The Broken Chargers, Mahomes 3.0, Zombie Deshaun, the Masked Backup, First Coach Fired, and Guess the Lines With Cousin Sal
September 21, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readThe Broken Chargers, Mahomes 3.0, and a Weekend of Reckoning
Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal (battling a kidney stone) recapped a wild Week 2 NFL slate that reshaped early-season expectations. The dominant theme: the Chargers are in full collapse, the Chiefs look dangerous again, and several 0-2 teams are facing existential crises before September ends.
The Chargers Disaster and Herbert's Regression
The Chargers lost back-to-back home games by double digits to teams with sub-.200 win percentages the previous season—a feat matched only by the 1926 Racing Tornadoes. Justin Herbert threw for under 200 yards with zero completions of 20-plus yards against a middling Raiders defense. He fumbled five times (the team recovered all five, an almost impossible statistical anomaly) before a truly horrific late-game interception sealed the loss. Simmons called it "1999-2000 range Drew Bledsoe vibes"—a quarterback who's been supported with first-round tackles, a first-round running back, and a coaching hire in Jim Harbaugh, yet looks lost.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:56) **Chiefs Outlast Colts in Overtime** - Mahomes looks sharper than he has in two years, throwing a "cannon" again, and Kelce is back in shape after a down 2024.
- 2 (07:09) **Taylor Swift's "That's My Husband" Ring Point** - Swift points to her ring and mouths "that's my husband" after a Kelce touchdown, prompting a debate on celebrity privilege.
- 3 (09:03) **Week 2 Playoff Market Moves & Cross-off Candidates** - Simmons runs through the shifting playoff odds, highlighting the Chargers as a major "minus 300 to miss the playoffs" story.
- 4 (12:30) **The Chargers Are Broken: Herbert's Drew Bledsoe Vibes** - Herbert looks like "1999-2000 Drew Bledsoe," the offense is putrid, and the team fumbled five times (recovering all five) in a loss to the Raiders.
- 5 (17:09) **First Coach Fired Candidates: Harbaugh, Bowles, Quinn** - Simmons and Sal identify three head coaches on the hottest seats after disastrous Week 2 performances.
- 6 (22:55) **Three Retroactive Week 1 Takeaways** - Re-evaluating Week 1 results now that we have Week 2 data, concluding the Chargers and Falcons are frauds.
- 7 (29:31) **Bermuda Triangle Game: Browns Beat Bucs After Lightning Delay** - Deshaun Watson outplays Baker Mayfield, and a two-hour lightning delay kills Tampa Bay's momentum in a stunning loss.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
The Ringer’s Bill Simmons is joined by Cousin Sal to react to the Chiefs winning in OT against the Colts, before recapping the rest of the Week 2 matchups. Then, they guess the lines for Week 3 before ending with Parent Corner.
(0:00) Intro
(1:08) NFL Week 2 recap
(01:07:04) Guess the Lines Week 3
(01:31:48) Parent Corner
Host: Bill Simmons
Guest: Cousin Sal
Producers: Chia Hao Tat, Eduardo Ocampo, and Chris Wohlers
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