Chargers stumble out of the gate in loss to Cardinals

INGLEWOOD — Six weeks of training camp down the drain.

Or so it seemed in the wake of the Chargers’ 26-14 loss Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals in their season-opening game, a bona fide dud in the debuts of new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel and new defensive coordinator Chris O’Leary.

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A very dissatisfied crowd of 70,540 at SoFi Stadium expected more but got less.

“Didn’t come out to play today,” safety Derwin James Jr. said.

“Uncharacteristic,” left tackle Rashawn Slater said.

“Sloppy,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said.

Boos rained down on the Chargers late in the game.

Harbaugh went into the game with a 6-0 record in NFL season openers, including 4-0 while with the San Francisco 49ers earlier in his career. Mike LaFleur won his first game in his regular-season debut as the Cardinals’ coach, with Arizona avoiding the flubs and goofs that plagued the Chargers.

Oddsmakers made the Chargers 9½-point favorites going into the game.

“A lot of areas to get better at,” Harbaugh said after the Chargers chased the Cardinals from the start but never caught up. “But that’s what you do. That’s what you practice. That’s what you teach. That’s what you hold yourself and each other accountable to. We understand we need to bounce back.”

Pick any facet of the game and the Chargers earned failing marks.

The Chargers’ offense clicked on a first-half drive that produced Omarion Hampton’s 8-yard touchdown run, but later turned the ball over on downs at the Cardinals’ 3-yard line when Justin Herbert was sacked for a 10-yard loss. Their biggest gain in the second half was a pass interference penalty that picked up 48 yards.

Herbert completed 17 of 27 passes for 209 yards with one touchdown pass, an 8-yard strike to wide receiver Ladd McConkey in the third quarter that drew the Chargers within 16-14 with 6:03 left. Herbert threw one interception and was sacked three times. Hampton fumbled in the second quarter.

The Chargers’ defense was porous from the beginning, with Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett picking them apart during an opening, 11-play, 70-yard possession that netted rookie running back Jeremiyah Love’s 5-yard scoring run and capped a tone-setting march of 6:11.

Brissett completed 27 of 37 passes for 277 yards and one touchdown. He was sacked only once.

The Chargers’ special teams, which had some issues during their three preseason games last month, didn’t exactly look very special. Ex-Chargers wide receiver Simi Fehoko blocked JK Scott’s fourth-quarter punt, which set up Brissett’s 3-yard scoring pass to Trey McBride.

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By game’s end, the Chargers were penalized seven times for 64 yards.

Arizona was penalized eight times for 111 yards.

The Cardinals led in time of possession by 37:31-22:29.

“Yeah, it just didn’t feel right,” said James, who had a team-leading 10 tackles, including seven solo. “It started with us. I feel like we were on the field that whole first quarter. So, just (needed to) get our offense on the field. Don’t let them get cold over there (on the sideline). Get better from me.”

Of particular concern defensively was the Chargers’ soft coverage on the Cardinals’ receivers, including McBride, a tight end who caught nine passes on 13 targets for 95 yards. Repeatedly, Brissett found open receivers for short gains, especially in key moments to keep drives going.

The Cardinals were 6 of 14 third-down conversions.

The Chargers were 2 for 8, plus 0 for 3 on fourth-down conversions.

Neither the Chargers’ offensive scheme set up by McDaniel in training camp nor the defensive game plan designed by O’Leary succeeded as planned. In the final analysis, the defense upheld its end of the bargain better than the offense. The Cardinals settled for four field goals by Chad Ryland, the difference in the game.

The Chargers’ initial possession, a smooth 77-yard drive that yielded Hampton’s touchdown run, provided hints of what could be possible. It proved to be unsustainable for reasons Herbert explained after the game, saying repeatedly it had to do with the Chargers’ lack of execution.

“We’ve just got to score points in the red zone,” Herbert said. “We didn’t execute on third down and we had too many turnovers. Everything is just on us to go out and execute the game plan and work on the plays we worked on all week, and have a good feel for that. You always want to be able to execute the protection plan, get the ball out and do everything we need to do.

“That’s on us to continue to put drives together like the first drive, but we didn’t do that. We didn’t play well enough.”

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