Joey Bosa is saying the quiet part out loud about former Chargers head coaches

The LA Chargers appeared to be well on their way to another heartbreaking loss Sunday night football against the Cincinnati Bengals. Then the Chargers remembered that Jim Harbaugh is the head coach and rewrote the narrative with a nail-biting 34-27 victory.

Harbaugh has completely changed the culture of the entire organization less than a full year after being hired by the Bolts. It was clear before the Chargers played a single game under Harbaugh that things were different, and fans were reminded of that reality Sunday night.

Granted, the Chargers were on the receiving end of some bad kicks for once when Evan McPherson missed two consecutive field goals late in the fourth quarter. While that undoubtedly played a role, the fact of the matter is that the Chargers were able to weather the storm because of their head coach.

Don’t you believe us? Just listen to one of the team’s most prominent superstars, Joey Bosa. Bosa admitted after Sunday’s win that earlier there would be a sense of doubt when the bottom started to give way. Under Harbaugh, that sense of doubt has seemingly disappeared.

Harbaugh creates a winning culture everywhere he coaches. While culture alone doesn’t win football games, it allows a team to pull out wins in loseable games, like the Chargers did against the Bengals.

Bosa isn’t the only Chargers player to acknowledge this reality, either. Sophomore linebacker Daiyan Henley told reporters that this year’s Chargers team is different from years past.

“This is a different team. It’s not what the Chargers have been, it’s not what the fans are used to.”

– Daiyan Henley

Henley spent just one year with the Chargers without Harbaugh, and that was enough for him to know how things used to be. In fact, this isn’t the first time Henley has spoken out about the differences on this Chargers team, as the sophomore previously took subtle shots at Brandon Staley’s defense.

Whether it was Staley or the mediocre head coaches before him, the Chargers built a reputation for finding new ways to lose games. And while every game is different, that reputation is starting to take its toll on players.

Instead of trusting a winning organization like the New England Patriots or Kansas City Chiefs, this reputation creates self-doubt. And in key moments, this results in the Chargers desperately trying not to lose games instead of the team actually trying to win them.

This doesn’t mean the Chargers will win every toss-up from here. The Chargers will lose a game they should win, and there will be heartbreaking losses with Harbaugh as the head coach.

But as Bosa alluded to, there won’t be a lack of confidence from those in the locker room because they know firsthand that Harbaugh has rewritten the culture. That confidence will show on the field, and will hopefully lead to the Chargers finally achieving the ultimate goal.