The Los Angeles Chargers will go into Week 10 still without a win in 2026.
At least they got a touchdown (two, actually!!), and we got another once-in-a-blue-moon explosive catch from Quentin Johnston. But as they fell to the Houston Texans by the score of 44-22, it was another embarrassing offensive outing for Mike McDaniel and company.
Los Angeles failed again to get anything going consistently on the ground, which essentially became a non-factor entering the second half when the complete lack of offense put the game out of reach. We almost escaped without a Justin Herbert pick—and it's hard to blame him for taking that shot that was ultimately intercepted by Derek Stingley—but that's not even a silver lining we can take away from this game, either. The interior of the offensive line, and especially Cole Strange, continues to look absolutely abysmal, and they got torn apart by Danielle Hunter, Will Anderson Jr., Sheldon Rankins, and Jadeveon Clowney for a grand total of eight sacks—the most they've allowed this season by a healthy margin.
And to cap it all off, Joe Hortiz and the front office continue to maintain the Chargers aren't "giving up on the season" and will not be selling at the deadline. Perhaps the Baltimore Ravens and Jacoby Brissett can provide some better fortunes in Week 10.
6 takeaways' as the Chargers go to 0-8 with another disappointing loss
1. A slight step back for Chris O'Leary's defense (and more depth issues in the secondary)
I'll start with a caveat here—C.J. Stroud is playing out of his mind. He's playing the best ball of his career at this point, and his consistent touch combined with the contested-catch presences of Nico Collins, Tank Dell, and even Marvin Harrison Jr. make this offense one of the most potent in the NFL. O'Leary also lost Isas Waxter at halftime, who was taking snaps in place of Deane Leonard at cornerback.
But after an encouraging performance against the Los Angeles Rams last week, even in spite of the loss, the last thing anybody wanted to see was the Chargers secondary get gashed by an opponents' passing game. Tarheeb Still only had a couple rough reps over the course of the game, and he was largely in solid position even on the routes where he ultimately got beat. But all of Cam Hart, Genesis Smith, Donte Jackson, and Rodney Shelley had some truly rough looks over the course of the game, and that doesn't bode too well for what's been the backbone of this team to this point in the season.
The Texans ultimately went for 381 passing yards, with Stroud completing 21 of his 35 passing attempts for five touchdowns and one interception. I'll just leave those numbers there and hope a Brissett rematch next week can help make things look better.
2. Figuring out the RB rotation? Will there ever be an adjustment there?
Coming into the week, the coaching staff stated definitively that they were looking at a more streamlined distribution of touches in the backfield, presumably meaning that Omarion Hampton would be in line for something closer to the workhorse snap share that fans have been calling for.
Here's how the final numbers turned out—Hampton had 13 touches, Keaton Mitchell had seven, and Kimani Vidal also had seen.
Hampton did return to lead back status, but this doesn't seem like a major adjustment from last week—or the game before that. Mitchell has continued to run almost entirely to the outside, while Hampton and Vidal take on duties between the tackles. In the meantime, the Los Angeles run game remains predictable and largely ineffective—they averaged 3.47 yards per carry today and totaled 138 rushing yards, a good chunk of which came when the game was already over.
McDaniel moved up to the box this week. Great.
When. will we see substantial adjustments for this offense?
3. The Chargers' receiving corps continues to prove insufficient—even if Ladd McConkey was healthy
McConkey suffered back spasms in today's warmups and was listed as questionable before the start of the game, ultimately not seeing a single snap against Houston. Needless to say, that was a major loss for the Chargers from the jump.
But even if he was healthy, this combination of receivers continues to be insufficient for the Chargers. Johnston continues to struggle to get separation, and apart from that major completion working out of the slot, he was highly ineffective against the Texans secondary. Harris had a major drop today, and he overall wasn't able to carve anything substantial out even with six targets over the course of the matchup.
The Texans secondary has an elite reputation, but they've simply been middling to this point in the season. Peraps this was a get-right game for them, especially in terms of blown coverages and miscommunications, but it feels more likely that this falls on the hands, again, of the Los Angeles receiving corps.
4. Cole Strange with another abysmal performance—it's difficult to see things getting any better with this IOL still intact
We won't have final pressure numbers until a couple hours after the game, but Strange got absolutely bodied by Sheldon Rankins on the interior on multiple reps, losing on a straight bull rush and a swim move, both of which ended with Strange on the ground and Herbert being sacked. He was ultimately replaced by Alex Harkey, but that's indicative of a bigger issue.
Even when Kayode Awosika returns in the near future, is there nearly enough talent in this room to believe in any improvement in the team's protection, let alone the offense as a whole, over the next few weeks? Strange came into the season as an uncontested starter at right guard, and there's an utter lack of truly inspiring solutions at left guard for the Chargers currently.
Even if Tyler Biadasz and Rashawn Slater were healthy, and we were getting the fullest version of this offensive line, the Strange signing is simply indefensible—and the interior as a whole will remain compromised this season because of it.
5. DJ Uiagalelei makes his first appearance of the season (and the Chargers sit Herbert for the first time)
This is just a minor note—Herbert left the game with what was ostensibly a hand injury in the fourth quarter and was replaced by backup quarterback DJ Uiagalelei. With Trey Lance on IR, these were Uiagalelei's first NFL snaps, and it's safe to assume that Herbert's issue is nothing serious given the score when he came out.
But it's the first time all season a QB other than Herbert has made a throw for the Chargers this season, and it might indicate some willingness on Los Angeles' part, if things continue to go downhill, to take Herbert out of some of these games earlier.
5. Marlowe Wax deserves every snap he gets with the defense
I've tried to include at least one silver lining within each of these 'takeaways' pieces, and Wax gave me a perfect one to include today.
He made an incredible play to tip that pass to Daiyan Henley for the Chargers' lone interception of the day, and he's seen a steady increase in defensive snap share over the last few weeks. He made this roster because of the intensity and athleticism he showed during the preseason, and although O'Leary had him playing a special teams role behind Del'Shawn Phillips and Troy Dye to start the campaign, it felt like it was only a matter of time until Wax started to show up on the tape again.
He finished the day with six tackles, so now's a fitting time to give him his flowers as a solid depth piece for this defense.
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