The last time these AFC West rivals faced off, the Raiders trounced the Chargers 63-21 in Week 15 of last season, leading to Brandon Staley’s firing as Bolt’s head coach the next day. Harbaugh followed by leading Michigan to a national title before taking the Chargers’ reins. In his first game in L.A., the Chargers gave up 53 fewer points than they last faced the Raiders, a defense that shrank in comparison to last year’s parody.

Of course, Harbaugh taking over is about more than just one game.

Harbaugh is going to do things his own way, just like Frank Sinatra.

Quarterback Justin Herbert threw for just 144 yards, but the Chargers won by 12 points.

“Justin Herbert threw for 100-something (yards), he doesn’t care,” Harbaugh said. “Derwin James just wants to win. Khalil Mack just wants to win. These guys are winners. What’s been done here before, I feel like I stepped into that, I’m the lucky one to step into this culture.”

They based their play on a running game that saw the reborn JK Dobbins rush for 135 yards and score a touchdown in his Chargers debut after four injury-plagued years with the Baltimore Ravens.

Moreso, the Chargers defense, which features much of the same talent as last season, had four sacks after allowing just one in last year’s Dec. 14 throttling, in which the Raiders had a 100-percent red zone TD percentage. This time around, Vegas ventured into the red zone just once and came up empty-handed in a game in which LA had three takeaways. The Chargers had none in last season’s loss. The differences between that game and this one were clear, from the sidelines to the field.

Winning season openers, of course, is nothing new for Harbaugh. He is now 5-0 in his career after winning all four of his Week 1 games with the San Francisco 49ers from 2011-14.

He memorably turned around a 49ers franchise that had gone eight years without a winning season or a playoff berth. Now he’s looking to do the same for a Chargers team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2018 and is coming off a 5-12 campaign.

The work started a long time ago and was rewarded with a victory in week 1.

“They’re hard to come by,” Harbaugh said. “These are hard to come by. Everybody in that locker room knows, as do I, that it’s really hard to win a game in the NFL. I just take my hat off to, really, everybody in the organization, especially those who have done the dirty work here.

“I can say this on behalf of all the new guys that have joined the organization this year: We are the lucky ones. It’s just a great job with this entire organization that these players have done. I think you saw that today. That kind of leadership comes from those who have been here and done it.”

Who has it better than Harbaugh and the Chargers? Well, not for long after the Bolts kicked off 2024 as winners.