The Thunder Down Under Chargers Podcast

The Charger players have been working hard at OTAs and Mandatory Minicamp. But have the TDU boys been grinding too during their time off? Or have they been busy following their popstar wives on a global musical tour? Find out today as we bring you our Biggest Chargers Offseason Takeaways to kickstart Season 5 of TDU. Is the Bolt’s Interior OL still a problem? Are McDaniel and Herbert fully in sync...

The 2026 NFL Draft is in the books and the Chargers welcomed 8 new players into the #BoltFam! There were even some trades! Join us today as we break down each player, hand out our draft grades, and present our Draft Edition of “Knife or Spoon”, sharing some winners & losers from around the NFL after a fantastic weekend of action. Don't miss it

With 4 days until the 2026 NFL Draft, we’ve invited “Mr Xs&Os” himself, Ryan Watkins from The Powderkeg Podcast, back on the show for the Chargers’ Ultimate 2026 Draft Guide. Together, Ryan and Al share their views on this class based on 1,000+ hours of All-22 tape evaluation, working through all of the key position groups and the prospects they think best fit the Chargers’ needs. Will there b...

With only a little more than a week until the 2026 NFL Draft, we run through some different Mock Draft exercises for the #TDUCrew forecasting different possible outcomes for the Chargers this year. Does it matter which position gets taken in Round 1? What does a draft with a ‘trade’ look like? Join us to find out

It’s 3 weeks until the 2026 NFL Draft and what better time to welcome Guilty as Charged’s Steven and Tyler back on Thunder Down Under Chargers! Together we discuss all the recent team news before undertaking a critical off-season exercise: Setting the Chargers’ Big Board! What discussions would GM Joe Hortiz, Assistant GM Chad Alexander and their scouts be having behind closed doors? Which draft p...

For a third consecutive free agency, the Chargers have had a deathly quiet start to proceedings and fans have seriously had enough! Armed with the most cap space in the NFL, GM Joe Hortiz has adopted a cautious, targeted approach, staying true to his Baltimore origins. Big names like Odafe Oweh and Zion Johnson have departed. Lesser-known names like Keaton Mitchell, Charlie Kolar, Alec Ingold and...

TDU IS BACK IN TOWN! After a restful break, we return to the airwaves to discuss all the recent Chargers news and the team’s 2026 offseason plan. Oh yes, Hortiz has made his first big move of free agency this morning signing a new starting Center, former Commander Tyler Biadasz, to a 3yr, $30m deal. But there are still so many questions left to answer. Is some Mega Trade on the horizon? Which free...

It’s been only three weeks since the Chargers lost in the Wild Card Round but so much has happened! Some of it bittersweet (Coach Minter becoming the new Ravens HC) and some of it incredibly exciting: yes, that’s right #TDUCrew, former Dolphins HC Mike McDaniel will be calling the plays for Justin Herbert in 2026 as his new Offensive Coordinator! Today on TDU we go LIVE with our buddies from the P...

So, the Chargers lost in the Wild Card Round and Justin Herbert played his worst game of the season. Does that sound familiar, #BoltFam? This is the grim reality now facing the team after its 16-3 loss to New England following which OC Greg Roman and OL Coach Mike Devlin were fired: DC Jesse Minter is almost certainly leaving the team to be a Head Coach somewhere else next season; Justin Herbert i...

The Chargers’ 2025 regular season concluded on Sunday with a “meaningless” game against the Broncos at Mile High, Denver. Most of the team’s important starters were rested ahead of the playoffs, but Harbaugh’s men nevertheless battled manfully – led by QB2 Trey Lance. After a while, the disparity between the Broncos’ starters and Bolts’ back-ups became too great, and the Broncos secured victory 19...

The Texans snapped the Chargers four game win streak in Wk 17 and, with the 20-16 loss, the AFC West Title is now officially out of reach for Jim Harbaugh’s men. A slow start on Defense left the team in a 14-0 hole and, despite some Justin Herbert heroics in the second half, 5 sacks from the Houston Defense was enough to secure a narrow victory. With a playoff spot confirmed and only Wild Card see...

Christmas is just around the corner and the #BoltFam can REJOICE following a comfortable 34-17 win by the team in Dallas, the Chargers’ fourth consecutive victory. With a Broncos loss in Wk 16 and the AFC West well and truly alive, join us on TDU today as we recap the Bolts’ trip to Jerrah World, read through Santa’s Naughty and Nice List for Season 2025, and share our score predictions for a big...

The conditions were frigid and the crowd was frosty at Arrowhead on Sunday, but nothing could stop the Harbaugh-led Bolts from bringing their best when their best was needed against the Kansas City Chiefs. In their first season sweep of Big Red's Big Babies since 2013, the Chargers were rugged, ruthless and showed dogged determination, winning the turnover battle, and ultimately the game, 16-13. I...

In one of the craziest games of the season, the Chargers defeated the reigning Super Bowl Champions on Monday Night Football in a seesaw-ing Overtime affair featuring 8 total turnovers! Nursing a broken hand, Herbert showed courage all night and willed his team to victory. The Defense came to play and ultimately sealed the game with their fourth interception of Eagles QB Jalen Hurts, a tip from CB...

The Los Angeles Chargers completed a 2025 sweep of the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi on Sunday, winning comfortably by three scores and improving their season record to 8-4. RB Kimani Vidal’s stellar 126-yard performance on the ground made him the first Bolts Back since Melvin Gordon (in 2018) to exceed the 100-yard rushing mark 3x in a single season. However, the biggest story emerging from the game...

Fresh off Bye Week, the Chargers will be seeking to improve their 7-4 record against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, at home. Today – on a special TDU YouTube Live show – we welcome our buddy, Ryan Watkins from the PowderKeg Podcast. Together, we share our biggest lessons and takeaways from the season so far, enjoy some lightning Q&A, and answer questions from our #BoltFam audience. Don’t mis...

It was déjà vu for the #BoltFam on Sunday, as the Chargers strolled into Jacksonville in Wk 11 with a quiet confidence, but left knowing they’d experienced a seismic season-shifting loss. The Jags 35-6 Bolt Beatdown was the most lopsided time of possession imbalance of any game in Coach Harbaugh’s NFL Career. Not wanting his Coach to suffer the ignominy of a career low statistical mark alone, Herb...

On Sunday Night Football in Wk 10, the Chargers showed the world they have what it takes – even with Joe Alt out for the season – to challenge the very best teams in 2025. It was a night where Keenan Allen surpassed Antonio Gates as the All-Time Franchise Receptions Leader, and the #BoltFam were treated to a special team performance. In an absolute beatdown of the Steelers, Jesse Minter’s Defense...

Every week presents a different challenge in the NFL. In Wk 9, the Chargers were confronted by a plucky Titans team who punched above their weight class early at Nissan Stadium, scoring 14 points in Q1 courtesy of a pick-six and a 67 yd punt return TD. Adding injury to insult, the Chargers lost Offensive Tackles Bobby Hart (for the day) and Joe Alt (sadly, for the season) before half-time. However...

Heading into TNF against the Minnesota Vikings in Wk 8, the Chargers had won only 1 of their previous 4 games. But with superstar left tackle, Joe Alt, returning from injury – and wearing their Navy “Super Chargers” gear – the Bolts responded as any well-coached football team with playoff aspirations should. By half-time, they’d taken a 21-3 lead at home. And in the second half, they rubbed salt i...

The Chargers ran into a buzzsaw on Sunday at SoFi Stadium. The Indianapolis Colts Offense, powered by their Elite OL and early NFL MVP candidate RB Jonathan Taylor, did as they pleased all afternoon against a helpless Jesse Minter Defense. Taylor ran for 3 TDs, Daniel Jones passed for 2 scores, and the Colts amassed 38 points and 401 Total Yards. For the Bolts, the shining light was rookie Oronde...

A Herculean Justin Herbert willed his team to victory on Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami. With 0:36 remaining in Q4 – and the Chargers trailing by 1 point – Herbert managed to either shake off or evade multiple would-be tacklers and find Ladd McConkey late over the middle, on a crosser, for the 42 yd completion advancing the ball deep into Dolphins’ territory and into field goal range. The re...

The first quarter turned out to be a liar on Sunday at SoFI Stadium. The Chargers took an early 10-0 lead. But from there, the Commanders played lights out football scoring 27 unanswered points and winning the game comfortably as the Bolts committed multiple penalties, turnovers and suffered some more untimely injuries (including to first round rookie phenom Omarion Hampton). Today, we recap the a...

The Chargers’ sweet start to the season was soured on Sunday at the MetLife Stadium. In an upset performance, rookie QB Jaxson Dart scored twice and did just enough at the helm to lead the Giants to a 21-18 victory. The true victors on the day were the Giants’ Defensive Line, who constantly pressured Herbert – their highlight play, a 37-yard INT return from 340 pounds Defensive Tackle Dexter Lawre...

The Bolts dug deep at SoFi on Sunday, overcoming a 7-point deficit to storm home in the final quarter and snatch victory against the Denver Broncos. Their 3-0 start is the Chargers’ best since 2002 and Coach Harbaugh’s transformative effect is clear for all to see. Facing significant adversity and a likely season-ending injury to RB Najee Harris in the first half, Greg Roman’s Offense found a way...