Chargers’ Dean Spanos embarrassed Patriots' Robert Kraft in Week 17

Chris Roling | Dec 31, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In this story:

Los Angeles Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers' beatdown of the New England Patriots in Week 17 is one that will resonate in Foxborough for a long time.

It’s also one that exemplifies the turnaround for the Chargers under Jim Harbaugh.

Exiting that 40-7 master class (or disaster class, depending on one’s perspective), the Boston Sports Journal’s Greg A. Bedard wrote that Chargers owner Dean Spanos made Patriots owner Robert Kraft look foolish.

“One organization had a plan and executed it, starting with hiring a proven winner in Harbaugh,” Bedard wrote. “The other just hired from within — from a 4-13 team – with people from within spitting distance and are hoping those people eventually grow into being worthy of their jobs.”

Seeing the two organizations lined up in this manner is eye-opening. After moving on from Brandon Staley, Spanos and the Chargers underwent a massive search of 10-plus head coach candidates and five-plus general manager candidates before settling on Harbaugh and Joe Hortiz.

The Patriots…promoted Jerod Mayo and Eliot Wolf, apparently without a real outside search.

Moving on from the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick era was never going to be easy for the Patriots, but again, it’s an eye-opening difference when looking at the Chargers.

Those Chargers, after all, have enjoyed a playoff berth in a supposed “rebuilding” year before an offseason with droves of free space and draft picks. Along the way, Hortiz has ripped off teams like…the Patriots in grossly lopsided trades involving Ladd McConkey. Harbaugh has squeezed the most of his coaching staff and roster on the field.

Exiting Week 17, even Chargers fans have to offer a tip of the hat to Chargers ownership for handling things the right way.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Chargers from Los Angeles Chargers on SI —