First impressions of the teams that FLOPPED in Week 1
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What first‑impression did the hosts have about the Chargers after their Week 1 loss?
Welcome to the Athletic Football Show, brought to you by the U.S. Bank Smartly Visa Signature Card. I'm Robert Mays. Week one is done, but we're still sitting with some of the first impressions we got from the first glimpse we had of these teams in the 2026 season. That's what we did today. We went through some first impressions that really made an impact, mostly in a bad way, from the week one games with our old friend Mike Sando. Chat a little bit about the chart. Chargers, the Rams, the Packers, and the Broncos, and what our early looks at those teams might mean for the season at large. We also spent some time at the end of the show and encourage you guys to go listen to this. And if you've not read the story, I encourage you go to check that out as well.
Sando has spent a ton of time this offseason working on a project. That was focused on how teams allocate their resources and how teams really commit to being quality special teams units. And some of the really meaningful, impactful choices you can make from a roster construction standpoint, just some of the other areas where you're either in this or you're not, and you feel the impact of that and how organizationally your overall prioritization of special teams can matter as much as any. And so we talked a little bit about that at the end, but really enjoyed this conversation with Mike. Let's get to it right now.
Joining us today to help us pick through the rubble of week one in the NFL. It is our old friend Mike Sando. Mike, how you doing?
It's good. There is some rubble too. There's some rubble to go through here. So uh I I'm excited to be back. It was great seeing you this off season at your four hundred and twenty two camp stops. I think I caught you at a couple of 'em. I assume you've uh showered and gotten the sweat off?
Uh yeah, I I think at this point I feel a little bit cleaner. I'm not sure I've bounced back by how I ate over the month of August. That's that's gonna be a process that uh leads deep into September and October, but I'm cleaning us, yes. Yeah, you were uh you were part of a a fantastic meal that we had in Minneapolis where I I think we decided when when we were ordering that it was gonna be easier just to tell them what we didn't want on the menu rather than picking the menus that we did want. And that's that's always how I wanna attack any menu that I see. And so I appreciate you helping me accomplish that.
It was a it was a twist my arm, you know, it was great. So really had a good time. Did it get through expen you were able to expense that too? Oh yeah. Come on now. Come on now. Okay, well what
what's what's what's the point of having any sort of pull if you can't make that happen?
But hey, you know, th not to get too far off the track, but one time I was when I was at ESPN I was uh you know, didn't bring a suit or anything on the trip and I was going I was in LA and quarterback tears came out and they're like, Hey, can you get with Van Pelt? And I said, I don't have a suit or nothing. They said, Hey, no worries, Sando. Get a buy yourself a suit, expense it. Expense the suit. I said, Oh okay. So I go get a suit, I did a great job. I mean, I got this whole thing for like it was Under four hundred bucks for everything. Great job. Get home, they it gets kicked back. No, you gotta p you c we can't expense a suit. So I said, What? Full thing. And then you got
receipts on that though. You gotta be able to send that to somebody. Some
higher up got back to me and said, The only way this works, Sando, is if you donate it to charity and should give us a receipt. I think I can say this now that I've been gone for ESPN since 2018. I went and found the oldest, most ill fitting suit out of my closet and made the donation. And the the other one became my go-to for a couple of years. So um, you know, you do what you gotta do on these expenses. And uh I thought we said that was a funny story. On
our way out the door at Grantland, I think one of our bosses at one point when we were thinking about how much money we could spend in that final couple of months, uh, I think the exact line was, You could expense a fur coat right now and I wouldn't give a shit.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What first‑impression did the hosts have about the Chargers after their Week 1 loss?
0:00–8:06
2
Why do the Rams’ special‑teams struggles matter for their season outlook?
8:06–16:28
3
How did the Packers’ offensive line and rushing performance affect their Week 1 result?
16:28–23:49
4
What were the key issues behind the Broncos’ disappointing start?
23:49–31:28
5
How does special‑teams roster construction influence a team’s overall success?
31:28–39:24
6
What trends did the hosts notice in under‑center vs. shotgun usage after Week 1?
39:24–47:22
7
How do coaching philosophies (offensive vs. defensive‑minded head coaches) affect team building?
47:22–55:29
8
What are the hosts’ final thoughts on turning Week 1 disappointments into a season‑long advantage?
55:29–1:02:41
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL
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