The Chargers’ offensive line couldn’t adequately protect Justin Herbert when healthy, so what horrors are going to befall their strong-armed quarterback with four rookies and one veteran making up their starting array Sunday against the Denver Broncos at SoFi Stadium?
Read more Galaxy visit St. Louis to kick off a crucial, busy week
What might a fifth consecutive defeat to start the season Sunday do to the status of coach Jim Harbaugh and, especially, offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel after Harbaugh said last Sunday that McDaniel’s job was not in jeopardy despite another poor showing?
What would it take for the winless Chargers to rise up and defeat the Broncos? Denver hasn’t exactly excited the known football universe during its own lackluster start to the season, with coach Sean Payton taking over the play-calling from offensive coordinator Davis Webb?
These and other questions will be answered by the close of business Sunday. To be sure, a victory over the Broncos (2-2) would be cathartic for the Chargers (4-4), who have failed to meet expectations and now face the prospect of trying to end a skid with a makeshift offensive line.
McDaniel has not delivered the goods after he was hired to replace Greg Roman in January with the hope that he could unlock Herbert’s full potential and guide the Chargers’ offense to new heights. Herbert looks uncomfortable within the offense through the season’s first four games.
All of Herbert’s statistics are shy of his career averages except for interceptions. He has thrown six and is on pace to top his career high of 15 set in the 2021 season. He is nearly halfway to his total of 13 last season, when it became obvious the Chargers’ offense needed a jump start.
McDaniel has said he takes full responsibility for all that’s gone wrong so far.
“It won’t be good enough until it is,” he said.
Of the calls for his firing or demotion, he said “it comes with the territory.”
The Chargers are 29th in the 32-team NFL in points per game (16.8), 21st in net yards per game (306.8), 24th in net passing yards per game (183.4), 22nd in scrimmage yards per play (5.01) and 31st in giveaways (10). They are ninth in net rushing yards per game (121.5), however.
Compounding matters is the Chargers’ battered offensive line, which even when sound has shouldered its share of the blame for losses to the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks. Herbert has been sacked 12 times.
Read more Football roundup: Corona del Mar, Trabuco Hills, Marina get big wins in Week 7
Left tackle Rashawn Slater is likely month to month after undergoing ankle surgery Thursday. Left guard Trevor Penning has a concussion. Penning had replaced Trey Pipkins III, who hurt his knee after replacing the injured Kayode Awosika. Right tackle Joe Alt is out with a neck injury.
Right guard Cole Strange is likely to be the only veteran on the line Sunday, joined by rookies Travis Burke, Jake Slaughter, Jacob Spomer and Logan Taylor. Slaughter was the starting center after Tyler Biadasz suffered a season-ending knee injury in training camp, but shifted to left guard after Penning was hurt in last Sunday’s loss to the Seahawks.
“First of all, there’s no such thing as a quarterback that doesn’t get hit at all,” McDaniel said. “So, you’re trying to minimize those things so he’s at the bottom of the league, that, like all the statistics we have right now, aren’t in the top end of the league. I don’t pass those off. I try to attack them because it’s my responsibility and it ultimately falls to my shoulders for what we haven’t gotten done yet. All parties involved are trying to keep our best player as healthy as possible.”
Herbert said he hasn’t lost faith in McDaniel.
“It’s great,” Herbert said of his relationship with McDaniel, his fifth offensive coordinator during his seven-year NFL career. “I think he’s the best. I’ve learned so much from him and I just want to do everything I can to make him proud and play good football for him.”
It’s a results-oriented business, though. The Chargers need only look across the field to see a team that was willing to make a dramatic course correction after starting the season with its own struggling offense, ranking 27th in points per game (18.5) and net yards per game (280.3).
Payton said he would assume the Broncos’ play-calling duties for Sunday’s game, a move Harbaugh could still make if things continue to go haywire.
“I know in this league, you’re going to be held accountable,” McDaniel said. “When you have high expectations and you’re getting the results we’re getting and you’re 0-4, that’s pretty standard operating procedure as I’ve seen in the National Football League. If you want things to change and you want narratives to change, you have to change them through action.”
Read more Newport Beach closes beaches, piers as Tropical Storm Rachel threatens more flooding
CHARGERS (0-4) vs. BRONCOS (2-2)
When: 1:05 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: CBS (Ch. 2); 640 AM/103.9/98.3 FM (Spanish)