Riding a three-game winning streak during which they outscored their opponents by a combined score of 89-40, the Los Angeles Chargers saw that streak come to an ugly end this past Sunday, as they took the worst loss of the Jim Harbaugh era with an embarrassing 35-6 defeat at the hands of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
For those wondering, the largest margin of defeat between this season and last before this 29-point loss to the Jags was a 40-17 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15 of the 2024 campaign.
Simply put, the Bolts couldn't do much at all to combat Jacksonville on either side of the football, which we'll break down momentarily. With Los Angeles finally getting its much-needed bye week, one might think Jim Harbaugh would take the rest of this week—or at least a few days of it anyway—to hold some light practices or some walkthroughs or some film sessions to work some things out.
As it turns out, however, he's instead opting to give the entire team the week off, and that includes his coaching staff, with everyone set to return on Monday to prepare for a Week 13 matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
"I also felt like our team had earned two extra days, mainly a function of the team has been playing 15 straight games, 15 straight weeks, plus all the way back to the start of training camp," Harbaugh said. "My priority is that they are fresh, regroup, and that's for players, coaches, and staff. Come back ready to roll."
One has to wonder if Harbaugh would have made the same choice had the Chargers had an earlier bye week, just as they did a season ago when it came extremely early in Week 5. He certainly makes a great point about his team not having a week off since training camp, although it should be noted that they got a little mini-bye a little under a month ago after opening the Week 8 slate on Thursday Night Football against the Minnesota Vikings. And it undoubtedly needs to be noted that a few days off from physicality might be needed, given the myriad of injuries the Bolts have been dealing with.
But again, a film session or two might not hurt after such a disastrous outing. And one has to wonder how some of the players are feeling about this decision. Khalil Mack, for instance, was extremely upset in the aftermath and was seemingly itching to get back to work just to get this beatdown behind him. I'm sure Mack likes a day off as much as anybody, but with the Bolts in the thick of a playoff race, perhaps he and others want to ensure something like this doesn't happen again.
As promised, exactly what the Chargers don't want to happen again breaks down as follows.
The Chargers were outplayed in every way in their Week 11 loss to the Jaguars
Offensively, Justin Herbert had one of the worst overall games of his career before being yanked in the fourth quarter, completing just 10 of 18 passes, equating to a season-low 55.6 completion percentage, for a career-low 81 yards, marking just the second time in his six seasons that he's failed to hit triple digits. And with zero touchdown passes and an interception, he earned the second-lowest passer rating of his career at an abysmal 44.0.
Of course, some of the struggles can be attributed to the Chargers' makeshift offensive line, which continues to be absolutely dreadful, with Harbaugh even going as far as to bench Mekhi Becton.
Herbert did rush for 21 yards on only three carries, but that sadly accounted for half of the Chargers' total, with the 42 rushing yards representing the lowest figure of the season, the same of which can be said for the team's 135 total yards of offense. It should be noted that Kimani Vidal left the game early with a thigh injury, but that simply speaks to the lack of depth at the running back position.
On a positive note, defensively, the Bolts held Trevor Lawrence to just 153 yards passing and one touchdown, but on the negative side, they couldn't do a thing to stop the Jags' rushing attack, allowing a season-high 192 yards and four scores on the ground.
At least Cameron Dicker made both of his field-goal attempts, right?