El SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Chargers coaching staff has been honest all week about the way the team performed — or lack thereof — last Sunday in a 26-14 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Arizona was a team that wasn’t projected to compete in the NFC West, but that wasn’t the team the Chargers saw last Sunday. They saw a team that head coach Mike LaFleur had prepared in all three phases.
Jim Harbaugh didn’t have his team prepared for Week 1 for the first time in his NFL head coaching career. Before Sunday, he was 6-0 in season openers. Now he is 6-1, with that one loss stinging not only him but his team.
He even showed some regret Monday about how he handled the preseason.
"We made some preseason-type mistakes," Harbaugh said. "Now I wish we played our starters more in the preseason to give them some game reps."
The result Sunday makes it easy to understand why Harbaugh feels that way. It was ugly, and it seems as though every one of his coaches feels the same way.
Starting with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, his scheme was supposed to help take quarterback Justin Herbert to the next level, but it didn’t in Week 1. If anything, the Herbert seen last Sunday looked a little hesitant, which hasn’t been the case in the past.
The offense as a whole looked like a mess.
"I think I would be in a way different mood than every other press conference that you've seen me, if that was any indication of the way the ball has been,” McDaniel said. “So yeah, it was kind of shocking."
The words “uncharacteristic” and “sloppy” were thrown around by Harbaugh and some players Sunday, but McDaniel using “shocking” was interesting. Simply because it was shocking.
Besides the two touchdown drives, there were so many mistakes. One big mistake was going away from running back Omarion Hampton after his fumble. It was an accident. He only put the ball on the ground once last season, so it was a hiccup on a weird play.
They gave him five carries on the opening two drives and only seven the rest of the game. Obviously, the circumstances are different, but it was reminiscent of the way former Chargers head coach Mike McCoy treated running back Melvin Gordon.
“You have a lot of visions coming to a new team and working on something for months — and the vision never looked like that,” McDaniel said.
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Los Angeles Chargers TE David Njoku (83) runs with the football during an NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
There were a lot of question marks surrounding the receiving group outside of Ladd McConkey. It is an unproven group, and it showed Sunday. Yes, players were open at times, but Tre Harris and Quentin Johnston can’t combine for five catches and 37 yards again. It can’t happen if this offense is going to succeed.
The Chargers' third-year receiver is questionable for Sunday but practiced in a limited role Friday, so there is hope. If McConkey can’t play because of the rib issue, the rest of the group will need to step up.
“Guys need to seize the opportunities, “ McDaniel said. “It can’t be my secret anymore. It can’t just be in practice.”
Blame, even though that isn’t what this is about, can be spread around from McDaniel to offensive line coach Butch Barry to Herbert and everyone else on offense.
Some of it also falls on Harbaugh for his “platooning” of Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins at left guard. Awosika was much better and should remain the full-time starter. He will have an opportunity to show that Sunday with Pipkins missing the game because of a knee injury.
“It was a case of humble pie,” McDaniel said. “Didn’t feel good to anyone.”
When asked about the defense, new defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary didn’t sugarcoat it.
"Not good enough...got to be better in a lot of areas,” O’Leary said.
Almost every area.
They weren’t terrible against the run. Arizona had 34 carries for 116 yards, an average of only 3.4 yards per carry. What made things rough were two things.
First, Arizona had the ball for more than 37 minutes.
The second issue was the way quarterback Jacoby Brissett attacked them. He looked like 2018 AFC Divisional Round Tom Brady with how quickly he was getting rid of the ball, and it was effective.
"Ball came out on time, I think it was quick throws,” O’Leary said.
How can they do better against it?
“Combination of getting our hands up in rush lanes and being stickier in coverage,” O’Leary said.
They have a whole new bag of trouble to worry about because Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins will try to mimic what Brissett did. The difference is Cousins is prone to turning the ball over, so the defense needs to be ready to take advantage of any opportunities.
Running back Ashton Jeanty is a dual-threat problem. Last Sunday against the Miami Dolphins, he combined for 29 touches, 147 yards and two touchdowns.
The Raiders' best offensive weapon, tight end Brock Bowers, is listed as doubtful for Sunday with a knee injury. Unless it is Bill Belichick listing him as doubtful, it basically means he has less than a 25% chance to play.
Darwin Walker - The Sporting Tribune
Arizona Cardinals WR Kendrick Bourne (17) celebrates a first down conversion during an NFL game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday, September 13, 2026 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.
O’Leary’s group needs to fix things, which safety Derwin James said last Sunday he was confident they would do in a week.
Special teams was a disaster Sunday — in coverage, in the return game and in punting. JK Scott had a punt blocked early in the fourth quarter, with Arizona recovering the ball at the Chargers' 3-yard line.
Before the blocked punt, Arizona led 16-14, but the game quickly got away from the Chargers when Brissett hit tight end Trey McBride in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown to make it 23-14 and essentially put the game out of reach.
“I told the guys that we can't allow this to define us,” special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken said. “It would only define us if we allow it to, and we got a new opportunity, and we're going to attack that this game plan and this week.”
Every coach recognized the shortcomings from last Sunday. This week won’t get any easier with a divisional matchup against the Raiders.
It will be interesting to see what they decided to fix, but falling to 0-1 makes Sunday feel like a must-win, especially because of the gauntlet they face after the Raiders game.
Starting the season 0-2 overall, 0-1 in the AFC West and 0-1 in the conference is not where they want to be, and they know that.
"It worked out totally the opposite way that we saw,” McDaniel said. “And what are you going to do about it? That's what I love about football. That's what I love about this week, because you can't hide. You got to go and face the music."