Jim Harbaugh’s first game of the season with the Los Angeles Chargers turned into a rough one at SoFi Stadium, where the Arizona Cardinals walked out with a 26-14 win on Sunday.
The loss didn’t sit well with former NFL tackle Breiden Fehoko, who took aim at Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz on social media after the game. Fehoko made clear he wasn’t putting the blame on Pipkins, instead going after the way the Chargers handled their offensive line rotation.
"I'm not even mad at Pipkins," Fehoko wrote. "Jim Harbaugh & Joe Hortiz are openly rotating guards every drive in this game. That is the most roster malpractice BS I've ever seen in my life."
He followed that up with a sharper message about Harbaugh’s future and the state of the organization.
"Imagine for 3 years all I've told is the truth," Fehoko wrote. "But fandom gets in the way and people think it's rage baiting.
This organization stinks, they need to clean house. Sometimes you might have to shut the fck up and listen to the guy who's actually been in that building everyday."
The Chargers spent much of the afternoon chasing the Cardinals. They were down 13-7 at halftime, then watched Chad Ryland stretch the Arizona lead to 16-7 with his third field goal of the night in the third quarter. Justin Herbert briefly pulled Los Angeles back into it when he hit Ladd McConkey for an eight-yard touchdown, but the momentum never really stuck.
Arizona answered in the fourth quarter when Jacoby Brissett found the end zone on a three-yard touchdown pass. Ryland then put the game away with a 49-yard field goal with 2:33 left.
Afterward, Harbaugh didn’t sugarcoat it. He said the Chargers had plenty to clean up on both sides of the ball and said he wasn’t pleased with the defense. He also noted the offense is still settling in under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel.
"Credit to the Cardinals," Harbaugh said. "Not the way that we would have wanted it to go.
I know the group of competitors that we have. It's the feeling of, you get punched.
How we respond is what I'm thinking about right now."
Herbert finished 17-of-27 for 209 yards with one touchdown, three interceptions and one sack.
Harbaugh came into the season after guiding the Chargers to a second-place finish in the AFC West last year with an 11-6 record. Los Angeles reached the playoffs, then lost to the New England Patriots in a wild-card game.
The Chargers’ next chance to bounce back comes Sept. 20 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
In Other News...
Chargers Debut Under Mike McDaniel Raised A Justin Herbert Concern
The Chargers first game under Mike McDaniel at SoFi Stadium did not take long to expose some familiar frustrations. After an opening scoring drive, Los Angeles struggled to sustain offense against Arizona, and the game tilted as the Cardinals stacked up the kinds of plays that usually swing a road win into a comfortable one. Jeremiyah Loves rookie rushing touchdown, a blocked punt by Simi Fehoko that set up another score and an interception by Andrew Wingard all fed into a 26-14 Arizona victory.
For Justin Herbert and the Chargers, the bigger concern was how often the offense stalled after that early burst. Turnovers, limited production on the ground and too many empty possessions left Los Angeles chasing the game instead of controlling it, which is rarely a comfortable formula for a team trying to establish a new identity. The result did not just count as a loss, it raised an immediate question about how quickly this group can find consistency when the margin for error is already this thin. [Read more 🡒]
Ladd McConkey Had Chargers Fans Worried For One Big Reason
Ladd McConkey gave the Chargers plenty to feel good about in the season opener against Arizona before the game took a worrying turn in the third quarter. The rookie wide receiver had already put together a productive afternoon, hauling in five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, showing the kind of impact Los Angeles hoped for when it brought him into the offense.
The concern came when McConkey suffered a chest injury and was listed as questionable before heading to the locker room for further evaluation. With an MRI still needed to determine the full extent of the issue, the Chargers were left waiting on the kind of update no team wants after a player looks to be settling in so quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Justin Herberts First TD Brought An Unexpected Chargers Sideshow
Justin Herberts first touchdown pass of the season did more than get SoFi Stadium on its feet. It also gave the broadcast and the NFLs social accounts a moment they were happy to keep replaying, as Madison Beer was shown celebrating from the stands while watching her fianc take the field for the Chargers.
Beer was at the game alongside singer Parker Winston, who is dating her boyfriend Ryan Beer, adding an unexpected pop-culture subplot to an otherwise straightforward afternoon for the Chargers. For Herbert, it was a clean on-field milestone. For everyone else watching, it was a reminder that a big moment in Los Angeles can come with a little extra spotlight. [Read more 🡒]