Two games were all it took for the Los Angeles Chargers’ offseason optimism to become an early-season crisis. They have opened 2026 with consecutive losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, two teams that entered the year with modest expectations after picking near the top of the draft.

That does not merely make the Chargers disappointing. It makes them look fraudulent. A supposed AFC contender has been outcoached and embarrassed twice. Although plenty of people deserve blame, head coach Jim Harbaugh belongs at the front of the line.

Jim Harbaugh owns this mess

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reacts after a play against the Arizona Cardinals during the first half at SoFi Stadium.
Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

The Chargers hired Harbaugh to eliminate exactly this kind of football. His team is supposed to embody preparation and toughness, yet Los Angeles has looked disorganized in every phase. After the Week 1 loss, Harbaugh called the performance “too sloppy” and blamed “self-inflicted execution.” One week later, the same problems remained.

That repetition is the indictment. A talented team can suffer one flat performance, but coming back seven days later with more turnovers, procedural errors and breakdowns shows the coaching staff did not deliver the necessary corrections. Harbaugh is now 0-2 for the first time in his college or NFL head-coaching career, and they have earned that record.

Los Angeles committed seven penalties against Arizona, with six charged to the offense. Against Las Vegas, it committed eight more, while six credited fumbles, a botched motion snap and four Joe Alt penalties reflected an operation completely out of sync. Harbaugh sets the weekly standard. Right now, his team has none.

Mike McDaniel has failed Herbert

Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel deserves the second-largest share of blame. His arrival was expected to unlock Justin Herbert and modernize an offense that had become predictable. Instead, the Chargers have scored 14 points in each game and produced a passing attack with no consistent rhythm.

Against the Raiders, Herbert completed 15 of 27 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He did not complete a pass traveling more than 20 yards in the air as pressure arrived and receivers struggled to separate. The offense also committed three turnovers, including two in the fourth quarter, and a holding penalty in the end zone produced a late safety.

McDaniel cannot catch passes, block rushers or protect the football. He can, however, design answers that make life easier for his quarterback. Those answers have been missing. The formations, timing and personnel may look creative on paper, but creativity means nothing when players cannot line up, handle the snap or finish drives.

Justin Herbert is not absolved

Herbert is not the primary culprit, but a franchise quarterback must absorb his portion of the blame. Through two games, he has 401 passing yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions and a 71.6 passer rating. Those numbers are not close to the level expected from the player who is supposed to stabilize everything around him.

JUSTIN HERBERT GETS PICKED OFF AGAIN 😳

Barring a Raiders catastrophe, the Chargers are going to start the season 0-2. pic.twitter.com/Gdp7aGVcjq

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 20, 2026

Some of the chaos has not been his fault. David Njoku contributed to one Week 2 interception, protection has been unreliable and Los Angeles’ receivers have struggled to create clean windows. Still, Herbert forced his second interception against Las Vegas into a nonexistent deep window, ending any realistic comeback chance.

The defense and special teams are hardly innocent. Arizona gained 393 yards and controlled possession for more than 37 minutes, while a blocked punt gave the Cardinals the ball at the Chargers’ 3-yard line. The Raiders then hit passing gains of 40, 42 and 27 yards that directly fueled scoring drives.

But Harbaugh is most responsible because every failure connects back to his job: preparation, discipline, staffing and response. The Chargers have enough talent to recover. Until they stop beating themselves, however, they are not contenders. They are merely a famous coach, an expensive quarterback and a fraudulent reputation wearing powder blue.