Now that’s more like it!  After the last home heartbreaker, the Bolts got everything—yes, everything!—back on track.  The result for you, dear reader, is a View From the Q that is 90% less bitter than the last column.  This week’s edition features uncredited and unappreciated commentary from Ryan “Leaky Pipes” Thies, J.J. “Slept ‘Til the Game Started” Fiddler, and Shar “My Wife” Higa.

Pre-Game

0. I saw a hawk on the drive down.  I won’t break down the complex chart of Chargers superstitions I have in my head, but I assure you: this is a good thing.

1. Leaky Pipes and I realized on the drive that in three years of Chargers games, we’d never actually attended a game on Monday Night.  I was surprised at how different an experience it was, knowing you weren’t missing any other games, seeing the handful of celebrities on the field, and watching at least twice as many fights, since most of the attendees had been drinking beer in a hot parking lot all day.

2. Those celebrities: we spotted Dennis Quaid, Riggins’ dad from Friday Night Lights, Michael Clarke Duncan (who I asked to sub in for Jamal Williams if his knee was still shaky), and Ladanian Tomlinson.  Yes, I know he’s there a lot, but still, he counts.  OK, that’s the end of my Doug Krikorian impression.

3. Interesting sidebar on the game: Steve Young, co-host of the MNF on-field TV crew, is on the same field as Brett Favre right now.  Last time that happened it was 1998, TO was becoming a superstar, and I was a 14-year old kid experiencing a timeless moment in sports. 

4. Steve Young has a huge bald spot.  Timelessness is overrated.

5. LT and Jamal Williams are both on the field warming up, and both look bouncy and spry—that’s good, because we’re screwed tonight if either of them come up gimpy.

6. A Chargers fan calls Steve Young a “punk” in between segments, and I nearly get into a fight with him after I yell, “Hey!  That’s a Hall of Famer, show some respect!”

7. Jaws and Tirico are on the field talking to people but Tony Kornheiser is nowhere to be found—maybe ESPN is getting wise and preparing to fire him. 

8. Antonio Cromartie is watching the Jumbotron replays of the last second losses to the Panthers and Broncos as he warms up.  I think this is a good thing.

9. My wife texts to say that we’re missing a second consecutive Brett Favre MNF highlight reel on ESPN.  I’m okay with this.  Alright, time to hit the seats for the game.  You know, the reason we’re here.  Or whatever.

Game

1. Leaky Pipes is 50% Chargers fan and 50% Jets fan (and a defected Niners fan, don’t ask), so this should be a fun night…for me.

2. At kickoff, they play a choice clip from There’s Something About Mary on the Jumbotron: “What the hell is Brett Favre doing here?”  Nice.

3. Did Philip Rivers really just throw a pick for a TD?  But I saw a hawk!!!

4. Wanna look smart to your friends?  Watch for any Bolts package that includes Brandon Manumaleuna.  Whatever side he shifts to, predict out loud that we’re running to that side.  You will be right 100% of the time.

5. Cromartie just missed an easy pick-six.  Maybe he shouldn’t have been torturing himself with the Jumbotron.

6. Did we really just march down the field twice, to go up 10-7?  LT doesn’t look like himself, but man, that was impressive.

7. Antonio “Never Misses Twice” Cromartie just took one back to the house.  I love that guy.

7. 31-14 at halftime!  Wow!

8. If I had to come up with a downside of this game (and I do), it’s the two guys sitting behind us tonight.  You know the expression “fake smart”?  Well, these guys are fake smart.  They think they’re football gurus, but their primary advice is to “Make that tackle!” or “Break that tackle!”  And neither of them have even been drinking.

9. It’s Latino Heritage Month in the NFL (leading me to make at least a dozen “The Chargers are en fuego” references in the first half), so there are Mexican dancers on the field at halftime.  Due to technical difficulties, they ran late.  Unfortunately, the punter still needs to warm up.  If you think the end of this story is that Mike Scifres hit the trumpeter in the back, you’d be right.

10. Random jersey spot: A guy wearing a black USC jersey, number 4, ostensibly in support of Favre.  Boo.  Also, a woman in a Keyshawn jersey, and a guy wearing a throwback Reggie White Eagles uni.  Weird.

11. Well, I’d say this one is in hand.  I’m just going to sit back and enjoy the butt-kicking.  Go about your business.

12. To break down some numbers: we scored on 8 of 12 drives, which is amazing.  We took the ball away from the Jets four times, and only coughed it up once.  Bad numbers?  LT averaged under three yards a carry, and doesn’t look healthy.  But Darren Sproles has stepped up nicely, much to my wife’s delight.

13. Big win at home, and we get to play the Raiders next week?  Is it me, or did it just get a lot easier to breathe the air in San Diego?