The buzz around the Los Angeles Chargers has been loud all offseason, and Mike McDaniel is a big reason why. With the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on deck, the attention around this team has only grown.
What really turned heads came from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, whose comments about McDaniel’s offense also landed as a harsh reflection on former Miami Dolphins and current Atlanta Falcons quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
"My understanding is there are some plays, a lot of plays, that he has never been able to call, that we are going to see this year because he has Justin Herbert with the arm to do it. They are going to unleash and unlock so much of McDaniel's playbook that he has not been able to call for years," Rapoport reports.
That is the kind of note Chargers fans can feast on. The idea that Herbert’s arm strength opens up parts of McDaniel’s playbook that have been sitting there unused for years only adds to the excitement around this offense.
But the other side of that same report is what stings for Tagovailoa. The implication is plain enough: McDaniel wasn’t working with a quarterback who could fully bring out everything in the system. Tagovailoa has long dealt with questions about arm strength and downfield passing, and Rapoport’s report only sharpens that conversation.
It’s a rough look for Tagovailoa, especially since he is not playing in Week 1 after suffering an oblique injury in practice for the Falcons.
For the Chargers, though, the takeaway is easy. Herbert gives McDaniel the kind of passing talent that could finally let him go deeper into the bag, and that alone is enough to have this fan base fired up.
In Other News...
Chargers Add Veteran Receiver And Fans Will Wonder What Comes Next
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Valdes-Scantlings recent stop came in Pittsburgh, where he appeared in five games in 2025 and posted 10 catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. For the Chargers, the appeal is obvious: a familiar NFL name with speed and experience who can get acquainted quickly, even if the bigger question is how soon he might factor into the active roster conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Have A Harbaugh Problem Fans Cant Ignore Outside The AFC West
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Harbaughs track record with the Chargers still looks strong overall, and his work inside the AFC West has helped steady the franchise. The problem is what happens when the opponent is wearing a different uniform, where the results have been much less convincing and the margin for error keeps shrinking. Sundays loss only sharpened that contrast, and it is the sort of result that makes the next few non-division games feel a lot more important than they might have a few weeks ago. [Read more 🡒]
Chargers Newcomer Sends Blunt Message After Ugly Offensive Debut
The Chargers 2026 opener at SoFi Stadium came with little of the early-season promise they wanted, as a 26-14 loss to the Cardinals quickly turned into a night defined by missed chances and uneven execution. In the aftermath, newcomer Charlie Kolar did not soften the message, taking direct aim at the offenses showing and describing it as poor and embarrassing.
Los Angeles was already acknowledging the mistakes that helped swing the game, and the blunt critique only added weight to a disappointing start. For a team trying to set a tone in September, the bigger issue now is not what went wrong in one game, but how quickly the offense can clean it up before the opener becomes part of a larger problem. [Read more 🡒]