The Los Angeles Chargers have started off the 2025 season with an unblemished 3-0 start, picking up wins against all three division rivals in the Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Denver Broncos after a thrilling 23-20 nailbiter in Week 3. The marriage between Justin Herbert and Jim Harbaugh is progressing beautifully.
On the flip side of that coin, many of the underperforming characters from the last few years have been struggling to excel at their new posts. Perhaps no one contributed to LA's brutal pre-Harbaugh stretch of unfulfilled expectations quite like former head coach Brandon Staley.
Staley has found gainful employment once more as defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints alongside former Chargers OC and new head coach Kellen Moore. After three games, this decision appears to be trending ever harder towards flop territory.
Things have regressed to the point where Staley has now given up 44 points in a road loss to the Seattle Seahawks, 38 of which were scored when they were actually trying in the first half. Staley continues to be a defensive mess, while the Chargers are a well-rounded machine.
Former Chargers coach Brandon Staley struggling as Saints DC
On one hand, Staley joined a Saints team that many consider to be the worst such squad in the league and was not expected to produce a ton of winning results in his first season with this new crew. However, that shouldn't excuse how poorly things have gone in the last two weeks despite some quality personnel.
After a strong Week 1 in a close loss against the Arizona Cardinals, the Saints made Mac Jones look like Joe Montana in a difficult Week 2 home defeat. In their first true road test of the year, Sam Darnold looked like a player who was so red hot that there was no chance of stopping him.
LA, meanwhile, has built one of the league's finest defenses under former Michiagn DC Jesse Minter this season. If this keeps up, there's a very good chance that Minter will not be in town for much longer as teams look to hire him as a head coach.
While the Chargers will likely be good enough that their fans don't have to subsist on Staley Schadenfreude to survive this season, this unsavory streak of subpar results to kick off 2025 is the type of stuff that drove Chargers fans up a wall for most of his tenure in Los Angeles.