Chargers limp into bye week at 0-6 after loss to Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bruised, beaten and broken, the Chargers limped into their bye week with a sixth consecutive defeat to start a season that held so much promise in the heady days of July and August but now, in mid-October, seems like a lost cause.

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Their 22-6 loss Sunday to the Kansas City Chiefs was another exercise in futility.

“We have to address everything,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said at game’s end.

Asked if that included relieving offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel of his play-calling duties, Harbaugh repeated himself, saying, “We’re going to look at everything. The job I’m doing, it starts with me. The plan is to watch this (Sunday’s game on video) and get with the offensive coaches.

“Right now, we’re not scoring enough. That’s the bottom line.”

The opening minutes Sunday featured all the things that have led the Chargers to this lowly state. Justin Herbert threw another inexplicable interception. Wide receiver Ladd McConkey suffered another injury and was forced from the game. McDaniel’s offense was ineffective again.

“It’s not good enough,” said Herbert, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 204 yards with one interception, his eighth of the season, and did not throw a touchdown. “As an offense, we need to score points and hold up our end of the bargain for the defense, and we haven’t done that.”

Herbert completed 6 of 13 passes for 45 yards in the first half. His latest interception had a familiar look to it, an errant throw on the run that Kansas City linebacker Jack Cochrane picked off. The pass was targeted for wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith running between layers of defenders.

“The ball didn’t come out the way I wanted it to,” Herbert explained.

It was at least the third such interception Herbert has thrown this season, following two in the Chargers’ loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, passes in which he didn’t appear to see the defender playing in front of the intended receiver. The passes have been out of character for Herbert.

Sunday’s dispiriting first half alone would be enough to lead to further speculation about McDaniel’s future in the role he accepted in January, after the Miami Dolphins fired him after four seasons as their head coach. The marriage of Herbert and McDaniel promised so much but has delivered so little.

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Conventional wisdom suggests that the Chargers could replace McDaniel with passing game specialist Adam Gase, a former head coach with the Dolphins (2016-18) and the New York Jets (2019-20). Chargers general manager Joe Hortiz doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to change anything, however.

The Chargers’ many injuries also have made it difficult to accurately judge their play, with Alt and Slater joined on the sideline Sunday by Pro Bowl safety Derwin James Jr. (hamstring), wide receiver Tre’ Harris (hamstring), left guard Kayode Awosika (fibula) and cornerback Donte Jackson (hamstring).

Twenty players were listed on the Chargers’ injury report to start last week.

All of which made contending with the resurgent Chiefs all the more difficult.

“Anything I would say would sound like an excuse,” Harbaugh said of the injuries. “I’m opposed to that to the core, and to pointing fingers. I believe this is a team game, but definitely offensively, we need to evaluate and we need to look at it all, everything we’re doing and how we’re doing it.”

The Chargers followed their season-long method of operation by delivering self-inflicted wounds, and none were more damaging Sunday than failing to score a touchdown after Herbert connected on a 57-yard pass play with Quentin Johnston on their opening possession of the second half.

On first-and-goal at the Chiefs’ 1-yard line, rookie center Jake Slaughter was penalized for holding. Then, on 1st-and-goal from the 11, Herbert completed a pass to running back Kimani Vidal for a 1-yard loss. Next, on second and third downs, Herbert threw incompletions.

“That was a very big missed opportunity,” Harbaugh said. “It was big.”

Cameron Dicker kicked the second of his two field goals, cutting the deficit to 19-6. Dicker also kicked a 23-yard field goal in the first quarter, after the Chiefs had taken a 9-0 lead on a field goal by Harrison Butker and the first of Walker’s two touchdown runs, a 33-yard sprint.

Walker rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.

Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 23 of 30 passes for 272 yards with one interception, a leaping catch in the end zone by Chargers cornerback Cam Hart that kept the Chiefs from building on their lead in the second quarter. The Chargers didn’t sack Mahomes.

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The Chiefs’ only second-half points came on Butker’s 30-yard field goal.