Harbaugh, McDaniel searching for answers as Chargers fall to 0-2

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The best indication of how the first two games have gone for the Chargers offense came with 2:24 left in the third quarter, facing 3rd-and-1 from their own 32-yard line.

Tre Harris came in motion as center Jake Slaughter snapped the ball with Harris moving behind him, but the ball hit the ground. Quarterback Justin Herbert fell on top of it, and the Chargers were forced to punt.

Herbert was fuming after the play, yelling as he walked toward the sideline. He sat next to quarterbacks coach Shane Day and was still visibly frustrated.

“I think it was because it was a big play for us and we didn’t execute,” Herbert said. “And that’s something I have to do a better job at.”

That play was a perfect example of what the Chargers offense has looked like through two games, which has led to an 0-2 start after their 26-14 loss to the Raiders.

Harris said the snap was “a little late” and he tried to jump on it, but the mistake killed the drive.

“It was unfortunate what happened,” Harris said.

Mistakes, fumbles, lack of awareness, dropped passes, interceptions and penalties. The Chargers have dealt with a little bit of everything.

The question now is: Is this fixable?

“It’s not to our standard,” Herbert said. “It’s on us to be better. We know what we’re capable of doing.”

The quarterback said more than his head coach.

“The competitors, the fight-when your backs against the wall, you have to fight your way out,” Jim Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh did say multiple times during his press conference that he is “not deterred” by the offensive start, and multiple players said they believe they can fix it.

There have been glimpses of what this offense can look like. There are positives, but through the first two games, it has mostly been a mess.

The offense was supposed to take the next step under Mike McDaniel, but instead, it looks like it has taken 10 steps back. This offense is unrecognizable from what was expected entering the season.

“Not good enough from any standpoint,” Chargers receiver Ladd McConkey said. “Offense it's got to be better. We got to score more points. Take care of the ball. So yeah, just not good enough.”

On their third offensive drive, the Chargers went three-and-out, but in a different way.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Sep 20, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh looks on against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half at SoFi Stadium.

Herbert faced 3rd-and-5 from his own 22 when he threw a pass to David Njoku, who appeared to have it before bobbling the ball. Raiders cornerback Hezekiah Masses intercepted it and returned it to the Chargers’ 23-yard line.

If Njoku catches it, he has a big gain. Instead, it became another turnover. It ultimately didn’t cost the Chargers points thanks to the defense, which held the Raiders on four straight plays from the two-yard line to give the offense the ball back.

“Frustrated, you know,” Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater said. “We clearly have everything we're capable of doing out there. Coming close, but we're not finishing drives. We're so many self-inflicted wounds. We're shooting ourselves in the foot. You're never gonna win like that, so we get we need to fix that.”

Two offensive drives later, the Chargers had the ball at their own two-yard line but couldn’t muster much offensively. On 3rd-and-5, right tackle Joe Alt committed two straight false-start penalties, turning it into 3rd-and-9 before the Chargers handed the ball to Omarion Hampton.

“Of course, you want to win,” Alt said. “That's why we play football. You want to win. So, you never want to lose. That's the worst part about you know worst part of the sport is losing. So you want to go back to work and improve.”

On their next offensive drive, there was finally a glimpse of hope.

On 3rd-and-11 from their own 30, Herbert found McConkey for a 19-yard gain. Two plays later, Herbert was being pulled down by a Raiders defender when he got a pass off to Hampton, who picked up 18 yards.

On 1st-and-10 from the Raiders’ 11, Hampton bullied his way to the one-yard line. On the next play, he punched it in for a one-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.

At halftime, Raiders receiver Tre Tucker had 68 receiving yards. The entire Chargers offense had 55 total yards.

That is how ugly it has been.

“We know the players we have,” McConkey said. “Just got to execute. Like we're really hurting ourselves. Turnovers, penalties, drops, like whatever it may be. We're hurting ourselves. So just got to clean that up, execute, and I think we'll be okay.”

The Chargers’ most encouraging drive came to start the second half.

After leaning heavily on Hampton following a 70-rushing-yard first half, the Chargers faced 3rd-and-5 from their own 42. Herbert found a wide-open Harris downfield for a 53-yard gain, taking the offense to the Raiders’ five-yard line.

Two plays later, Herbert found tight end Oronde Gadsden for a 10-yard touchdown to give the Chargers their first lead of the game, 14-10.

The Raiders answered with a long drive of their own.

On 3rd-and-10 from their own 26, Cousins found Tucker for a nine-yard gain, followed by a one-yard “Tush Push” from fullback Connor Heyward for the first down. Four plays later, Jeanty took a handoff and threw it back to Cousins, who found receiver Dareke Young for a 27-yard gain.

On 3rd-and-10 from the Chargers’ 13, Cousins found receiver Cody White in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown to put the Raiders ahead 17-14.

The Chargers defense then forced back-to-back punts, giving the offense opportunities to respond.

On the fifth play of the ensuing drive, Alt was called for his third false start of the game, setting up 2nd-and-15. The Chargers eventually converted, but on the following play, Hampton ran for two yards before Nakobe Dean forced a fumble. Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn recovered and returned it to the Chargers’ 16-yard line.

“I have got to be better,” Hampton said.

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Sep 20, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Las Vegas Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn (11) recovers a fumble against the Los Angeles Chargers during the second half at SoFi Stadium.

It was a mirror image of last week’s blocked punt. Once again, a mistake put the defense in a terrible spot and ultimately gave away a touchdown.

Cousins found White in the end zone for an 11-yard score, his second receiving touchdown of the game, putting the Raiders ahead 24-14 and delivering what felt like the final blow.

“I think it's just going out there and making sure that we have a game next week and got to be at our best for that game because they're a very good team and there's nothing we can do to change the past two weeks,” Herbert said. “So it's on us to fix our stuff, make sure that we’re ready to go for next week.”

The team waiting next week?

The 2-0 Buffalo Bills. In Buffalo.

The Bills are averaging 39 points per game on offense while the Chargers are averaging 14. This “high-powered” McDaniel offense has scored four touchdowns through two games against teams that had top picks in last year’s draft.

“We got to look each other in the eye, man, and just tell the truth and just get better,” James said. “Because right now that shit just looks trash.”

It now falls on Harbaugh, McDaniel and the offense to figure out how to fix it. The defense has caught some flak, but it has largely held down the fort while repeatedly being put in difficult situations because of turnovers and other mistakes.

“It's right there for us,” Khalil Mack said. “We feel like we doing a lot of things to hurt ourselves right now, and once we get those things fixed, it'll look a lot better.”

All three phases are being honest about the fact that the Chargers aren’t playing up to their standard two games into the season.

The roughest part is what comes next. Their next seven games are against some of the NFL’s toughest competition.

They just faced two of the perceived “lower-tier” teams on their schedule and were outscored 52-28.

How they fix this is anyone’s guess, but through the first two games, the offense has failed to produce the results that were expected. That is a major reason why the Chargers sit at 0-2.

“We'll go back to work, that’s all I know how to do,” Harbaugh said. “That's all we know how to do, find the way, and we'll move forward.”