The Los Angeles Chargers came into the season as one of the most hyped teams in the NFL. But life comes at you fast in the NFL and the team is now 0-2 with back-to-back 26-14 losses at home to open the season.
Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert are not meshing and the Chargers are now in danger of a lost season thanks to the upcoming schedule.
Chargers Schedule Gets Even Tougher
Los Angeles opened the season with home games against the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, respectively. That represented the “easy” part of the schedule before a brutal stretch from Weeks 3-6 before a bye week.
The upcoming games are: at Buffalo Bills, at Seattle Seahawks, vs. Denver Broncos, at Kansas City Chiefs.
The Bills are a Super Bowl favorite, the Seahawks are the defending champions, the Broncos made it to the AFC title game, and the Chiefs are still one of the top teams until proven otherwise.
That brutal stretch is followed by a Week 7 bye where the Chargers could realistically enter with a 2-4, 1-5, or even an 0-6 record. Fans who don’t have the schedule memorized won’t be relieved in Week 8 either, as the Chargers take on the Los Angeles Rams. Games against the Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens, respectively, follow that.
A Week 2 to Forget in Los Angeles
Herbert barely eclipsed 200 yards passing in the ugly Week 1 loss to Arizona. He couldn’t even reach that mark Sunday, finishing with 192 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions Sunday in the loss to the Raiders.
10 players received targets and Tre’ Harris was the leading receiver with one catch for 53 yards. Former first-round pick Quentin Johnston finished with one catch for seven yards.
This is not where the Chargers expected to be and the season is in danger of being over before the Week 7 bye even arrives. ESPN’s Ben Solak summed up the issues that everyone is already seeing in the new offense.
“Don’t need to see the result,” he wrote. “Chargers are really rough rn. OL issues not just from the interior but the tackles too. Herbert not getting the ball out fast enough. Receivers dropping accurate throws. Run game mental errors. Defense lacks pass rush and size. Mess, mess, mess.”
Herbert not getting the ball out has been a visible problem and receivers dropping passes was highlighted when David Njoku dropped a pass in the first quarter that led to a Raiders interception.
The Chargers seem to be stuck in preseason mode as the NFL enters Week 3. That could end up leading to a lost season in 2026.
Chargers Schedule May Spell Doom After 0-2 Start