing it has to know what they’re doing. And a lot of times it just ends up being dry. That’s my main thing. I don’t want dry ham. Way higher hit rate. Like usually like I can’t remember the last time I had a Thanksgiving ham. And some people think it’s more of a Christmas thing. I understand that there’s always ham at my Thanksgiving. Uh, and that’s always what I’m going to first, even over the turkey, which, you know, gets all the headlines, uh, you know, gets all the the fame and glitz and glory, uh, but probably doesn’t have the the hit rate that ham does once Thanksgiving rolls around. But that’s going to wrap things up for today’s show. Make sure you’re back here tomorrow because we have a big time special interview with Chris Hayyrie. So to make sure you don’t miss it, go subscribe or follow for free on the Lockdown Chargers YouTube channel and listen wherever you get your podcast from as well as finding the show every day on all of our social media. Lockdown LAC on Twitter, Lockdown Chargers on Instagram and our Lockdown Chargers Facebook page. If you want to get involved and call into the voicemail line, you can do that at 323-5247924 and give us your 30 secondond Chargers bold prediction buy or sell or Chargers fan question. But that’s going to wrap things up for today’s show. Make sure you guys are back here tomorrow for a big time interview with Chris Hayvery. And until then, take it easy and go Bulls.

Daniel Wade and David Droegemeier break down the brutal remaining stretch of the Los Angeles Chargers’ season. With one of the NFL’s toughest schedules left, the Chargers are fighting to stay in the playoff race. This episode dives into whether the Bolts can go at least .500 down the stretch, what getting back standout rookie running back Omarion Hampton means for their offense, and how head coach Jesse Minter’s future could impact the team as head coaching interviews loom.

Tune in as the hosts discuss key “Buy or Sell” storylines, from playoff prospects and must-win matchups against the Raiders, to the impact of the bye week and the team’s resiliency through injuries. The duo also debates the biggest influences behind the Chargers’ inconsistencies—coaching vs. injuries—and shares some lighter moments with hot takes on Thanksgiving dinner favorites.

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