Three weeks into the 2026 season, the Chargers have managed to turn a loaded roster and a big-name coaching setup into a full-blown mess.
Sunday’s loss to the Bills said plenty. Buffalo coughed up five turnovers, three of them in its own territory, and still walked away with the win.
The Chargers got to Josh Allen four times, hit him three more times, and knocked down five passes. They were ahead 10-0 after the first quarter and still held a 13-10 edge at the end of the third.
Then came the sequence that made the collapse feel unmistakable: a bad Justin Herbert interception, another Quentin Johnston drop, a weak fourth-and-goal field goal attempt, and back-to-back procedural penalties in the red zone.
The numbers around the loss make it even uglier. Since 2013, teams that have forced five turnovers and won the turnover battle by four are 81-3-1, according to Evan Abrams. The Chargers have now taken all three of those losses.
That’s why the preseason optimism feels so far away now. The idea was simple enough: Mike McDaniel plus Justin Herbert, with tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater back, and a defense patched up after losing DC Jesse Minter by bringing in one of the most inventive defensive play-callers in the FBS last season.
For believers, it looked like the kind of setup that could unlock Herbert and make the whole operation hum. For everyone else, it was always a little too shiny.
Instead, the season has opened with a disaster. Teams that start 0-3 since the playoff format expanded in 2020 have almost never recovered; 96 percent of them have missed the playoffs.
The only exception cited is the 2025 Texans, who finished on a nine-game winning streak. The Chargers, though, are staring at a brutal stretch next: the Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams, Texans and Ravens.
The bigger issue is that the collapse doesn’t just damage the season. It drags the whole coaching arrangement into the spotlight.
The assumption was that McDaniel would turn Herbert loose, post huge numbers, and ride that success toward another head coaching job. Herbert, meanwhile, was supposed to land in a system that smoothed out his worst tendencies and backed him with a double-barreled running game, the kind that would keep him from having to become Dark Herbert.
That same ground attack was also supposed to ease the burden on a defense leaning on aging players for major snaps while still expecting elite results.
None of that is happening. Herbert has completed only one of 12 passes of 20 yards or more this season, and three of those attempts have been intercepted. The Chargers are last in the NFL in EPA per rush and 25th in rushing success rate.
McDaniel’s status is now part of the problem, too. He has to improve just to secure another year. And with Harbaugh having never called plays in the NFL, plus Greg Roman now serving as the Giants’ run-game coordinator, there aren’t many obvious levers left for Harbaugh to pull in the middle of the year.
A full-on coaching change still does not look likely after back-to-back 11-win seasons to begin Harbaugh’s run in Los Angeles. But the shine can disappear fast.
Harbaugh is not so far removed from Chargers predecessors Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley that the comparison doesn’t sting. Lynn went 9-7 and 12-4 before back-to-back losing seasons, while Staley posted 9-8 and 10-7 before his own sharp fall.
Only Lynn has a playoff win, the one coming after his game plan against Lamar Jackson in 2018.
For now, the Chargers have made a bad bet look worse by the week. What was supposed to be the clean, high-upside marriage of coach, quarterback and system has instead become a looping exercise in the same mistakes, with no easy reset waiting at the end.
In Other News...
Justin Herbert Took A Brutal National TV Shot In Chargers Loss
Justin Herbert and the Chargers left Buffalo with another frustrating result in a Week 3 loss, and the fourth quarter brought the kind of national spotlight no quarterback wants. With Los Angeles trying to keep pace, Herberts interception was picked off by Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and quickly turned into points on the next drive, helping push Buffalo to a 24-16 win.
Tom Brady, working the FOX broadcast with Kevin Burkhardt, did not soften the moment in the booth. The criticism landed as Herberts miscue became part of a game that slipped away late, adding another layer of scrutiny to a Chargers offense still looking for cleaner finishes when the pressure climbs. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers May Have Found Two Answers They Desperately Needed
Justin Herbert looked more settled in the first half against Buffalo, and the Chargers needed that kind of early rhythm. Working through the early stage of life under new offensive and defensive coordinators while dealing with injuries on both sides of the ball, Herbert completed 9 of 16 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, showing the kind of comfort and efficiency the offense has been searching for.
On the other side, rookie safety Genesis Smith helped steady a battered defense in a big way. Pressed into action because of injuries, he intercepted Josh Allen twice before halftime, giving Los Angeles a much-needed spark and a reminder that some of these depth-chart tests can produce immediate answers. For a team trying to find its footing, the first half offered a glimpse of two pieces that could matter a lot going forward. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers May Need To Rethink Quentin Johnston Fast
Quentin Johnston has given the Chargers enough flashes to keep the conversation alive, but not enough consistency to quiet it. The 2023 first-round pick has improved his receiving yards and touchdown totals year over year, and the team already exercised his fifth-year option for the 2027 season, a sign it still believes in the long view.
Still, the drops keep undercutting the progress, and the timing could hardly be worse for a team sitting 0-3. Under offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, Johnstons recent play has drawn criticism, including multiple early-2027 drops, and the Chargers may have to consider whether they need to look harder at other receiver options if the inconsistency keeps surfacing. [Read more 🡒]