San Diego’s Chargers hate-watchers had another good Sunday.
The winless Chargers came up empty on offense again, failed to score a touchdown for the second straight game and lost to the Los Angeles Rams, 24-9, at the $5.5-billion Kroenke Dome. The defeat pushed them to 0-7 and kept the spiral rolling in a season that was supposed to look very different.
This was the kind of game that only fed the glee in San Diego, where plenty of fans still follow the franchise and plenty more enjoy every stumble. The jokes have been coming weekly, and after Sunday’s mess, there’s no reason to think they’ll stop.
The Chargers entered the year with real buzz. Oddsmakers and NFL media rights holders had them pegged as a trendy Super Bowl threat after back-to-back 11-6 seasons under Jim Harbaugh and the January hiring of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator. Instead, they haven’t come close to winning any of their seven games, and the offense has been so bad it makes L.A. traffic sound appealing.
Harbaugh’s decision to keep McDaniel through the bye week only sharpened the scrutiny. The coach, with his square jaw and hard stare, gave the offense more time to reset. What came out of the break was more of the same.
The opening sequence was ugly: three plays and a punt, three plays and a punt, then two decent snaps before Herbert threw a bad third-and-5 pass that was intercepted and returned 45 yards. That set up a 3-0 Rams lead, and the Chargers never really recovered.
Herbert did manage to help produce a tying field goal, but the offense never found a rhythm. Harbaugh then played it safe with an 0-6 team, settling for two field goals instead of going for it on fourth-and-2. Later, Herbert threw another interception, his 10th of the season.
Harbaugh deserves a share of the blame for the state of the offense. The defense, coordinated by Chris O’Leary, has been good enough to keep the team afloat in stretches, but the attack has dragged everything down. That’s a problem for a coach who built his reputation on turning programs around at the University of San Diego, Stanford, Michigan and with the San Francisco 49ers, and who had already become the first Chargers coach since Norv Turner in 2007-08 to lead consecutive teams to 10-plus wins.
The hire of McDaniel has been the big miss. Harbaugh has a long history of helping quarterbacks rise, but this partnership has gone the other way.
Justin Herbert hasn’t been blameless, and his play has cratered in ways that don’t match his track record. Still, the quarterback has been working behind a bad offensive line and a thin pass-catching group, problems that also land on Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz.
Herbert has looked more uncomfortable than ever this season, and he has thrown a pick in every game.
The Chargers got back Ladd McConkey and Joe Alt for this one, and Harbaugh seemed to be banking on those reinforcements to help against a Rams defense that was missing All-Pro edge Myle Garrett. It didn’t matter. The offense still shorted out.
A loss next week to the Texans, who are 2-5 and coming off their bye, would drop the Chargers to 0-8 at roughly the midpoint of the season. For the San Diegans who still delight in every setback, the laughter would keep rolling from El Cajon to Encinitas.
In Other News...
Justin Herbert Debate Just Took A Wild Turn For The Chargers
Justin Herberts rough start has already put the Chargers in an uncomfortable spot, with the quarterback piling up interceptions and the team still searching for its first win of the season. The frustration around the offense has only grown as outside voices question what exactly is going wrong, even as theres no evidence beyond the on-field results to support anything more than a bad stretch.
Emmanuel Acho took the conversation in a far more extreme direction on his podcast, publicly floating the idea that Herbert could be underperforming on purpose or otherwise working against the Chargers. It is the kind of speculation that lands with a thud around a team already under pressure, and it only adds to the noise surrounding a season that has gone sideways fast while the coaching staff tries to steady the situation. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Lost Season Puts Joe Hortiz Under Trade Deadline Pressure
An 0-7 start has pushed the Chargers into a familiar but uncomfortable place, where the conversation has shifted from salvaging the present to shaping what comes next. With the NFL trade deadline set for Nov. 10, general manager Joe Hortiz is suddenly working under the kind of pressure that comes with a season already veering off course, and the front office has to decide whether it makes more sense to keep trying to patch holes or start collecting assets for a reset.
Justin Herbert still stands at the center of whatever the long-term plan becomes, which makes the next few weeks especially important for a roster that may need to be retooled around him. Veteran talent is the most obvious place to look for help in that process, and if Hortiz decides to lean into the future, the deadline could become less about chasing a miracle turnaround and more about extracting value from a lost year. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers May Refuse To Move Tuli Tuipulotu Despite Growing Buzz
Tuli Tuipulotu has become one of the more intriguing names to watch as the NFL trade deadline nears, and it is easy to see why. The 24-year-old pass rusher has been productive enough to draw attention around the league, while his contract situation has only added to the speculation surrounding him and the Chargers.
Even with the team stuck in a winless season, Los Angeles does not appear interested in turning Tuipulotu into a deadline move. The Chargers seem intent on holding their roster together for now, even as outside buzz grows and the unresolved future of a young edge rusher keeps the conversation going. [Read more 🡒]