Honey, I Shrunk My Expectations

In the myopia of a Charger fan's social media feed over the last two weeks the sky is not falling, it has landed with a thud like Najee Harris at Justin Herbert's feet—the latest obstacle for their lauded quarterback to hurdle as he goes about trying to soldier on and deliver the team from darkness.

A quick refresher: The Chargers gave left tackle Rashawn Slater a four-year, $114 million contract extension on July 27. Eleven days later he suffered a torn patellar tendon ending his season. The Chargers moves right tackle Joe Alt to the left in his place to protect Herbert's blind side. Alt played the position at Notre Dame and quickly transitioned back.

In Week 4 against the Giants Alt fell under a wash of players engaged behind him and suffered a high ankle sprain knocking him out for weeks. The Chargers started Austin Deculus at left tackle last week against the Commanders who ran by him as if they were kids at a birthday party told that Herbert was serving cake and ice cream. Deculus allowed five pressures and three sacks. His Pro Football Focus grade for pass blocking was 37.5, which was the lowest among the Chargers' offensive linemen in that game.

At the other tackle position to Herbert's right Trey Pipkins III was knocked out of the game with a knee injury. His potential replacement Jamaree Sayler who plays both tackle and guard has not practiced all week with a knee injury of his own.

Mekhi Becton, who was the team's biggest offseason free agent signing has been in and out of the lineup dealing with first a concussion sustained in week 3 against the Broncos, and more recently with a hand injury. To this point Becton, who won a Super Bowl last season in Philadelphia, has only played in 51 percent of the Chargers offensive snaps.

If you haven't been paying attention to Herbert's passing attempts over this stretch let's just say that the likelihood of the defense getting to him is better than a coin flip right now. Herbert has been hit 33 times in the last three games, a league high.

The tip of the spear has become the tip of our fears.

In an action movie this would be the point where reinforcements arrive and our heroes push the legions pouring over the gates back into their own war-ravaged dimension. Can't you see Herbert picking himself up from the turf (again) and adjusting his shoulder pads, setting his jaw, and getting ready to do it all over again.

"I can do this all day."

At which point maybe he hears a voice he doesn't expect in his helmet saying, "On your left, Justin."

With the circling gesture of a sling ring, out of an inter-dimensional portal step Joe Alt, Rashawn Slater, and (why the hell not?) Corey Linsley. "On your left. Your right. And dead center."

But this isn't a movie. It is a week 6 date across the country with the Miami Dolphins, and the only guy stepping out of that portal is Bobby Hart. The Chargers signed him to the practice squad on October 1.

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"For those who say you shouldn’t have signed Bobby Hart, who is going to play right tackle? Who?" the team's vice president said. "Oh, maybe you’ll draft one in the third round and he’ll come on. Really? You’re going to bet your season on that? ... We can’t go to WalMart and buy off the shelf. A high quality starting right tackle? That doesn’t exist (in free agency). You have to deal in the universe of options you have."

This was Bengals vice president Troy Blackburn's statement as the team took criticism for signing the underperforming tackle Hart. He said that in March, 2019.

Since then, Hart, a former seventh-round draft pick by the Giants in 2015, has bounced around the league mostly as a backup on five different teams. Hart, now 31, once started 67 of his 98 regular-season games played with the Giants, the Bengals, Titans, and three separate stints with the Bills. Hart spent the 2024 season on the Commanders' practice squad. He has not appeared in a regular-season game since 2022.

So, from some vantage point, Hart kinda was already Thanos snapped out of the league. Watch for the guy on Sunday. He may possibly going from surviving "the Blip" to becoming one if he gets the start at tackle. If you're counting, Hart would technically be the Charges 6th string tackle. Deculus, the 5th string tackle, will be protecting Herbert's blind side.

They say a fish rots from the head down, but we all know that Dolphins are mammals.

"It just can't continue to go on like this and it's already gone too long," said coach Mike McDaniel. "So we'll get back to the drawing board and in the National Football League, no one cares about your feelings."

The knives are out in Miami where both the general manager Chris Grier and head coach Mike McDaniel are under intense scrutiny from a fan base that did not want them back after last season. The Dolphins have started the season 1-4 after blowing a 17-0 lead to the Carolina Panthers in a 27-24 loss.

The media and the fans have been busy speculating whether or not McDaniel will relinquish play-calling duties before owner Stephen Ross relinquishes him of his employment. I don't think you can wager on that, but it does bring back memories of the Chargers own "schematic genius" being badgered by the Athletic's beat reporter about the same thing. For the record, Brandon Staley did not relinquish calling the defense before his termination in 2023.

If you follow the Dolphins, or remember the last game of the Staley-era Chargers, then you know that things have to get worse before they can get any better.

For starters, the Dolphins face prohibitive salary cap limitations. The team is already working with a very limited cap space in 2025 because of players on multi-year, high-cap-hit deals, including Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb, and Terron Armstead. The team is 30th (out of 32) in available cap space.

After suffering a gruesome knee injury, wide receiver Tyreek Hill is out for the season and may have played (or talked) his way out of Miami. Despite being one of the fastest players in the game, Hill has not exactly been a model teammate, citizen, or husband . Before his knee exploded, Hill was already rumored to be a trade candidate due to his expensive 2026 salary, signaling that the Dolphins were ready to move on. His injury pushes the financial toll of rostered players on injured reserve to almost $52 million for 2025.

 The Dolphins' front office had made conspicuous efforts to improve the culture in 2025, parting with players deemed not committed to the team—with the notable exception of Tyreek Hill who gave the Dolphins his own version of the peace sign in the locker room after the Dolphins season-ending loss to the Jets. But the vibes could not be much worse as the losses have piled up including reports of a players-only meeting—after week one!

The Dolphins smell of a team that is about to let go of the rope.

Once charismatic and oozing with a youthful confidence, McDaniel's press conferences have become more like traffic cam accident footage. Followers of the team have started counting his "ums" behind a microphone. Here is an unedited sample of what he said this week about evaluating his quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

 "Um I if you're uncomfortable with the, uh, the stakes of the game, it's not a game for you. You're not going to change the stakes . . . and, and he knows that. Bottom line, black and white, you're held accountable for the results while you're trying to get get better. That's difficult. Um, I think he, he's as experienced as anyone with um, you know positive or negative noise. Um, you know, and I think in that, uh, you find the best version of yourself, um, when you're able to, uh, allow your own thoughts and decisions to dictate your opinion of yourself and how you're carried towards others and how you handle all those things.

"So, um, not easy, but I think that that's something that no quarterback in the National Football League is, um, uh, not exposed to. And I think that's something that, um, is very very challenging. And what separates people is that ability to work within the noise. If they tell you you're awesome or that you suck, what does that, um, how does that relate to what you're doing to influence your next performance. Um, that's what he does."

Like a child star left too long beneath the heat lamp of fame, grueling schedules, scrutiny, and a lack of success McDaniel is more Edward Furlong now than Eddie Robinson.

The beat writers have asked McDaniel if he's seen any signs of the team quitting on him. That question is akin to doctors advising the patient to halt the chemotherapy and get their affairs in order. You don't come back from that point.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is momentarily committed to head coach McDaniel; the duration of the coach's tenure moving forward could be influenced by Ross's sons. Fowler told Rich Eisen on his podcast which suggests Miami is attempting to soften the perception of Ross as an impatient owner behind closed doors.

Which wouldn't raise many eyebrows in the NFL where nepotism is second only to laissez-faire capitalism, except for one tiny detail. Stephen Ross does not have sons; Fowler misspoke during his appearance on The Rich Eisen Show on October 8, 2025, and meant daughters.

The Chargers could do the Miami fans a favor by sending the Ross daughters a definitive message on Sunday. The same one that the Raiders sent Dean Spanos in 2023.