What an electric night at the SoFi Stadium tonight. Holy Cow! Just when we thought the Bengals were going to make a huge comeback and win the game, everything went bust. But let’s not lament the loss. Let’s talk about the winners. At no point did Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers make it feel like the game was a yawner, whether it be the offense or the defense.

The Bolts’ head honcho is the man of the people. And they wanted to make sure his team put on a show tonight. The Chargers have been on a roll since the week 8 game against the New Orleans Saints. But it was last week’s game against the Titans that inspired some confidence in the former Michigan head coach.

Jim Harbaugh is all for the people

Former Chargers Wire reporter for USA Today noted Harbaugh’s sentiments on the crowd at the SoFi Stadium in his post on X. He noted the head coach saying, “This week was better than last week. Hopefully, next week will be even better.” As said earlier, the head coach wants to win football games and at the same time have the fans enjoy it too.

“We just wanna put the kind of football out there that people get excited about. And I think our fans were excited about it,” Harbaugh said in the post-game. With this 34-27 win, the Bolts stand second in the AFC West, just below the Kansas City Chiefs. Justin Herbert was just shy of 3 yards of delivering a 300-yard game. Honestly, at this rate, we might see another Harbaugh Bowl. If not in this season, then the next one because the Ravens and the Chargers really look like a force to be reckoned with.

Speaking about the excitement, Ladd McConkey has got to be one of the stars of this game, making crucial grabs when it mattered the most. The Bengals did a phenomenal job of scoring on three consecutive drives and tying the game to 27. Herbert knew it was now or never, so he just dropped back on first-and-ten with 38 seconds remaining on the clock and delivered one of the most exciting throws of the game to Ladd McConkey.

The rookie wide receiver had a career-high 123-yard game and his catch in the fourth quarter set things up for JK Dobbins. The Bolts running back got a hand-off from Justin Herbert and went on a 29-yard rampage, adding 7 more to the Chargers scoreboard. Dobbins finished the game and did it with flair, as he leaped through the end zone with a couple of defenders on his tail.

The Harbaugh’s Chargers had to rely heavily on their defense in the second half of the game. However, they still couldn’t stop Burrow, who looked like Houdini. Except for the fact that he was escaping sacks and not a closed box. We have to give the credit where it’s due. This time, it didn’t feel like only one of the QBs deserved flowers. Burrow and Herbert, both did.

Battle of the quarterbacks

The Los Angeles football team knew what they had in Justin Herbert and decided to give him a five-year $262.5 million extension last year. They trusted Herbert just like the Bengals did Joe Burrow, who signed a mammoth $275 million deal for the same tenure in September last year. Both QBs suffered a season-ending injury last year but came back with a flair. Unfortunately, luck hasn’t been Joe Burrow’s best friend in Cincinnati, but Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase definitely have.

The Bengals were pretty scoreless in the first half of the game. But Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins decided to pull their socks up (or rather tape their ankles up) and delivered 21 unanswered points. Two of them came from Ja’Marr. And one from Tee Higgins, who caught an amazing 42-yard pass in traffic as he neared the endzone.

But let’s talk about the man of the hour, Justin Herbert, who delivered a 297-yard, 2 TD performance. He threw 36 times but connected on 17 of those. But that just proves another point, yardage doesn’t matter, and neither does the completion rate. Heck, we saw Goff throw 5 picks in a game and still win. In all honesty, Herbert was a delight to watch tonight. That first TD pass to Will Dissly is what started it all. And we knew things were headed in the right direction.

After Dissly’s score, the Bolts QB just proceeded to make several tight throws over Bengals defenders. That TD pass to Quentin Johnston was unreal. It showed how good of a presence Herbert has on the field. As soon as he turned around and let the ball go, it landed in the right hands at the right time and right place. Johnston’s backflip after catching the TD pass was well warranted.

There was a graphic on the screen during the game time that suggested that the Chargers have a 91% chance of making it to the playoffs this year. This can give a moment of relief to Jim Harbaugh. It’d be really surprising if that doesn’t turn out to be true.