This is not how Jim Harbaugh saw his third season starting in LA. Dropping a 26-14 game to Mike LaFleur’s Cardinals straight out of the gate is a quick way to turn all those sunny offseason playoff projections into a full-scale dumpster fire.
Entering Week 2, the heat is already dialed up to eleven. The Raiders automatically become a must-win for the Chargers because they simply can’t afford a 0-2 start if they are aiming for the playoffs.
Two-loss teams still make it to the playoffs, but Harbaugh needs to save some margin for error later in the season. As Yahoo Sports’ Eric Edholm puts it, “The Los Angeles Chargers suddenly don’t have a lot of wiggle room.”
Week 2 Game Vs. Las Vegas Raiders Must-Win For Chargers Playoff Chances
Their first two games, Cardinals and Raiders, were supposed to be a buffer zone, games that prepare the Chargers for the meatiest part of their schedule. They already dropped the first one, and dropping the second one would simply spell disaster for the Chargers.
“Yes, 0-2 teams make the playoffs. But since the league went to the 17-game schedule in 2021, only eight of the 40 teams that started 0-2 ended up making it to the playoffs. That’s higher than the playoff rate during the 16-game era, but not by much,” Edholm writes, explaining the stakes for the Chargers.
If things fall apart the way they did vs. the Cardinals, the upcoming schedule would be a nightmare for Harbaugh, and even that feels like an understatement.
The Chargers go on the road to face the Bills and Seahawks in Weeks 3 and 4, then they’re home against the Broncos in Week 5, followed by a road trip to Kansas City ahead of the Week 7 bye. All heavyweights. All must-wins.
“That’s a murderers’ row,” Edholm writes. “Going 0-2 and trying to make the postseason after that gauntlet just doesn’t feel feasible.”
But the two Super Bowl teams from a season ago, the Patriots and Seahawks, both lost at home in their first games, but the Chargers’ “struggles ran deep Sunday, and they affected all three units,” Edholm explains, justifying why everyone is already hitting the panic button after a Week 1 loss.
Chargers’ All Three Units Were Gasping for Air
After the opening-drive TD, the Chargers never got on schedule. All the hype of McDaniel’s offense from preseason came crashing down when pass protection, Herbert’s accuracy, and even penalties all looked “sloppy.”
“The Chargers were 2 for 8 on third downs against the Cardinals, plus a surprising 0 for 3 on fourth downs,” Edholm writes.
Even the run game disappointed. “There was a six-snap stretch in the fourth quarter, with the desperate Chargers down 23-14 with less than five minutes to go, where they were flagged four times — including on their fourth-down stop.”
The analyst further pointed out how the fourth-down failures alone were unimpressive, as the Chargers turned the ball over five times and had a punt blocked deep in their own zone in 10 possessions.
“Defensively, they were a mess, too. They allowed nearly 400 yards and were on the field nearly 38 minutes — including most of the first half. They couldn’t get off the field and lost the field-possession battle early and often,” Edholm writes.
And it goes without saying that the Raiders will be a much tougher test than the Cardinals. How they bounce back will essentially dictate the rest of their season.
Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh Already Facing Must-Win Pressure Over Raiders in Week 2