The Chargers are 0-2, and the timing could not be worse. Josh Allen and the Bills are next on the schedule in Week 3, and Los Angeles is already looking like a team hanging on by a thread.
Inside that mess, linebacker Daiyan Henley has become a telling figure. He was supposed to be one of the defense’s core pieces, the kind of player who eventually earns a major extension. Instead, he’s lined up next to special teams standout Del'Shawn Phillips, and nothing about his place in the short term or long term feels settled.
That uncertainty is showing up on the field. Through two games, Henley has 11 total tackles, one pressure and a half-sack. Those numbers might look passable in a vacuum, but they came in losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, which makes the lack of impact harder to ignore.
He also doesn’t look much like the player who posted 147 tackles and eight passes defended back in 2024. Right now, he’s not creating much disruption against opposing quarterbacks, and he hasn’t been reliable in coverage either.
Phillips has been one of the more surprising developments for the Chargers while Denzel Perryman is out injured. His play has pushed depth options like Troy Dye and Marlowe Wax out of the picture.
The rest of the defense still has its anchors. Derwin James, Khalil Mack and Teair Tart are doing their jobs. But with a new coordinator in place, the Chargers need more than the usual names to hold up their end.
That’s why Henley’s spot matters so much. The Chargers already watched a draft investment in Junior Colson go sideways, and if Henley can’t rise to the occasion, he’ll keep sitting well behind Tuli Tuipulotu in the extension conversation.
And with Allen coming in, the challenge is obvious. As Chris O'Leary put it to Chargers.com’s Omar Navarro: "I don't like using the word unicorn, but he's special," O'Leary told Chargers.com’s Omar Navarro.
"He's special, there's no doubt about it. For a guy with that speed to run, power to run, arm strength down the field, accuracy, decision making, all of it.
If Henley can be part of slowing that down, it would go a long way toward getting his season - and maybe the Chargers’ defense - pointed in the right direction.
In Other News...
Justin Herbert Took A Brutal National TV Shot In Chargers Loss
Justin Herberts rough night against Buffalo got even louder in the fourth quarter, when a mistake in a big spot turned into national-TV criticism from one of the most recognizable voices in football. In the Chargers Week 3 loss, Herberts interception was picked off by Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and quickly helped set up the kind of response drive that can swing a game, with Buffalo finishing off a 24-16 win.
Tom Brady, working the FOX booth with Kevin Burkhardt, did not soften the moment as it unfolded. For Herbert and the Chargers, it was the sort of sequence that can linger beyond the box score, especially when the turnover comes late enough to change the entire feel of the game and leaves the team trying to explain another missed chance against a quality opponent. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Win Left The Chargers With A Much Bigger Problem
The Chargers came out of Week 3 with something even more frustrating than a loss to Buffalo: another reminder that winning the turnover battle is not enough when the offense cannot cash it in. The defeat fit a troubling early-season pattern, with the Chargers struggles on that side of the ball drawing scrutiny under coach Mike McDaniel as they try to keep pace in a crowded AFC picture.
Los Angeles is hardly alone in dealing with early anxiety, with the Packers wrestling with line problems around Jordan Love and the Buccaneers buried under a three-game skid while Baker Mayfield deals with an injury issue. But for the Chargers, the concern is more immediate because the Buffalo result suggested the bigger problem is not bad luck or one mistake, it is whether the offense can do enough to make the rest of the roster matter. [Read more 🡒]
Tom Brady Took A Brutal Public Shot At Justin Herbert
During the Chargers' matchup with the Bills, Justin Herbert ran into one of those nationally televised moments that gets replayed long after the snap itself. A pass intended for the offense instead ended up in C.J. Gardner-Johnson's hands, and Tom Brady, working the game as a color commentator, did not soften the critique one bit.
Brady went right at Herbert's awareness and decision-making on the play, even using the phrase "Meatball Sub" to describe the throw's placement. It was the kind of blunt, unsparing analysis that has already become part of Brady's early broadcasting identity, and for Chargers fans, it only added to the sting of watching a mistake turn into a turnover on a big stage. [Read more 🡒]