Heading into the 2026 campaign, the Los Angeles Chargers had a number of gambles on their plate—and each of them was going to need to fall in their favor if they were going to match or surpass the 11-win total they set for themselves over each of the past two seasons.
In theory, things should've looked much better on the offensive side of the ball at this point in the season. With Greg Roman out and a young, innovative coordinator in the fold in Mike McDaniel, the Chargers re-shaped their interior protection and added the complementary playmakers in free agency that the offense needed. But through two games, we've seen things go wrong on the field time and time again, with small mistakes adding up into back-to-back defeats to objectively inferior teams.
McDaniel's offense will obviously need time to sort itself out. More than anything else, this is a major adjustment for Justin Herbert, and he's clearly struggled to acclimate to the demands of McDaniel's timing-centered air attack. That's not an excuse—it's simply the reality of where Los Angeles is at right now.
What's more concerning is the way the defense has performed to this point in the season after the departure of former defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. While there were signs of improvement in Week 2 against the Las Vegas Raiders, mistakes in communication and in coverage continued to run rampant on that side of the ball.
While Minter's defense in Baltimore certainly hasn't been lights out, it may be time to face a harsh reality. Is any coordinator capable of replicating what Minter accomplished during his two season in Los Angeles? And where are the Chargers left if that's the case?
Chris O'Leary seems outmatched through two games as the Chargers' defensive coordinator
'Off the rails' might seem like a bit of an exaggeration. After all, it's only Week 2, and the Chargers still have 15 more games to get things right. But with the schedule they have ahead of them, these were both losses they could not afford. String together another pair of losses, and this team's playoff hopes can truly be ended before they even reach their bye week.
There's also some room for optimism here. Los Angeles' run defense looked vastly improved in Week 2. They limited Ashton Jeanty to just 48 yards on 21 carries, and the interior pass rush provided the pressure they were missing in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. This time, though, it wasn't consistent intermediate passes that blew the game on the defensive side of the ball. It was multiple major mistakes in coverage, which led to explosive plays and even the game-sealing touchdown for Las Vegas, that ultimately put this game out of reach for the Chargers.
What made Minter such an effective coordinator for the Chargers was his ability to put players in advantageous positions and maximize the talent they had on the field, especially in the secondary. His zone-heavy scheme was excellent at stifling opposing offenses by limiting their explosive plays and access to deeper parts of the field, and he knew how to leverage the team's pass rushers when they had a full complement available for him to employ.
In Week 2, Kirk Cousins finished the day completing 19 of his 29 passes for 253 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. The singular pick was a result of a receiver falling down on his route on a potential deep shot.
Against a quarterback that went 1-for-7 with two picks on passes of 10 or more air yards against a depleted Miami Dolphins defense in Week 1, that's an unacceptable performance.
It doesn't all fall on O'Leary—some of it must necessarily fall upon the players who blew their assignments on the field. But so far into the season, it doesn't seem as though O'Leary has introduced the same level of communication and cohesiveness that made Minter so effective during his time with the Chargers.
Minter's shoes were always going to be hard to fill. The Chargers finished as a top-10 passing defense in terms of yards allowed in each of his two seasons here. Even when the offense struggled, they could rely upon their defense to give them a shot in tightly-contested games.
But things have been rough for O'Leary so far, and the team cannot lean on its defense in any sense of the term as we enter Week 3. Right now, the focus needs to be on limiting mistakes—and a top-10 defense looks to be a far-away goal as the Chargers begin the season 0-2.
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