Takeaways from Chargers Bye Week

4. Embrace the Harbaugh mentality

The Bolts are 2-2 heading into the bye and may be a little disappointed that they haven't been able to get a win in either of their last two games.

But make no mistake, these losses felt different than any in previous seasons.

The Chargers regularly make life difficult for their opponents with a physical style that fits the mindset Harbaugh wants his players to have.

In other words, the Bolts will go down with a flourish even if they lose.

“I just understand what’s going on,” Khalil Mack said Sunday. “If you look at the film – what the offense is doing and what we’re doing – that’s a lot of football to be proud of.”

The Bolts will emerge from the bye with 13 straight games and it's a good bet that most of them will feel like tough battles.

The Chargers' Week 1 victory over the Raiders was a perfect example of the game being close early in the fourth quarter before the Bolts pulled away late.

As the first year of the Harbaugh era continues to unfold, Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz said Wednesday that Harbaugh has influenced the entire organization from top to bottom.

“It's great. I said it before the draft, it’s great,” Hortiz said. “Obviously I have a really good relationship with him and his brother. I worked with his brother for 16 years and John is like a brother to me.”

“And I watched Ozzie (Newsome) and then Eric (DeCosta), what relationship they had with the head coach and how important that is. “It’s extremely important that a GM and a head coach work well,” Hortiz continued. “

“Sometimes you have to work on it, we don’t have to work on it,” Hortiz added. “We have the same vision and philosophy. We have fun. I'm really serious. I’m brother to John, I’m already brother to Jim.”