Wow. Went to bed after the Chargers took a 28-7 lead over the Texans. Thought the game was over and I was tired from a long day of work. Woke up this morning to find that Houston came back to win in the last second.

Gotta love the NFL.

It’s a familiar refrain for Chargers fans too. Last season was destroyed for San Diego by last minute comeback losses – with one of the 2012 defeats coming at the hands of then-Denver offensive coordinator Mike McCoy – who last night experienced the other side of the result in his first game as Chargers head coach.

The continuation of the last minute woes wasn’t lost on Bolt Beat editor Ernie Padaon, who posted on the topic last night in the height of exhaustion. McCoy was one of five coaches whose debuts ended in defeat during week one.

Still – even with the disappointing conclusion, the Chargers looked like they have at least the potential to be more than I thought they would this season. There is talent there. They just have to figure out how to avoid the last minute meltdowns. Easier said than done, I guess, even with a new coach.

Rough day for newby coaches

It’s only natural for teams with new coaches to come into a season with renewed optimism. Fully one-quarter of the league’s head men this last week were new to their teams with seven getting their first shots at the top job.

While optimism tends to reign supreme in the early going, it’s important for fans to remember that most often the reason they have new coaches is that the teams really weren’t very good the year before. Five of the seven first-time head coaches went home with losses.

Gus Bradley in Jacksonville looks like he’s in for the biggest rebuild. Coming off of a 2-14 season, his Jags scored just a safety in losing to Kansas City. The QB position is a disaster with this team and, despite what I believe to be committed ownership, it’s going to be awhile before he can get this thing on the right track.

Rob Chudzinski brought optimism to Cleveland this offseason. It’s just one game, but so far it looks like more of the same in northern Ohio. There are at least some decent weapons in place. Maybe when Josh Gordon comes back to join Trent Richardson and Co., this will start resembling a professional offense.

Two additional first-time head coaches felt McCoy’s pain in that they took leads into the last minutes before losing. Doug Marrone in Buffalo and Bruce Arians in Arizona saw their teams play promisingly well despite the losses.

Three new coaches brought home wins, including Marc Trestman, who brought his innovative offense to Chicago from the CFL’s Montreal franchise. It took a few quarters to get moving, but the Bears came back to beat Cincy. It’ll be awhile before Trestman earns comparisons to Marv Levy and Bud Grant, the last head coaches to come from north of the border. But he got off to a good start.

The other winners were Chip Kelly, whose Eagles got off to a fast start in the first half and hung on to beat Washington in a bit of an upset, and Andy Reid, whose move to Kansas City from Philly also went well.

Speaking of the Chip Kelly and the Eagles …

Only got to watch the tail end of the Philadelphia/Washington game Monday night, but followed the early going via smart phone. The Eagles clearly came out of the gate hot. And the offense Chip Kelly is bringing to the NFL is explosive and entertaining.

But one concern I would voice based on the part of the game I did see is that I think the fast pace may have worn the Eagles out as much as it did the Redskins. Philadelphia’s offense looked gassed. Could have been the first game emotions catching up or the momentum that Washington built up in the second half, but it looks to me like that Philadelphia defense is still going to give up a lot of points.

That said, for one game anyway, the Kelly offense looks like it has legs. Just like every other new twist in the league, it will depend how opponents react after getting some game tapes.

Packers’ Clay Matthews Act Wearing Thin

I am really tired of watching Clay Matthews gush over his own Fathead wall thingies. And I’m kind of tiring of his act on the field as well.

His sideline clothes lining of Colin Kaepernick in my eyes edges out the low block Ndamukong Suh put on Vikings center John Sullivan during an interception return Sunday afternoon as the cheapest play of the weekend. And Packers fans can say what they want about getting screwed over by the officials but they dodged a bullet when Matthews wasn’t ejected after his scrum with Joe Staley, who came to his quarterback’s aid (The League later came out with a statement saying Staley should not have been penalized on the play, negating the error Bill Leavy admitted after the game that he made by allowing a replay of third down).

At worst it was a cheap shot followed up by a punch. Giving him the benefit of the doubt, for Matthews it was still a reckless loss of composure that hurt his team.

Kaepernick has now beaten the Pack with his legs and his arms. The Packers are the favorite in the NFC North without question, but Green Bay is a shell compared with the 49ers. The Green and Gold doesn’t have the defensive weapons it needs to be a Super Bowl contender. And Matthews was one of the culprits on Sunday.

Rookie QBs hold their own

Geno Smith and EJ Manual are not going to take the NFL by storm as five rookies did in 2012, but both rookie signal callers held their own.

Smith completed 24 of 38 passes for 256 yards with a TD and a pick in looking far more calm and composed than Mark Sanchez ever has in leading the Jets to a last second win against Tampa. That was aided by a foolish penalty by Bucs linebacker Lavonte David, but still, Smith had his team on the move prior to the late hit.

Manual was not able to lead the Bills to an upset over New England, but he kept his team in the game. Both signal callers looked like they were not intimidated by the pro game.

Terrelle Pryor isn’t a rookie, but in his first extended duty he also breathed some hope into a long-struggling franchise. Oakland nearly pulled off an upset of Indianapolis and, after a slow start, they pressured Andrew Luck all day.

Third-year QBs struggle

Meanwhile, at least two third-year QBs continue to struggle in putting their stamp on their teams. I saw more of the Vikings game against Detroit than any other game. Christian Ponder more and more looks like another Joey Harrington to me. Seems like a decent guy – someone you want to pull for. But both just lack the competitive arrogance and the arm strength to take his game to the next level. Plus the body language when things go bad is not very inspiring.

I didn’t see any of Jacksonville’s loss to Kansas City, but when you put up two points and get replaced by Chad Henne yet again, it’s not a good sign. New coach in Jacksonville – something tells me Blaine Gabbert may not get that job back. Ever. And if he does, it’s pretty clear to me that he’s merely keeping it warm until Bradley can bring in his own guy.

I don’t know that 11-20 for 125 yards and a 74 QB rating will do much for Jake Locker’s long-term job approval ratings either, but the Titans won a tough game over an aging and injured Steelers team. That will hold off the dogs for awhile.

What have the Steelers got left?

Apparently some Steelers fans were calling for the job of head coach Mike Tomlin after Sunday’s debacle against Tennessee. Those people are morons. There are 20 teams who would snatch Tomlin up in a heartbeat if he was released on the open market.

Tomlin has coached the Pittsburgh Steelers to a Super Bowl championship and an AFC Conference championship since becoming coach in 2007. The Steelers also don’t take coaching changes lightly. Tomlin is the 16th coach in team history, but just the third since 1969, when 38 year old Chuck Noll was hired.

The Steelers are aging and have been bit heavily by the injury bug early this season, but Tomlin’s going to have to fail awfully miserably this season if he is to end up on the hot seat.

Tate gaining on Foster?

As I mentioned, I went to bed before the Texans/Chargers game ended, but in the early going it looked to me like Ben Tate had more in the tank than Arian Foster.  Not sure if Foster just needs to get into game shape, if he is still injured, or if there are longer-term ramifications to Arian’s game stemming from having been used an awful lot in recent years. But the final tallies show Foster gaining just 57 yards on 18 carries for a 3.2 average while Tate earned 55 yards on just nine carries for a 6.1 average.

No conclusions as of yet. Just something to watch.