It's hard to say it out loud. The Los Angeles Chargers have officially lost their first game of the season, 26-14, to the Arizona Cardinals.
Coming into this game, it was reasonable to expect a relatively clean win on the part of Los Angeles. The Chargers offense was supposed to look renewed under new coordinator Mike McDaniel, and the offensive line as a whole was supposed to give Justin Herbert the time he needed to pick apart the Cardinals' weak secondary.
There was a brief amount of time—namely the first drive—where things played out that way. But it quickly went off the rails for Los Angeles.
There will be time to pick apart the game over the course of the next week and highlight each of the Chargers' failures. There are certainly plenty to choose from. But at the end of the day, they were simply outplayed by a roster with inferior talent. That's an unacceptable outcome in Week 1 of a season with an exceedingly difficult schedule.
We'll try not to be entirely negative here, as there are things from this game that provide some intrigue moving forward. But nevertheless, it's time for some immediate takeaways.
8 conclusions to draw from the Chargers' Week 1 loss to the Cardinals
1. The LG platoon is real (and it doesn't look like the best idea)
Although the competition for the starting left guard spot seemed to be decided in training camp, Jim Harbaugh left the door open for the team to rotate Kayode Awosika and Trey Pipkins III as they sorted out the best configuration of their offensive line.
On Sunday, we got to see that on the field. Pipkins came in for the Chargers' third drive of the game, and his inability to block Dante Stills for the sack on fourth down was one of the lowlights of the matchup. It's hard to fault the Chargers for giving Pipkins the chance to prove himself, but at what point does the experiment end?
Awosika mostly acquitted himself, but there are still plenty of questions around whether Pipkins is suited for guard snaps at all.
2. It's going to take time for Mike McDaniel's offense to come together
Of the Chargers' offensive miscues today, a healthy portion can be blamed on misfires. There were, notably, two false starts and a holding penalty on their final real offensive drive of the game, and there were multiple missed opportunities in the passing game when either Herbert or a receiver mistimed their steps.
There was a world where McDaniel's offense came out of the gates ablaze, but that's not close to what we saw today. It's inexcusable—but it's something that should start to mesh together as the season goes on.
3. Chris O'Leary has more questions than answers about his readiness for an NFL play-calling job
There were those who had their doubts about O'Leary's ability to simply step into Jesse Minter's shoes as the Chargers defensive coordinator. I wasn't one of them. But after what we saw on the field today, there's no doubt that O'Leary is going to need a major bounceback next week to rally the fanbase behind his cause.
Minter's defense was so successful because of how he was able to leverage various pressure packages along the defensive line and maximize his heavy zone looks in the secondary. We saw Jacoby Brissett and the Cardinals offense routinely carve up the Chargers defense today, and O'Leary will be the one facing the most pressure when Los Angeles enters their Week 2 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders.
4. Justin Herbert still has some major questions to answer under Mike McDaniel
We may have covered all our bases with McDaniel and O'Leary, but Herbert can't escape some level of criticism for this game. Most of the team's failings weren't his fault. He didn't allow a free rusher on fourth down in the redzone, and he certainly didn't get multiple false starts that extinguished the last glimmer of hope in the matchup.
But his deep throw to Derius Davis that resulted in an interception was ill-advised, and he simply didn't look as on point in the second half as you would expect him to after a full offseason of work in McDaniel's scheme. Herbert is the type of polarizing quarterback that will always elicit questions, and he's certain to do so after this performance.
5. Ladd McConkey will be the key cog of this offense in 2026
Now on to some positive notes. Although McConkey went down with a chest injury in the second half, he looked like the dynamic, YAC-gaining slot receiver we thought he could when the Chargers' offense was clicking early in the game. His first three receptions were all explosive gains, and he finished the matchup with five receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown.
Quentin Johnston and Tre' Harris, Los Angeles' other two primary pass-catching threats, finished the game with a combined five receptions for 37 yards. McConkey is clearly who McDaniel wants to target, and he showed us that he's capable of taking on that workload again in this matchup.
6. At least the run game looked good, right?
If there's one thing to be excited about in this game, it's the way Omarion Hampton looked with the ball in his hands. He was nearly unstoppable once he got to the second level, bouncing off a mound of Cardinals defenders for the Chargers' first touchdown and looking highly efficient on the ground over the course of the game.
He finished with just 12 carries for 38 yards, but his opportunities were limited by the Chargers' time of possession and the situations they were in when they had the ball. Expect the run to be a much greater focus of the offense next week against the Raiders.
7. The Chargers need to seriously re-consider their return role this season
Although Davis held onto his job as the Chargers' return man during camp, they had Keaton Mitchell splitting kick returns with him today. Davis doesn't have a major role to play within the offense, and if he's not performing as a punt returner, there's little reason to keep him on this roster (beyond the fact the Chargers don't truly have a WR worth replacing him with on the practice squad).
Davis (rightly) signaled for a fair catch on all of his punt return reps (or the ball was sent out of back of the end zone by Arizona punter Blake Gillikin), and he posted just 33 yards across his two kick return opportunities. If Los Angeles feels this spot could be better utilized on a defensive player (like an extra cornerback), it doesn't feel like Davis' job is truly safe over the rest of the season.
8. Del'Shawn Phillips gets the start at LB in Perryman's absence
This is a minor note, but it was intriguing to see Phillips (who's mostly been a special-teams threat throughout his career) listed as the team's starting linebacker alongside Daiyan Henley in the absence of Denzel Perryman on the Chargers' first unofficial depth chart of the regular season. With both Troy Dye and Marlowe Wax in the fold, it seemed as though it might simply be a rotation or an indication of the Chargers' willingness to grant him additional defensive snaps.
Phillips did start, though, and he performed relatively well both in coverage and as a run defender. We'll see how the official snap shares shake out tomorrow, but it's something worth keeping an eye on with Perryman out until at least Week 5.
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