The Los Angeles Chargers can say all the right things, but the results are doing the talking. After another loss, this one to the Buffalo Bills, Jim Harbaugh’s team is sitting at 0-3 and looking like the most troubling group in football.
That’s the part that makes this so hard to ignore. Even teams like Cleveland are finding ways to win right now, while the Chargers still haven’t shown they can consistently look competitive. Harbaugh’s message, at least so far, isn’t landing.
Some of that starts with the roster. General manager Joe Hortiz deserves plenty of blame for how this team was put together, though the source of those choices may also be tied to budget restrictions from ownership. But the bigger issue is that Harbaugh’s style - all the CEO energy, the tough-guy language, the familiar catchphrases - is not translating the way it did in college.
Justin Herbert, a top-10 quarterback, looks disinterested. The Chargers don’t have enough vocal leadership.
Herbert has regressed under the offensive coordinator Harbaugh hired. The loyalty to players like Bradley Bozeman stands out, especially when the interior offensive line hasn’t shown the physical edge Harbaugh keeps talking about.
And with Khalil Mack, Harbaugh is taking a big risk by tying him to a coordinator who is clearly green and inexperienced.
That’s part of why these Chargers have a way of falling apart when the games really matter, especially in the playoffs. The problems are obvious, and they’re still there.
The numbers only sharpen the point. In the last 10 years, the Chargers are 2-2 when creating 5+ turnovers.
The rest of the NFL is 66-4-1. Since 2013, teams with 5+ turnovers and a -4 TO margin are 3-81-1 straight up, and the three wins are Bills over Chargers today, Jaguars over Chargers in 2022-23, and Broncos over Chargers in 2015-16.
Harbaugh looked like he was walking into a two-year rebuild, but this was supposed to be the contention year. Instead, the decisions around him - especially the coordinator hires - have come back to bite, and the blame starts with him.
The Chargers probably won’t make a midseason move. That’s not how a conservative, old-school franchise like this tends to operate.
They’ll keep saying the right things, and they may even win a few games along the way. But if this doesn’t turn quickly, the schedule ahead makes the situation hard to shrug off.
There’s also the reality that this ownership group has shown it’s willing to spend, from hiring Harbaugh to paying for McDaniel. That means they may not be willing to sit on a bad situation for long.
If things go sideways and McDaniel is fired after one season, that’s another coordinator gone for Herbert. At that point, the argument for wiping the slate clean gets a lot stronger.
The Chargers have already shown they’re willing to move on from a coach, even when that coach won a playoff game. Anthony Lynn did, and they still let him go.
What they can’t afford is to keep forcing this version of the program forward and let Herbert’s prime get swallowed by it. Hortiz’s roster-building needs to change too, but that goes hand in hand with the head coach.
And if this is where it’s headed, the one thing that won’t be changing is the quarterback. If it comes down to Hortiz, Harbaugh or Herbert, the Chargers are choosing Herbert every time.
This year, that decision feels like it’s already made.
In Other News...
Justin Herbert Took A Brutal National TV Shot In Chargers Loss
Justin Herberts rough night against Buffalo got even louder in the fourth quarter, when a mistake in a big spot turned into national-TV criticism from one of the most recognizable voices in football. In the Chargers Week 3 loss, Herberts interception was picked off by Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and quickly helped set up the kind of response drive that can swing a game, with Buffalo finishing off a 24-16 win.
Tom Brady, working the FOX booth with Kevin Burkhardt, did not soften the moment as it unfolded. For Herbert and the Chargers, it was the sort of sequence that can linger beyond the box score, especially when the turnover comes late enough to change the entire feel of the game and leaves the team trying to explain another missed chance against a quality opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Win Left The Chargers With A Much Bigger Problem
The Chargers came out of Week 3 with something even more frustrating than a loss to Buffalo: another reminder that winning the turnover battle is not enough when the offense cannot cash it in. The defeat fit a troubling early-season pattern, with the Chargers struggles on that side of the ball drawing scrutiny under coach Mike McDaniel as they try to keep pace in a crowded AFC picture.
Los Angeles is hardly alone in dealing with early anxiety, with the Packers wrestling with line problems around Jordan Love and the Buccaneers buried under a three-game skid while Baker Mayfield deals with an injury issue. But for the Chargers, the concern is more immediate because the Buffalo result suggested the bigger problem is not bad luck or one mistake, it is whether the offense can do enough to make the rest of the roster matter. [Read more 🡒]
Tom Brady Took A Brutal Public Shot At Justin Herbert
During the Chargers' matchup with the Bills, Justin Herbert ran into one of those nationally televised moments that gets replayed long after the snap itself. A pass intended for the offense instead ended up in C.J. Gardner-Johnson's hands, and Tom Brady, working the game as a color commentator, did not soften the critique one bit.
Brady went right at Herbert's awareness and decision-making on the play, even using the phrase "Meatball Sub" to describe the throw's placement. It was the kind of blunt, unsparing analysis that has already become part of Brady's early broadcasting identity, and for Chargers fans, it only added to the sting of watching a mistake turn into a turnover on a big stage. [Read more 🡒]