{"id":998628,"date":"2026-09-12T08:21:22","date_gmt":"2026-09-12T08:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998628\/"},"modified":"2026-09-12T08:21:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T08:21:22","slug":"cardinals-trey-mcbride-plans-to-short-circuit-the-chargers-in-week-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/998628\/","title":{"rendered":"Cardinals&#8217; Trey McBride plans to short circuit the Chargers in week 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sept. 11, 2026, 7:39 p.m. MT<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><a data-autotag=\"c6331531-478d-4c7a-b93a-28f5b26af3f9\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/arizona-cardinals\/355\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> tight end Trey McBride will play with a refined passion in 2026. With the 2025 season in his rearview mirror and the <a data-autotag=\"a419627d-6dfd-46c4-8ebe-6ca8a0506ea7\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/los-angeles-chargers\/357\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> ahead, McBride is hoping that his passion and premier pass-catching can spark the beginning of a new chapter for the franchise.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:468px\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/91031716007-cardinals-002095.JPG\"  decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cardinals tight end Trey McBride (85) prepares for practice during training camp at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on July 23, 2026.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Chargers lost defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, who moved on to a head coaching position with the <a data-autotag=\"6f9d8950-4e8a-4277-ba96-ee5ce9eb842e\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsdata.usatoday.com\/football\/nfl\/teams\/baltimore-ravens\/366\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":b|e|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\">Baltimore Ravens<\/a>. Still, Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. is on the roster and his skillset poses a significant opposition for McBride. Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur still has plans on making McBride the focus of the team offense and it&#8217;ll come down to pure will to determine whether or not McBride can muscle up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The Cardinals seem to have a competent offensive personnel group at the skills positions but time will tell how their offensive line fares in 2026. Play-action and the quick passing game are both strategies where LaFleur and offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett are likely to call on McBride&#8217;s jersey number. McBride is quick and physical, plus his route running makes him a mismatch for most opposing linebackers and safeties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Ultimately, if the Cardinals are to stand a chance on Sunday, they will rely on their passing attack to propel the offense and that&#8217;ll mean that McBride must be exceptionally magnificent. The Chargers allowed just 19.8 points per game in 2025, but without the mastermind of Minter, McBride might locate a few breaches that can be exploited.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" style=\"height:455px\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/91387492007-20260810-t-035329-z-381697016-mt-1-usatoday-29550726-rtrmadp-3-arizonacardinalstightendt.webp\" data-gl- decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride reacts after catching a touchdown during their training camp red and white practice at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Aug. 9, 2026.\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Get more Cardinals and NFL coverage from Cards Wire&#8217;s Jess Root and others by listening to the latest on the Rise Up, See Red podcast. Subscribe on<a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/27gxR7Oml5yVPywhOG8KHR?si=cGJ0FN6aRBquiLus5nj7rw&amp;nd=1&amp;dlsi=05e790ef05a641b8\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/music.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PL9sICHPD_aT9zxnG7dJj6izJWgMhLMh_U&amp;si=rpNldnLNN-_DdW8R\" data-t-l=\":b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=83224X1595658&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fitunes.apple.com%2Fus%2Fpodcast%2Fthe-rise-up-see-red-podcast%2Fid670822447%3Fmt%3D2&amp;xcust=SC1-SCAR&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fcardswire.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fnfl%2Fcardinals%2F2026%2F09%2F11%2Fcardinals-trey-mcbride-plans-to-short-circuit-the-chargers-in-week-1%2F91712285007%2F\" data-v-afl=\"\" data-t-l=\"\u2691f:b|z|k|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_a\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Apple Podcasts<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Your fantasy edge starts here <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" data-t-l=\":body nav (fantasy)|e|auto spike click:7|\u2691u\" class=\"gnt_ar_b_sp_a\" href=\"https:\/\/fantasy.usatoday.com\/\">Sync your league for custom roster advice, projections, and tools to win your matchups every week.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sept. 11, 2026, 7:39 p.m. MT Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride will play with a refined passion&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":998629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2078],"tags":[95878,375,390,2604,807,1327,7,1070,6,119454,95973,95974,95882,95890,95898,95946,97216,97519,130873,96064,130268,97085,96060,109634,98125,95895,95899,96071,95883,96061,130772,95881],"class_list":["post-998628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arizona-cardinals","tag-accessfree","tag-arizona","tag-arizona-cardinals","tag-arizonacardinals","tag-az","tag-cardinals","tag-football","tag-jr","tag-nfl","tag-sourcecards-wire","tag-sstssportsnflcardinals","tag-sstsncardinals","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagarizona-cardinals","tag-tagbaltimore-ravens","tag-tagcalifornia-gold-rush","tag-tagcgr-sports","tag-tagderwin-james-jr","tag-tagglendale","tag-tagjacoby-brissett","tag-tagjeremiyah-love","tag-taglos-angeles-chargers","tag-tagmarvin-harrison","tag-tagmichael-wilson","tag-tagnfc-west","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsmg-timely","tag-tagsports-news","tag-tagtrey-mcbride","tag-tagusa-today-sports-network","tag-typestory"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=998628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/998628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/998629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=998628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=998628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=998628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}