Derwin James did not reach for a silver lining after the Chargers fell to 0-2. Los Angeles dropped a 26-14 decision to the Las Vegas Raiders at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, its second straight home loss to open the season, and the veteran safety used his postgame availability to demand the locker room stop protecting itself.

“We got to look each other in the eye, man, and just tell the truth and just get better,” James expressed after the game. “Because right now that shit just looks trash. I'm angry, but being angry don't fix anything.”

The frustration is earned. The Chargers were favored in both games and lost both at home, first to the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 1 upset and now to a division rival. Los Angeles entered the season expecting to compete for the AFC West title, with most projections placing it comfortably in the playoff field.

The hole is deeper than the record suggests. Since the NFL moved to a 17-game schedule in 2021, only eight of 40 teams that opened 0-2 have reached the postseason. The Chargers also face what is currently the league's toughest remaining schedule. Five of their next seven games come on the road, six are against 2025 playoff teams, and four of their final six are away from SoFi Stadium.

Injuries are compounding the misery. Tight end David Njoku, signed this offseason after nine seasons in Cleveland, was carted off Sunday with a knee injury, moments after bobbling a Justin Herbert pass into an interception. James himself was forced out after fracturing the pinky finger on his left hand. For a franchise long familiar with losing key players, the timing could hardly be worse.

His point about honesty lands because the problems have not been isolated to one unit. The Chargers have failed to put together a complete performance in either game, and two home losses as the favored team leave little room to blame circumstance.

Los Angeles will need answers quickly. With the schedule tightening and the margin for error already gone, the self-examination James called for cannot wait much longer.