The Chargers are walking into Week 4 with their backs against the wall, and the setting does not get any friendlier. At 0-3, Los Angeles heads to Seattle to face the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks at Lumen Field, carrying both a battered roster and the kind of urgency that makes 0-4 feel like a season-wrecker.
A lot of the concern starts with the offense, which has looked stuck in the mud through three weeks. The coaching staff’s big miscalculation has helped drag the whole unit backward, and the execution issues have only piled on. Procedural penalties keep showing up, and the offense never seems to settle into any kind of rhythm.
That puts Justin Herbert under the microscope again. He has not looked comfortable in Mike McDaniel's offense, and the field-reading process that used to look so automatic for him now feels forced.
In previous seasons, Herbert was often criticized for getting through his reads too fast. This year, though, the issue is the opposite: the progression work does not look natural, and that is a problem against a defense like Seattle’s.
The Seahawks, under head coach Mike Macdonald, run a system with the same defensive roots the Chargers use. Macdonald and former Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter both come from the same tree, and new Chargers defensive coordinator Chris O'Leary is now carrying that philosophy in Los Angeles.
Seattle’s defense has the same basic identity: keep things in front, give up the underneath stuff, and rally to the ball. The question is whether Herbert can stay patient, take what is there, and find a rhythm on short and intermediate throws.
There may be a chance for the occasional deep shot, especially with Seattle’s safety room banged up, but that should not be the foundation of the game plan. Ladd McConkey is questionable, so Herbert may have to lean on the rest of the receiver group underneath.
The Chargers’ cornerback situation adds another layer of stress. Donte Jackson is in concussion protocol, and his status is unclear.
That matters because the team already entered the season with a thin room there, and once one of the top three corners goes down, the depth gets tested fast. Special teams ace Deane Leonard and undrafted rookie Rodney Shelley were the only other corners on the 53-man roster.
Shelley saw significant snaps last week after Jackson went out, and he had several rookie mistakes, though this week should at least give him more practice reps.
The challenge gets even steeper with Jaxon Smith-Njigba on the other side. The Seahawks have what is described as arguably a top-three receiver in the NFL, so how O'Leary handles that passing attack will be a major swing factor. Seattle’s first-round running back Jadarian Price has been ruled out, which trims part of the Seahawks’ rushing threat, but the passing game still carries plenty of danger.
Up front, the Chargers are still fighting to survive. The interior offensive line has been a problem, and the numbers behind it are ugly.
Rookie center Jake Slaughter was thrown into the starting job only weeks before the season after Tyler Biadasz went down before the second preseason game. Los Angeles is already on its fifth option at left guard, and the right guard has the third-worst PFF offensive grade in the NFL among guards.
That is a brutal setup against a Seahawks defensive front that is described as both deep and ferocious. On paper, it is a rough matchup for the Chargers. The likely answer is to test Seattle’s perimeter with the run, use short passes and screens, and try to move the pocket for Herbert, because the interior is not built to hold up long against Seattle’s rush.
In Other News...
Seahawks Fans Suddenly Have A Real Reason To Worry About The Future
New Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla says he has no immediate plans to alter the team or how it operates, which should offer some short-term comfort to a fan base that values stability as much as success. Even so, his latest comments left one important issue hanging in the air: the long-term question of where the franchise will call home once the current lease at Lumen Field runs out in 2032.
Khosla also made clear he is still learning the ropes of running an NFL team, and he suggested his comments about the teams future location could be part of the broader chess match that comes with stadium talks. For Seattle fans, that may not mean an actual move is imminent, but it does mean the next chapter of ownership comes with a topic nobody can quite ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Have One Defensive Strength To Trust As Changes Loom
The Seahawks left Week 3 with more questions than answers on a defense that gave up 27 points to Washington and faded in the moments that mattered most. For all the issues in the back end and along the edge, the interior defensive line was one part of the unit that held up, with Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed and Byron Murphy providing at least a measure of stability in the middle.
That matters now because Mike Macdonald has already signaled changes are coming before Week 4, and Seattle needs to sort out which pieces can be trusted as the staff adjusts. The front inside gives the Seahawks a starting point, but the bigger challenge is turning one dependable strength into something the rest of the defense can build around. [Read more 🡒]
Seahawks Fans Are Headed For A Familiar Sam Darnold Fight
Sam Darnold is still holding the Seahawks starting quarterback job, even as the conversation around him has picked up again after his Week 3 interception was returned for a touchdown. The criticism has followed a familiar pattern for Seattle fans, because the discourse around the quarterback spot has a way of sharpening fast whenever there is a mistake, even when the overall performance tells a different story.
In that game, Darnold completed 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns with a 105.7 quarterback rating, a line that shows why the Seahawks have kept him in place. Drew Lock, who started the first two games, remains the backup and has not voiced any dissatisfaction with his role, leaving the depth chart intact for now even as the outside noise continues. [Read more 🡒]