EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Chargers walked out of Week 1 with a mess on their hands, and the coaches didn’t try to dress it up.
A 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals exposed issues everywhere: the offense looked disjointed, the defense couldn’t get enough stops when it mattered, and special teams turned ugly in a hurry. For Jim Harbaugh, it was a first.
He entered Sunday 6-0 in season openers during his NFL head coaching career. Now he’s 6-1, and the first loss clearly lingered.
Harbaugh said Monday he wished he had handled the preseason differently.
"We made some preseason-type mistakes," Harbaugh said. "Now I wish we played our starters more in the preseason to give them some game reps."
The offensive side took the hardest hit in terms of expectation versus reality. Mike McDaniel was brought in to help unlock Justin Herbert, but the opener did the opposite. Herbert looked hesitant, and the whole operation never found a rhythm outside of two touchdown drives.
"I think I would be in a way different mood than every other press conference that you've seen me, if that was any indication of the way the ball has been,” McDaniel said. “So yeah, it was kind of shocking."
That word fit. The Chargers expected cleaner football, especially after a long stretch of work that was supposed to sharpen the plan.
Instead, the details unraveled. Omarion Hampton was involved early - he got five carries on the opening two drives - but after his fumble, his workload shrank, and he finished with only seven carries the rest of the way.
It was an odd turn for a back who put the ball on the ground only once last season.
“You have a lot of visions coming to a new team and working on something for months - and the vision never looked like that,” McDaniel said.
The receiver group outside of Ladd McConkey also showed its inexperience. The production wasn’t there, and it can’t stay that way if this offense is going to function. Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston combined for five catches and 37 yards, and that simply won’t cut it.
McConkey is questionable for Sunday because of a rib issue, though he practiced in a limited role Friday. If he can’t go, the rest of the group will have to answer the bell.
“Guys need to seize the opportunities, “ McDaniel said. “It can’t be my secret anymore. It can’t just be in practice.”
There were other places where the blame landed. Some of it points back to Harbaugh’s decision to platoon Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins at left guard. Awosika played better and should stay in the job, and Pipkins will miss Sunday because of a knee injury.
“It was a case of humble pie,” McDaniel said. “Didn’t feel good to anyone.”
Defensively, first-year coordinator Chris O’Leary didn’t sugarcoat what happened either.
"Not good enough...got to be better in a lot of areas,” O’Leary said.
The run defense wasn’t the main problem. Arizona ran 34 times for 116 yards, a 3.4-yard average. The bigger issues were possession time - the Cardinals had the ball for more than 37 minutes - and the way Jacoby Brissett picked the Chargers apart with fast throws.
"Ball came out on time, I think it was quick throws,” O’Leary said.
The fixes, at least in O’Leary’s eyes, are straightforward.
“Combination of getting our hands up in rush lanes and being stickier in coverage,” O’Leary said.
Now the Chargers have to deal with a Raiders offense that wants to create the same kind of quick-strike problems. Kirk Cousins will try to do what Brissett just did, though O’Leary’s group knows Cousins is more likely to give the ball away. That makes the margin for error smaller, not bigger.
Then there’s Ashton Jeanty, who showed up as a dual-threat problem in the Raiders’ 29-touch, 147-yard, two-touchdown outing against the Miami Dolphins. And even with Brock Bowers listed as doubtful because of a knee injury, the challenge doesn’t disappear.
The Chargers also have to clean up a special teams performance that was bad in every phase. Coverage broke down, the return game struggled, and JK Scott had a punt blocked early in the fourth quarter, with Arizona recovering at the Chargers’ 3-yard line.
That sequence came before the Cardinals stretched a 16-14 lead. Soon after, Brissett found Trey McBride for a 3-yard touchdown, and the game was effectively over.
“I told the guys that we can't allow this to define us,” special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken said. “It would only define us if we allow it to, and we got a new opportunity, and we're going to attack that this game plan and this week.”
That’s the reality now: a division game, an early chance to stop the bleeding, and a whole lot of urgency after one week. The Chargers know exactly what 0-2 would look like, and they know it’s not where they want to be.
"It worked out totally the opposite way that we saw,” McDaniel said. “And what are you going to do about it?
That's what I love about football. That's what I love about this week, because you can't hide.
You got to go and face the music."
In Other News...
Chargers Already Have A Worrying Akheem Mesidor Problem
The Chargers went into the season needing answers on both sides of the trenches, and the early returns have not made life easier. Their offensive line is still being tested, and the pass rush has not consistently provided the kind of pressure that can cover for other issues on defense. That backdrop has made rookie Akheem Mesidor a particularly important player to watch, since he was brought in to help fill the role vacated by Odafe Oweh in the rotation.
Through Week 1, Mesidor has not yet delivered the kind of impact the Chargers were hoping for, which only adds to the concern around a defense trying to find its footing. The coaching staff still has time to get more out of him, and the need is obvious if the team wants to avoid digging an early hole. For now, the question is whether Mesidor can settle in quickly enough to become part of the solution rather than another reason for worry. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Left Guard Problem Is About To Get A Real Answer
Trey Pipkins is set to miss the Chargers upcoming game with a knee injury, and that leaves Kayode Awosika in line to handle left guard for the full contest. The move gives Los Angeles something it has not had there this season: a clean look at one player instead of the back-and-forth rotation the staff had been using.
The split duties drew criticism because it cut into the offensive lines continuity, a particularly important issue for a unit trying to settle in early. Awosika also entered the conversation with some momentum after initial Pro Football Focus data in the season opener showed him grading better than Pipkins, so this weeks snap count should go a long way toward clarifying the Chargers best answer at the spot. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers O-Line Shuffle Is Exposing A Bigger Problem Than Harbaugh Wanted
The Chargers are still trying to sort out the interior of their offensive line, and the picture at left guard has already changed again by Week 2. Jim Harbaugh has moved away from a rotation there, but the answers have not come easily, with Trey Pipkins among the players asked to step in while the group deals with injuries and a lack of settled roles.
The bigger issue is what all of this says about the line as a whole. With center Tyler Biadasz sidelined and rookie Jake Slaughter starting at left guard, the Chargers are leaning on combinations that raise real questions about fit, experience and continuity. It is the sort of early-season instability that can linger long after the lineup card changes. [Read more 🡒]