The Los Angeles Chargers are already staring at a season that has gone sideways in a hurry.
After opening with back-to-back 26-14 losses - first to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1, then to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 2 - the Chargers are 0-2 and looking nothing like one of the most hyped teams heading into 2026 with the addition of Mike McDaniel. The offense has been a mess, the defense has been questionable at best, and the early damage has been severe.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell didn’t sugarcoat it. With the Chargers sitting at an ugly 7.2% chance to reach the playoffs, he labeled the start a disaster.
"Los Angeles Chargers. Chances of advancing to the postseason, via ESPN's FPI: 7.2% (26th)," Barnwell writes.
"Disaster. There's no other way to characterize what we've seen from the Chargers."
That number alone paints a grim picture, but the path ahead makes it even tougher. The Chargers needed to bank wins in those first two weeks, and instead they let two winnable games slip away. Now the schedule turns nasty fast.
Week 3 brings a road trip to face the Buffalo Bills, followed by another road game against the Seattle Seahawks. After that comes a home matchup with the Denver Broncos, then a road test against the Kansas City Chiefs before a Week 7 bye.
And the break doesn’t offer much relief. Coming out of the bye, the Chargers draw the Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens next.
Even the back half of the schedule offers no real comfort, with the New York Jets, New England Patriots, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Raiders, San Francisco 49ers, Miami Dolphins, Chiefs, and Broncos rounding out the year.
In a loaded AFC West, the division already looks out of reach. The Wild Card is the more realistic path, but that’s still a steep climb with teams like the Patriots, Bills, Bengals, and Ravens also in the hunt.
For now, the Chargers are sitting on a 7.2% playoff shot and a lot of work to do. At this point, pulling off a few upsets isn’t optional - it’s the only way this season has a chance to get back on track.
In Other News...
Chargers Face A Brutal Khalil Mack Decision After 0-2 Start
Two losses to open the season have already pushed the Chargers into early-season speculation mode, and the conversation around the roster is starting to move beyond simple corrections. NFL media has begun looking ahead to the trade deadline, with Bleacher Report singling out veteran edge rusher Khalil Mack as a name to watch because of where he stands contractually and the level he can still bring on the field.
Chicago and Detroit were among the teams mentioned as possible landing spots, which only adds to the sense that this could become more than idle chatter if Los Angeles keeps digging itself into an early hole. No move has been made, and the Chargers still have time to steady things, but the fact that Mack is already part of the deadline conversation says plenty about how quickly this start has changed the temperature around the team. [Read more 🡒]
Joe Hortiz Is Facing A Chargers Question Fans Can't Ignore
The Chargers offensive line problems have gone from a nagging issue to one of the defining frustrations of the 2025 season, and Justin Herbert is paying the price every week. Injuries and uneven play up front have left him under constant pressure, with the kind of protection issues that can turn a promising offense into a scramble drill, and the roots of the problem trace back to a roster-building approach Joe Hortiz brought with him from Baltimore.
Hortiz has leaned on low-cost, low-replacement-value interior linemen, a philosophy that can work only if the margins are right and the depth holds up. Instead, recent decisions like the short-term signing of Mekhi Becton and the choice not to re-sign Zion Johnson have only sharpened the question facing the front office: whether the Chargers can keep asking Herbert to operate behind this kind of line and still expect the offense to function the way it should. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herbert Could Finally End The Chargers' Early Offensive Frustration
Justin Herbert and the Chargers are heading into Week 3 with a chance to shake off the early offensive frustration that has hung over the start of the season. The matchup with Buffalo brings the kind of test that can quickly tell you whether Los Angeles is finding its rhythm or still searching for it, and Herberts arm is at the center of that conversation.
The expectation in this one is that Herbert can put together a big passing day and help push the offense into a more comfortable place after an uneven opening stretch. It is still just a prediction, but it has the feel of the sort of game that could change the tone around the Chargers quickly if Herbert finds his timing and the passing game starts clicking. [Read more 🡒]