Chargers Offense Struggling: Identifying Fixable Problems and Inherent Issues After Two Weeks

During the offseason, many people (including myself) found it easy to talk themselves into the Los Angeles Chargers . Both star tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt , would be back, and the mind meld between QB Justin Herbert and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel would lead to an offensive explosion, as the defense comes under new coordination as well.

Two games in, and it looks like the Chargers might be circling the cycle of futility. They're 0-2 in the "easy" part of their schedule, with losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders to open up the season. The defense has been rough, but the offense has been an abject disaster. Their EPA/play and offensive success rate are tied with the Cleveland Browns through two games. Their -0.78 EPA/drive is the seventh worst in the league, and their 1.22 Points per Drive is 29th in the NFL right now.

The schedule doesn't get any easier either, with road games against the Bills , Seahawks and Chiefs and a home game against the Broncos before their bye in Week 7. Even after their bye, they have road games against the Rams and Ravens , with a Texans tilt in between. This season could go from bad to cataclysmic soon, and an offense that was supposed to carry the load is the biggest reason they're 0-2. So let's dig into what's going on with the offense and how the Chargers can fix it.

What's fixable

Let's start with the fixable things first, which also happen to be the most glaring problems on the Chargers' offense. This is the worst offensive execution I've ever seen from a Jim Harbaugh team. Through two games, they have the second-highest rate of penalties per offensive snap; they're tied with the Green Bay Packers for the lead in fumbles so far, and the offense looks like 11 guys that have never played football together a day in their lives.

I mean, this isn't a tragedy; it's more of a comedy.

> Alright pic.twitter.com/h7gowDZefM — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

Benny Hill couldn't even come up with something as funny as the Chargers' offense against the Raiders. Only in Los Angeles could the quarterback make a nice play to get the ball off, but the intended target got the ball broken up by his own teammate:

> This is a good job by the Raiders of understanding tendencies and who gets the ball on 3rd down. Show a zero blitz, but drop 2 DTs into the McConkey window. Forces Herbert to double clutch and move to someone else, and this might've been a completion if Gadsden isn't there pic.twitter.com/nDxgIHqt9R — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

One of Justin Herbert's interceptions was truly the funniest thing I've ever seen. David Njoku tries to catch the ball twice, and it still ends up in the Raiders' hands:

> David Njoku bobbles the ball and Hezekiah Masses INTERCEPTS IT for the #Chargers pic.twitter.com/NOPhtAGtxD — NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 20, 2026

Beyond the hilarity of some of these plays, the offense's lack of execution severely undercuts the potential of the offense. When you think about Mike McDaniel's offenses in Miami, they're all built on misdirection, speed and timing. To get the looks the offense wants, they use the threat of speed to open up lanes in the middle of the field. In the run game, the threat of jet motion and being caught on the backside of runs opens up zone schemes to the strength of the offense, working the numbers in their favor.

However, the Chargers are messing up with route depth, motions and shooting themselves in the foot before the offense can even get going. Part of this is on McDaniel, who I believe is trying to make the offense work, but some of the designs are taking too long to get going. For example, this run for RB Omarion Hampton is a good idea in isolation; lead with FB Alec Ingold on 3rd-and-1. But the spinner motion is an added element that I think slows the play down and gives the blitzing cornerback time to track this play down as well.

> Sick rep by Foley Fatukasi (#94) in the middle. Kind of a lead play by the Chargers with dash motion by Ingold, but Fatukasi wins his 1v1 and helps make the tackle pic.twitter.com/y5pO2Svnqt — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

What's not fixable

Now, let's get to the part of this that the Chargers might not be able to fix this year, or at least tried to, and it all went straight down the toilet. This offensive line is at near-inoperable levels of incompetence, and that was a deal they decided to make going into the season.

Yes, the injury to C Tyler Biadasz threw a wrench into the plans, but one injury shouldn't be the reason you rotate players at left guard through two games. In the first two games of the season, the Chargers are averaging 0.51 yards before contact per carry, good for 29th in the NFL. McDaniel-led offenses have never had a season in which the run game put up less than one yard before contact per carry through the first two games, so we're reaching unprecedented levels of ineptitude up front.

The interior offensive line group of Kayode Awosika , Jake Slaughter , Cole Strange and Trey Pipkins has sunk this team thus far, never really allowing for the foundation of this offense to get off the ground. Plays like this are all over the tape, ones where Slaughter and Strange both miss their blocks (along with TE Charlie Kolar and FB Alec Ingold), and this play is pretty much over as soon as Hampton gets the ball.

> Play is DOA as soon as Hampton touches the ball because both C and RG lose and Crosby runs through Kolar like nothing pic.twitter.com/Ur2uxX9Zas — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

Outside zone is a staple of the McDaniel run game, and the Chargers can attack it in a variety of ways. However, they've been awful running there this season. According to TruMedia, the Chargers have a 19.0% rushing success rate on outside zone runs, tied with the New Orleans Saints for 27th in the NFL. They average a paltry 0.26 yards before contact per carry on outside zone, which is not only awful, but a sign that the Chargers aren't even giving plays a chance to breathe.

This isn't only on the interior of the offensive line, but on their big free-agent signings as well. Kolar and Ingold simply haven't been good enough in the run game, an area where they were supposed to provide a boost. Ingold completely whiffs on this toss play, and it forces Hampton to make two tacklers miss instead of just the CB.

> Some of the simple execution things for the Chargers are getting messed up. This is a zone toss, but Ingold misses on his block and it forces Hampton to run laterally and make 2 people miss instead of 1 pic.twitter.com/a9pqSj0QX4 — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

Where can the blame be placed?

In the passing game, I think equal blame can be placed on the receiving corps, Herbert himself and the organization for how inept the unit has looked. A tenet of the Mike McDaniel offense has been passing the ball over the intermediate (10-to-15 air yards) middle of the field. From 2022-2025, a whopping 72.2% of QB Tua Tagovailoa's passes went into the intermediate middle of the field with McDaniel in Miami.

Comparatively, it's felt like Herbert and the Chargers just haven't been able to access that range. Two games into the season, only 42.9% of Herbert's passes have been in the intermediate middle of the field, which is not only drastically low for a McDaniel offense, but also the lowest for Herbert since 2021. The middle of the field is where the money is made in the NFL; more room for big completions and exposing holes in defenses because you can move linebackers in that area. But watch the Chargers' offense (especially against the Raiders), and the middle-of-the-field work isn't even there, eliminating chances for an easy offense.

Now, is this indicative of a quarterback who doesn't like throwing over the middle of the field? No, we've seen Herbert throw over the middle of the field well and often. But this is where the blame falls on the receiving unit, because this group really isn't built to attack the middle of the field. The best and most trustworthy receiver in this offense over the middle is  Ladd McConkey , and he's currently playing through a rib injury.  Quentin Johnston is more of a vertical threat to pull safeties away from that range, and  Tre Harris can't be relied on in consistent moments.

The tight end group isn't really built to threaten that area either; Gadsden is better used outside the numbers, and Kolar is an underneath receiver. So there are a bunch of square pegs trying to fit in a round hole, but it happens to be the most important hole in the offense. What's the point of moving linebackers if there's nothing coming behind them? Just like how running an offense exclusively on middle-of-the-field work can limit you, exclusively trying to win outside the numbers limits the passing diet as well.

Now we get to the Herbert part of the discussion. It's easy to pick on Herbert and his lack of success despite his talent, but multiple things are true. The Chargers' offense is not helping him out right now, and he is also making life a lot harder on himself. There are what seem to be the weekly "can't hand the ball to him any better than this" type of passes, where it ends in a drop:

> Couldn't hand the ball to him any better pic.twitter.com/TQVvYigm8B — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

> The Chargers tried to find an explosive with rookie WR Brennen Thompson on the field early in Week 2... not sure we'll see that role expanded despite needing his speed desperately .. just can't drop this. This and the Njoku drop turned INT were painful to watch. pic.twitter.com/Fj2GTvyCJQ — Dan Schneier (@DanSchneierNFL) September 21, 2026

But a consequence in those types of plays is that the environment starts to make Herbert force the ball and go into hero mode. Over two weeks, Herbert has been quick to pull the ball and just not throw it to guys when they're open. Yes, you can attribute that to receivers not catching the ball, but Herbert is also contributing to the poor offensive play by going into hero mode.

This play from their loss to the Raiders is a great example of this: The Chargers try to get a pick going for Harris by having him release to the inside and causing a pileup with the player defending Kolar. The play works exactly how it should, and Harris comes open, but Herbert opts to pull it before giving the play a chance to even develop. He then throws it out of bounds. Yes, he could've run for a first down, but you have a chance for a chunk pass and miss the opportunity. That's on Herbert.

> This one is a play Herbert is gonna want back. You get the pick you want and Harris comes open, but Herbert doesn't let the play build and opts to try and scramble, ends up throwing the ball away pic.twitter.com/YrfifKeot3 — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

This one is another missed opportunity: a bootleg concept that sees Kolar end up in the flat and Johnston running this over route. Johnston is open because the Raiders' linebacker bites hard on the play fake, but Herbert opts for the short gain instead. A missed opportunity for sure, but even more of a sign Herbert might not trust his surroundings right now.

> Missed chance for a chunk play for LAC. 44 for the Raiders bites hard on this run fake, and can't get under this over by Quentin Johnston. But Herbert opts for the flat to Kolar instead pic.twitter.com/9AVUIDX4AT — JP Acosta (@acosta32_jp) September 21, 2026

Where the Chargers stand

If you're looking for blame to place for the Chargers' slow start, everyone is complicit. However, the Chargers chose to live in this world. Los Angeles had the second-most cap space in the NFL this offseason and many opportunities to improve this team, especially up front. Losing Biadasz before the season stinks, but their process of signing Strange, Awosika and drafting a center in Slaughter on Day 2 (just to move him to g

_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-2026-how-to-fix-chargers-offense/)._