Chargers' Struggles: Coaching Changes & Stats Revealed

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Chargers’ Offensive Struggles Raise Questions About Jim Harbaugh’s Future

After a 7-0 loss to the Rams, the Chargers have gone 27 consecutive drives without a touchdown. That is their longest such streak since the 2024 Dolphins, coached by current Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, went 30 straight drives without scoring a touchdown.

The Chargers are the only winless team and are off to their worst start since 2000, despite coming out of their bye. During the postgame press conference, a Chargers reporter for The Athletic pressed Jim Harbaugh about repeatedly promising changes while remaining vague about what those changes would be. Harbaugh again offered few specifics.

Still, the offensive problems cannot be placed entirely on McDaniel. The struggles appear to be a collective product of poor football. Justin Herbert has lacked weapons, but he has also thrown directly toward defenders, into zone coverage and at linebackers. Defenders have undercut his throws without appearing to be noticed.

That decline is difficult to explain after Herbert had been considered one of the five or six best quarterbacks in football over the previous three or four years.

One theory is that McDaniel remains with the team as a shield because this could be Harbaugh’s final season as an NFL head coach. Rather than leaving the organization entirely, Harbaugh could be moved into another role because the Spanos family would not want to pay him not to work.

Harbaugh no longer appears to have the same fire he showed at Michigan, USD or with the San Francisco 49ers. The energy and intensity associated with his previous teams appear to be missing, and his message does not seem to be reaching the players.

McDaniel may once have been viewed as a potential successor, but the offense’s current performance makes that difficult to envision. The Chargers appear to have no answers, energy or punch as they try to finish the season and determine what comes next.