The Harbaugh era has reached its first real crisis

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Los Angeles Chargers football was supposed to look different by now.

That was the promise when Jim Harbaugh arrived.

Different coach. Different culture. Different standard. Different results.

Instead, three years into the Harbaugh era, the Chargers are staring at an 0-2 start after a disastrous 26-14 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at home, and the most alarming part isn't simply the record.

It's how completely disjointed this football team looks.

The offense has scored exactly 14 points in each of its first two games. The team committed six fumbles against the Raiders, its most in a game since 1987. Drives have stalled. Execution has been sloppy. Justin Herbert looks frustrated. And the new-look offense that was supposed to elevate this team has instead looked almost completely out of sync.

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.

This is not what the Chargers signed up for when they made Harbaugh the face of their franchise.

And for the first time in his coaching career, Harbaugh has started a season 0-2.

Not at Michigan. Not at Stanford. Not with the 49ers. Not with any of his previous stops.

Never.

Yet here the Chargers are.

And now the question isn't whether this team can explain what went wrong.

The question is: How do they fix it?

Because the margin for error is disappearing quickly.

The promise of Harbaugh has not translated

The Harbaugh era officially began in Los Angeles on January 24, 2024, when the Chargers hired him to a five-year deal.

The franchise had already gone through a dramatic transformation.

Anthony Lynn was hired and fired. Tom Telesco was fired. Brandon Staley was hired and fired.

Then came Harbaugh, the must-get coach who was supposed to finally stabilize everything.

Greg Roman was hired as offensive coordinator and eventually fired.

Then this offseason brought another major swing: Mike McDaniel, fresh off his departure from Miami, was brought in as the must-have offensive coordinator who was supposed to unlock Herbert and give the Chargers an offensive identity.

Two games into that experiment, the Chargers have scored 28 total points. 14 in Week 1. 14 in Week 2.

And this isn't simply about the scoreboard.

There is no rhythm. No consistency. No feeling that this offense knows exactly what it wants to be.

There are mistakes at critical moments, missed opportunities, turnovers and communication issues that continue to put the Chargers behind the chains.

Harbaugh's response has essentially been the same after both losses.

Fix the margins. Get back to work. Find a way.

After the Raiders loss, Harbaugh said:

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

He also insisted he isn't deterred by the offensive start.

“I saw the fight in our team. I saw the compete in our team,” Harbaugh said.

And that may be true.

But eventually, fighting isn't enough. Eventually, a team has to execute.

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Sep 20, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws a pass against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first half at SoFi Stadium.

And then there is Justin Herbert

This is where the conversation becomes considerably more uncomfortable.

Harbaugh has spent much of his time in Los Angeles talking about what Herbert can become.

During his sit-down interview with Michael Irvin over a week ago, Harbaugh went as far as saying Herbert will be the greatest quarterback of all time when it's all said and done.

That's an enormous statement.

Maybe the biggest possible statement a head coach can make about his quarterback.

But since then, the Chargers have looked anything but like a team playing behind a quarterback on a historic trajectory.

Instead, Herbert is now entering a conversation he probably didn't expect to be having at this point in his career: whether he is beginning to fall out of the NFL's unquestioned top tier of quarterbacks.

That's not because Herbert suddenly became a bad quarterback.

It is because expectations around him have become enormous.

And when a quarterback is publicly described as a future greatest-of-all-time player, 14 points per game isn't going to look ordinary.

It looks alarming.

Herbert has also had two difficult playoff experiences under Harbaugh.

In his first season, the Chargers went to Houston and lost 32-12 after Herbert threw four interceptions.

Afterward, Harbaugh talked about changes that needed to be made and the continued development of Herbert as a leader and quarterback.

The following season ended with another brutal offensive performance.

The Chargers were shut out of the end zone in a 16-3 playoff loss to the Patriots.

Herbert was sacked six times.

The Chargers managed only 207 total yards.

Cameron Dicker's field goal accounted for all three points.

Then came the offseason.

Then came McDaniel.

Then came the expectation that this offense would finally take another step.

Instead, through two games, it has taken a step backward.

Sunday was not just a loss. It was a collapse

The Chargers had opportunities against the Raiders. They had chances to change the game. They didn't.

With 6:47 remaining, the Chargers were trailing 17-14 after forcing the Raiders to punt. A defensive penalty on third down kept the Chargers' drive alive after Tre' Harris was held and pass interference was called.

The opportunity was there.

Then, with just under five minutes remaining, running back Omarion Hampton fumbled. The Raiders recovered.

That was the kind of afternoon it was.

One mistake after another.

Six fumbles.

A promising drive turning into disaster.

An offense unable to consistently sustain anything.

And a team that appeared to be searching for answers while the clock continued to run.

Harbaugh called it losing in the margins.

“The fight was there. We're losing in the margins. That's what we have to get fixed,” he said.

That phrase has become central to the Chargers' explanation for these losses.

But there comes a point when losing in the margins becomes losing football games.

And the Chargers are now 0-2.

Herbert knows he has to be better

Herbert didn't run from his own responsibility afterward.

Asked about a third-down play in which the ball hit Harris after the quarterback sent him in motion, Herbert explained that the play clock was running low and that he was trying to get the snap off.

Then came the part that matters most.

He took responsibility.

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

That's the quarterback the Chargers need right now.

Not the greatest of all time.

Not the savior.

Not the quarterback who has already been crowned for what he might eventually become.

They need Herbert to simply play better football.

And they need the coaching staff to put him in position to do that.

Herbert was also asked whether there was anger inside the locker room after falling to 0-2.

“No, I don't think so,” he said. “There's a group full of grown men that can handle their job, and they're going to do everything they can to correct it and fix it. We're going to stick together, and it's tough. No one wants to lose two games, but there's nothing we can do about it now.”

That's the correct answer.

But now they have to prove it.

The schedule isn't getting easier

The Chargers don't have the luxury of spending a month figuring this out.

Their upcoming schedule is brutal:

• Week 3: at Buffalo
• Week 4: at Seattle
• Week 5: vs. Denver
• Week 6: at Kansas City
• Week 7: Bye
• Week 8: at the Rams
• Week 9: vs. Houston
• Week 10: at Baltimore

There is no soft landing waiting for them.

And that's what makes starting 0-2 at home so damaging.

The Chargers have already dropped two games in their own building. Now they have to go on the road against Buffalo and Seattle before returning home to face Denver and then traveling to Kansas City.

The margin for error is shrinking. Very fast.

Harbaugh doesn't have time to simply say "we'll get back to work"

That's always going to be Harbaugh's answer.

It's who he is.

He believes in work.

He believes in toughness.

He believes in competition.

He believes that teams can fight their way through adversity.

And perhaps the Chargers can.

Harbaugh said he isn't giving up on this team because he believes they have the necessary pieces.

“This is a team that has got the competitiveness. They got the fight. We got the guys. We got the coaches. Just gotta find our way.”

But finding their way has to happen now.

Because the Chargers don't look like a team that is one small adjustment away from turning everything around.

They look like a team that is searching for an identity.

The offensive coordinator is new.

The system is new.

The quarterback is frustrated.

The turnovers are piling up.

The execution is inconsistent.

And the head coach who was brought to Los Angeles to finally bring stability to the franchise is now facing the first true crisis of his tenure.

Maybe this is just a bad two-game stretch.

Maybe the Chargers eventually find their rhythm.

Maybe McDaniel's offense eventually clicks.

Maybe Herbert eventually looks like the quarterback Harbaugh believes he can become.

But right now, none of that is happening.

Right now, the Chargers are 0-2.

Right now, they have scored 14 points in consecutive games.

Right now, the offense looks broken.

And right now, the biggest question surrounding the Harbaugh era isn't whether this team can fight.

Harbaugh has made it clear that it can.

The question is whether this team can execute.

Because fighting in the margins doesn't matter if you keep losing them.

And if the Chargers don't figure that out quickly, this season could disappear before Harbaugh ever gets the chance to make good on all those promises about what this team, and Justin Herbert, can ultimately become.