Chargers' loss made one thing abundantly clear: Justin Herbert needs more help

If last week showed the greatness of Justin Herbert, Monday’s game showed that even truly elite quarterbacks need some weapons. In a 17-15 loss, the LA Chargers found out what happens when their plan of running the ball to open the pass crashes into a brick wall.

It was not pretty.

For the entire week, fans heard how weak the Arizona Cardinals' defense was and how easy it should be for the Bolts to run the ball. This game was not supposed to be close as even this offense was seemingly good enough against a bad Cardinals D. Boy, was this narrative wrong.

The running game was pretty much non-existent. In fact, the team had less than 30 total rushing yards in the first half and there wasn't much improvement in the second half.

Fans heard so much about how this team was going to be a bully on the ground and how this offense was going to push around defensive lines, and how the team would be fine with suspect-at-best players in the skill position. Someone forgot to tell the team that this narrative was a thing. Either that, or they just left their running game back in Los Angeles.

The Chargers need to add some wide receiver help... now

The lack of quality depth at wide receiver was glaring in the desert on Monday. Yes, Quentin Johnston did not play this game but let’s be real here: we’re still not sure if QJ is going to be a solid No. 2, let alone a player that can match up with the best defenses and will this team to victory.

Ladd McConkey has a ton of upside, but he too was banged up and was largely ineffective with his best play coming with less than six minutes left in the game. Jalen Reagor? Let’s not even talk about what should have been his one shining moment in this game ending up being a blunder as he fumbled a catch that would’ve set the team up with a first and goal.

When the most effective pass-catchers on the field are Josh Palmer and Will Dissly, the team has an obvious problem. And fans have known this the entire time. That was the whole point about running the ball like this is the NFL circa 2004 instead of 2024.

The plan was to make up for the deficiencies at wide receiver with a dominant ground game. Of course, the question always was going to be what would happen if a team could take the Bolts’ running game away from them. And now we have our answer.

To be fair, the offensive line was also atrocious after the first quarter and now we all must hope that Justin Herbert’s aggravated throwing thumb is not a bigger issue. Clete Blakeman's questionable penalties also did not help matters.

It is time to address the lack of true, quality depth at wide receiver. The trade deadline is approaching, so time is running out to make a trade to have at least someone that secondaries can be afraid of.

DeAndre Hopkins could be an option; though, his best days are clearly behind him. Darius Slayton from the New York Giants is another potential target who would elevate this room. Or maybe the Chargers try to make a big splash and reach out to the Bengals to see what Tee Higgins' status is. At this point, it is clear that the team has to take some action, doing nothing will simply not work.

If this team has any aspirations of being remotely competitive this year in an AFC West division that predictably is the Chiefs and then everyone else, they must remedy their glaring hole at wide receiver.

Field goals and strong defense was not enough to save them this time and it won't be against better teams. If the team does nothing, we will see Monday’s game again and again in the weeks to come leading to another disappointing season in LA.