For the second week in a row, the LA Chargers dropped a winnable game against an NFC East foe. Somehow, some way, the Chargers managed to put together an even uglier game in Week 5 against the Washington Commanders than they did in Week 4 against the New York Giants.
Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong for the Chargers. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching, health; there wasn't a single aspect of Sunday's game that went well for the Bolts.
One game doesn't dictate an entire season, but Chargers fans are feeling much worse after back-to-back stinkers than they are after starting 3-0 against three AFC West opponents. Sadly, this feeling is all too familiar for Chargers fans, who feel like they have rewound the clock back a few years to a different era.
Jim Harbaugh's Chargers look far too much like the Chargers of old
The last two weeks feel much more in line with the 2021-2023 Chargers than the 2024 Chargers. No football team is perfect and expecting perfection is unfair, but this isn't a case of needing the Chargers to be perfect. Fans just need the Chargers to be competent.
Los Angeles has looked far from that the last two weeks.
Sunday specifically, the Chargers did everything they physically could to lose the game. Quentin Johnston fumbled after a big gain. Justin Herbert threw a pick in the red zone. Marlowe Wax ran into the punter to negate a Ladd McConkey punt-return touchdown. The defense committed a penalty whenever it actually got a third-down stop. The offensive line held the few times it actually protected Herbert.
It was as ugly as ugly gets. It's one thing to lose a slugfest on a last-second field goal. Heck, losing in blowout fashion to a clearly better team even feels better than how Chargers fans feel after Week 5. This is a familiar feeling; the feeling of "Chargering".
Harbaugh is supposed to be the savior that keeps this cursed franchise from finding new ways to lose football games. And after his first season at the helm, it appeared the Chargers finally found the leader who could right the ship.
Two bad games in Harbaugh's second season don't completely erase what Harbaugh has built to this point. Anyone suggesting the Chargers should blow it up and move on from Harbaugh is severely overreacting.
However, if Harbaugh is truly the savior that Chargers fans thought he would be the team needs to bounce back from this rough stretch. Every team in the NFL has a downswing; it's the great teams that come back from those downswings by being better than they were before.
Fans are less confident that will happen after Harbaugh's team turned in another Brandon Staley-like stinker against the Commanders. Hopefully, Harbaugh doesn't follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.