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Coach Jim Harbaugh his always hands on with his Chargers, including with quarterback Justin Herbert in New England. (Kathryn Riley / Getty Images)
Jim Harbaugh loves a high-five, calls it one of mankind’s great inventions. But sometimes, even that hearty gesture is insufficient.
So when the Chargers coach spotted the team’s general manager slipping out of the visitors’ locker room Saturday — in the wake of the club’s most lopsided win in five years — he summoned him for a bear hug.
The Chargers clinched a playoff berth with their 40-7 drubbing of the New England Patriots, and Harbaugh felt the urge to wrap his arms around first-year general manager Joe Hortiz. Such is the delirium of an NFL team starting to hit its stride at the right time.
“I needed a hug from Joe,” said the coach, who lured Hortiz from the Baltimore Ravens. “He’s the same brilliant guy every single day. He takes no deep, long bows. But he should.”
This is no finish line, of course, but Harbaugh’s Chargers have checked a big box on their to-do list. The franchise has secured a spot in the postseason for just the third time in 11 seasons, and with a finale at Las Vegas remaining has a chance to lock up the AFC’s fifth seed with a win and a Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 18. That would mean a more favorable wild-card game at Houston, as opposed to frigid openers at Buffalo or Baltimore.
There’s also meaning to bolting down a spot in the playoffs by winning at New England, even though these Patriots are a shadow of the version led by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. This is a franchise that tormented the Chargers in years past, delivering a divisional-round knockout to Marty Schottenheimer’s 14-2 San Diego Chargers in the 2006 season, and beating the broken-down Chargers the following year in the AFC championship game.
Read more: Justin Herbert ignites Chargers rout to reach playoffs in Jim Harbaugh’s first season
There’s no one remaining in that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jim-harbaughs-playoff-bound-chargers-233317364.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-12-28 23:33:00
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