El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- There were some glimpses of positivity, but these were not the Los Angeles Chargers that Jim Harbaugh promised all summer.
It was about as ugly of a start to the season as possible.
A 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Obviously, these Cardinals are different with Mike LaFleur as their head coach, but that wasn’t supposed to matter.
Harbaugh brought in high-powered offensive mind Mike McDaniel to run the offense and take his quarterback, Justin Herbert, to the next level. The Chargers showed glimpses of what the offense could become, but there were far too many mistakes.
Harbaugh used words like “uncharacteristic” and “sloppy” to describe his team. Similar words were used by his players afterward.
The juggling at left guard between Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins felt like a mistake waiting to happen. Harbaugh decided to “platoon” the two, and it didn’t work the way he envisioned.
The Chargers started the game with promise, going on an eight-play, 77-yard drive.
McDaniel’s offense showed off some new wrinkles as Justin Herbert quickly hit Ladd McConkey on three straight passes for 60 yards to put the Chargers in the red zone. Omarion Hampton showed what he can do when used properly, bulldozing his way into the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown in which he broke multiple Cardinals tackles to tie the game at 7-7.
“That's what we're capable of,” Harbaugh said.
Chris O’Leary’s defense wasn’t a mirror image of Jesse Minter’s. It was the complete opposite, giving up 393 total yards while allowing Arizona to convert 6 of 14 third downs. Jacoby Brissett picked apart the defense, while tight end Trey McBride and receiver Kendrick Bourne seemingly were open at will. McBride finished with nine catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Bourne had eight catches for 75 yards.
O’Leary’s defense started slowly.
The Cardinals opened the game with a solid 11-play drive in which Brissett found a wide-open McBride for a 27-yard gain on the opening play. Arizona moved the ball efficiently up the field and finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run from rookie Jeremiyah Love. The third overall pick needed only one drive to score his first career touchdown and put Arizona up 7-0.
Even the special teams struggled.
Punter JK Scott had a punt blocked that proved costly because Arizona took over at the Chargers’ three-yard line. Brissett followed with a three-yard touchdown pass to McBride to put the Cardinals ahead 23-14 in the fourth quarter.
Harbaugh spoke highly throughout the offseason about all three coordinators and how each would change the dynamic of this team.
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert (10) is sacked for a loss by Arizona Cardinals defenders during an NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
They did Sunday, but not for the better.
“We didn't come to play on all three phases, especially defense,” safety Derwin James said. “So we cleaned it up. Week one, long season ahead.”
Here is how the rest of the game unfolded:
O’Leary’s defense was able to stop the bleeding on the Cardinals’ second drive, but McBride hurt them with two catches for 27 yards. At that point, he already had three catches for 54 yards and seemed to be wide open on every reception. Cardinals kicker Chad Ryland eventually missed a 54-yard field goal.
The Chargers offense responded with a 14-yard Hampton rush and a 12-yard pass to David Njoku. On the fourth play of the drive, Hampton made a good cut but fumbled the football, which the Cardinals recovered.
The defense continued having trouble slowing Arizona’s offense. Love broke off an 18-yard run on second-and-5 from the Cardinals’ 39-yard line to get them into Chargers territory. Arizona eventually reached the Chargers’ nine-yard line and faced third-and-3 when Brissett looked for McBride, but Tony Jefferson came in like a missile and knocked the ball out of his hands.
It was ruled an incomplete pass, so Ryland came in and nailed a 27-yard field goal to put Arizona up 10-7.
“It's about what we can do better, not about the opponent, because no one can hurt yourself, hurt us more than ourselves,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “So, that being said, we can pick some things from the front to the back, just make sure that we don't have the same mistakes.”
The Chargers offense was able to move up the field quickly after a 24-yard pass interference penalty and a 14-yard completion to McConkey. They followed it with a well-designed play to get tight end Oronde Gadsden open for a 26-yard gain.
The Chargers went for it on fourth-and-goal from the three-yard line. Herbert dropped back, but defensive lineman Dante Stills sacked him after getting right past Pipkins, who was in at left guard.
“Definitely a little surprise,” a returning Rashawn Slater said. “I think it was uncharacteristic of this, but you know it's week one. Not to make an excuse, but at the same time, I don't think we're going to be looking at week one come week 16. So I just got to keep rolling, keep getting better, and that's what it's all about.”
There was 1:55 left on the clock for Arizona, which quickly moved the ball up the field with gains of 14 and 10 yards to McBride and Michael Wilson. There was also a 23-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Donte Jackson.
The Cardinals finished the half with a 44-yard Ryland field goal to take a 13-7 lead.
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Arizona Cardinals RB Jeremiyah Love (4) runs the football during an NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
“They got the ball out quick,” James said. “They did a great job on third down. Did a great job in the red zone. So look at those stages, tell the truth, and bounce back from it.”
It wasn’t a good start coming out of halftime for the Chargers offense. They picked up one first down before being forced to punt.
Brissett picked up where he left off, throwing a 33-yard pass to Marvin Harrison Jr. down the left side of the field. He then completed back-to-back passes to Bourne and Wilson that combined for 30 yards.
On third-and-11 from the Chargers’ 15, Brissett looked for McBride, but James knocked the ball down. Ryland made a 34-yard field goal to extend Arizona’s lead to 16-7.
“Not the result that we expected,” Henley said. “But with that being said, it's only the first week. We know the type of team we have. We never expected it to be easy. So with that being said, we move forward until the next week.”
The Chargers offense finally seemed to wake up. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Herbert threw deep to Tre Harris, but cornerback Max Melton interfered with him, drawing a 48-yard penalty.
Herbert later found McConkey for an eight-yard touchdown, firing a laser toward the corner of the end zone to cut Arizona’s lead to 16-14.
The defense then forced Arizona’s first punt of the game, giving the offense an opportunity at a crucial moment.
The Chargers started with a quick first down after a six-yard reception to Harris and a six-yard run from Hampton. Tight end Charlie Kolar was then called for a false start, which he felt threw off the rhythm of the drive. The Chargers eventually punted.
“Myself, get a stop, three-and-out,” Kolar said. “We punt it, line up, I jump offsides. It’s bullshit. It’s pathetic. Lack of focus on my part. I’ll fix it, and I know the offense will fix it. But that right there, when we had that—stunk. That’s bad football. That’s what I put on tape this week.”
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Arizona Cardinals TE Trey McBride (85) celebrates a touchdown with teammates during an NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
The Cardinals punted again, only for the Chargers offense to go three-and-out. Scott’s blocked punt and Brissett’s touchdown pass to McBride followed.
There was another ugly moment with 4:28 remaining when the Chargers committed three straight offensive penalties — two false starts and a holding call — leading the SoFi Stadium crowd to boo.
They deserved to boo.
McConkey also left the game with a chest injury, raising another question for the offense: If he is out, who is next?
McConkey finished with five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, while Quentin Johnston and Harris combined for only three catches for 26 yards. Njoku was the next most productive option with five catches for 58 yards.
Harbaugh and his three coordinators need to regroup because this was an embarrassing showing by a team that spent all summer talking about taking the next step.
“You don't come ready to play,” James said. “Stuff like this happens, so learn from it. Don't let one week turn into two weeks, and get better from it.”
The Chargers looked more like a team that might be battling for a top-10 draft pick than one with Super Bowl aspirations.
How Harbaugh and Co. fix this is now the real question.
Because Sunday’s showing was terrible.