The Los Angeles Chargers are five games into the 2026 season, and the win column is still empty. After Sunday’s 23-17 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Chargers fell to 0-5, matching the worst start in franchise history since 2003.
The latest defeat followed a familiar script: Los Angeles had a chance, held a lead, then watched it slip away. A 42-yard touchdown run by Kimani Vidal late in the third quarter put the Chargers up 17-10 at SoFi Stadium, but the finish unraveled fast.
Justin Herbert’s final four possessions ended in a turnover on downs, a fumble, an interception, and a sack that ended the game. Denver made the most of the opening, tying the score with a Bo Nix touchdown pass to Courtland Sutton, then moving ahead on a Wil Lutz field goal after Herbert’s fumble. Brandon Jones sealed it with an interception of Herbert with a little more than three minutes left.
Herbert finished 14 of 24 for 121 yards, with a touchdown and an interception.
Still, Jim Harbaugh isn’t pointing the finger at his quarterback. When asked Monday about Herbert’s turnover problems, Harbaugh said the way the game has unfolded has forced Herbert into tough spots.
“There are definitely times when he was trying to make a play, and too many times this season, there’s been that desperation time,” Harbaugh said, via The Athletic. “That’s what I’d attribute that to. Doing anything and everything he can.”
Harbaugh was just as direct about Herbert’s mindset.
“I’m not going to tell him anything different,” Harbaugh said. “He’s doing anything and everything that he can to help us win, and I applaud those that do that.”
He added that the responsibility also falls on the rest of the team to put Herbert in better positions, even if the Chargers’ injury situation makes that a difficult task.
The turnovers are piling up quickly. Herbert has thrown five touchdowns and seven interceptions through five games, and his nine total turnovers are tied with Drake Maye for the most in the NFL.
For perspective, Herbert’s career high in interceptions is 15, set in 2021 during his second season. He’s already gone nearly halfway there with 12 games still to play.
The schedule offers little relief. The Chargers head to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday to face the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs.
“The way he competes, it’s like few others I’ve ever seen,” Harbaugh said of Herbert.
Right now, though, competition alone hasn’t been enough to stop the slide.
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An 0-5 start has turned the Chargers season into something much bigger than a bad October, because the losing has now pushed the conversation from short-term fixes to the future of Justin Herbert. Los Angeles has spent heavily on coaching and player personnel around him, building the roster with the expectation that the quarterback would be the constant, the face of the franchise and the player everything else was supposed to support.
Justin Herbert is 28 and still under contract for four more years, which is why any talk of a reset still sounds jarring. Even so, the way this season has unraveled has left room for an uncomfortable question that did not exist when the year began: if the struggles keep going, could the Chargers eventually consider a much larger overhaul, one that changes the direction of the entire team? [Read more 🡒]