The Los Angeles Chargers are off to a horrible start to the 2026 season.
The Chargers, who opened the season against the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas — two of the worst teams in the league last season — are 0-2 and they face a gauntlet of a schedule in the next two weeks, starting with their Week 3 matchup against the Buffalo Bills. The ensuing games will see the Chargers face the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens.
All of those teams — with the exception of the Chiefs — either had winning records or were in the playoffs last season. And in the case of the Chiefs, they’re currently 2-0 and less than two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance.
Dan Fouts, the Chargers’ greatest quarterback ever and a Pro Football Hall of Famer, isn’t ready to push the panic button just yet on Los Angeles’ season.
“I wish I could put my finger on something, but I think what we got to remember is there are 15 more games,” said Fouts in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports. “Okay, so you’re 0-2, you have 15 more games to go, right? I know the schedule looks tough. Obviously, Buffalo this week, Seattle the week after that. But you got to remember, you have two new coordinators on defense and on offense. And offensively, this is a system that takes time. Okay, it takes work. It takes games.”
Dan Fouts Blames Lack of Preseason Reps for Chargers’ Struggles
The Chargers have been disastrous on offense through their first two games under new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. McDaniel previously made his name as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, running a high-octane offense. He entered this season with high hopes, but the Chargers have sputtered off to a slow start. They rank 29th on offense and 21st in defense.
Fouts blames the lack of preseason reps, something head coach Jim Harbaugh touched upon after the most recent loss.
“The one thing that Harbaugh said after losing the first game to Arizona is that he wishes that he had played his starters more in the preseason,” said Fouts. “I agree with that because there’s only one way to get into football shape — that’s to play football. There’s only one way to hone your craft with a new offense, and that’s to play, to make mistakes in games that don’t count, to try things that you would never use in the regular season, but you might somewhere down the road. I think that they’re still getting used to the two different systems, or at least offensively. The defensive system with (Chris) O’Leary is basically what (Jesse) Minter had last year when the Chargers were very good.”
The Chargers probably face the toughest schedule in the league over the next two months, but Fouts said if they beat the Bills the narrative suddenly changes.
“Anything could happen in this league,” said Fouts. “It would not surprise me if the Chargers go into Buffalo on Sunday and beat the Bills. The Bills are riding high. A lot of people say they’re the best team in football, and they played like that. But it’s the NFL, and the Chargers are a professional football team. Last time I checked, and they’re going back to Buffalo, and they have every intention of playing their best and coming away with a win.”
Dan Fouts Talks Miller Night Football Documentary on HBO
Fouts is also well-known for his broadcasting career. While in recent years he was a member of CBS’ NFL broadcasting team, his most notable stint was in 2000-2001 as the commentator alongside Al Michaels and comedian Dennis Miller as part of ABC’s Monday Night Football coverage.
The time period is notable because Miller — who is obviously known for his comedian career — was a part of the team despite not having any experience in broadcasting games. In fact, he had attended just one NFL game in his life before he began his stint with ABC.
Many media members and journalists had a negative reaction to Miller’s stint as a commentator at the time. However, time has progressed and there’s been a greater appreciation for the comedian’s stint alongside Michaels and Fouts. That stint is covered in HBO and NFL Films’ new documentary, Miller Night Football.
The documentary is set to premiere on Sep. 29 and features interviews with Fouts, Michaels, sideline reporter Melissa Stark, comedian Dana Carvey and Miller himself.
“It was an experiment, and with all experiments, it goes well at times, and other times it left people a little bit puzzled,” said Fouts. “But I enjoyed my time with Dennis and Al. The two years we spent together were very memorable, and you watch this documentary, and it gives you a chance to really appreciate Dennis because it’s almost like his stand-up or what he did on on Saturday Night Live. The big thing with a football game is you’re just so limited in the amount of time you have between plays, especially with three voices in the booth. A lot of the time with Dennis’s type of humor, it makes you think, and it makes you appreciate it especially after watching this documentary.”
Fouts points towards the limited amount of time you have on a television broadcast as a reason why Miller’s humor may have not translated as well on a Monday Night Football broadcast the way that it would during his stand-up routine.
“Al is is the guy, and he sets the table, and which is the way it has to be,” said Fouts. “The problem with three in a booth between plays, you only have maybe 35 seconds or so, and if you bring up a replay or two, that cuts that down in half, or maybe even further. We respected each other’s time, and there were a lot of times when, obviously from my standpoint, there was nothing for me to say, so I welcomed Dennis to jump in there and give us a one-liner or two.”
Miller’s first year saw more of his punch-line humor, which featured obscure references that you typically saw in his stand-up routine. By the time the second season rolled around, a change of producers and the aftermath of 9/11 led to Miller toning down his act and becoming more football-oriented as a commentator.
Fouts himself acknowledged that ended up being the case in their second season working together.
The team lasted just two seasons before ABC made the decision to hire John Madden, who was a free agent after a notable stint with FOX. ABC went with Michaels and Madden for four seasons before Monday Night Football moved to ESPN.
“There was a big change in the second year, but you really can’t underestimate the effect that 9/11 had on our broadcast and on the world, obviously,” said Fouts. “But the effort was there, and I’m proud of the fact that we hung in there. But with John Madden lurking and wanting the gig, there’s not much we could do, right?”
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