Now what? What do the Chargers do now after losing three consecutive games to start the season? More to the point, how do they inject life into their offense, which has failed miserably to do what it was supposed to do when Mike McDaniel was teamed with Justin Herbert?
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Nothing has clicked so far, during losses to the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders and Buffalo Bills. Nothing has been as smooth and exciting as advertised when McDaniel was hired to replace Greg Roman as offensive coordinator in January. Herbert looks lost, defeated even, after three losses.
The ground game, so central to Jim Harbaugh’s game plan, has had its moments, but it’s no bargain either. Omarion Hampton has been the bruising inside runner and Keaton Mitchell has played the role of the speedy outside runner, but neither has exactly punished opponents.
Here’s what we learned, what we heard and what comes next for the Chargers, which is more or less what we learned, what we heard and what comes next after the losses to the Cardinals and Raiders and didn’t do much to change anyone’s outside view of their play:
DOWN AND OUT
McDaniel wasn’t available for comment after the Chargers’ 24-16 loss to the Bills on Sunday, but he’s scheduled to speak to reporters on Thursday. Herbert looked as if he needed a hug after throwing a key interception in the fourth quarter. Harbaugh had the appearance of a beaten man, too.
“Keep swinging,” was Harbaugh’s message to the team after the game, according to several players. The trouble is the Chargers keep swinging but missing, looking for all the world like a Little League batter who has no clue what’s coming next from Shohei Ohtani (when healthy).
“The guys are trying as hard as they can out there,” said Herbert, whose ill-advised pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling near the goal line in the fourth quarter was intercepted by C.J. Gardner-Johnson. “We just have to try harder. We’ve got to find ways to make those plays and settle down and not have this.”
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Harbaugh has always looked glum after losses during his Chargers tenure, but he wasn’t anywhere near as defiant Sunday as he usually is after a loss. He played the game. He coached the game. He’s been successful in the NFL and in college. He knows good football from bad.
This is bad football.
Poor decisions. Bad mistakes.
Poor decisions and bad mistakes at inopportune moments.
Harbaugh discounted any thoughts of making radical offensive changes before the Chargers face the Super Bowl champion Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle. No one asked directly if he considered taking away McDaniel’s play-calling duties for Week 4, but the implication was clear.
“No,” Harbaugh said after falling to 0-3 for the first time in his NFL coaching career. “I believe in our guys. I believe in our coaches. I believe across the board. We have not been good enough yet. I’m not singling anyone out. We win these games as a team. We lose these games as a team.”
WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR?
The Chargers have 14 games remaining, so anything is possible. They could even get it together and challenge for a playoff spot, however unlikely that might seem. It looks like they’re done. But don’t stick a fork in them just yet. Only two teams in this century have rallied from an 0-3 start to make the playoffs. So, the short answer is, probably.
What can be accomplished over the final games of the season remains to be determined.
The Chargers can still make something of the season, but will they?
WHAT COMES NEXT?
The Chargers face the Seahawks on Sunday in Seattle. It would have been a tall over under any circumstances, given that the Seahawks are the Super Bowl champs, but it’s been all the more difficult by the Chargers’ poor offense and lack of quality play when games are up for grabs.
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