Chargers who are most to blame for Week 3 loss to Steelers

The LA Chargers were handed the team's first loss of the Jim Harbaugh era in Week 3. Los Angeles lost the war of attrition against the Pittsburgh Steelers and officially moved to 2-1 on the season as a result.

Chargers fans are less concerned about the one in the loss column and more concerned about the injuries the team suffered in Week 3. The quartet of Justin Herbert, Joey Bosa, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt were all injured in the game, which could have a massive snowball effect on the future.

There are no concrete answers on the future for those players. So instead of speculating what could be, let's dive into what went wrong for the Chargers in Week 3 (outside of the injuries).

Chargers who are most to blame for Week 3 loss to Steelers:

Asante Samuel Jr.

There were two key moments in which Asante Samuel Jr. made a mistake and they both ended up having big repercussions. He did not have the worst day in the secondary for the Bolts but these moments were the most consequential.

The first was on a third and four in the second quarter with the Steelers in field-goal range. Justin Fields threw an out-route to Scotty Miller and instead of rallying to the football and keeping Miller from getting the first down, Samuel attempted to jump the route, was unsuccessful, and could not tackle Miller.

Sure, if Samuel gets the pick there it is a different game but he was not particularly close. If he would have wrapped up and made a tackle, forcing the Steelers to a field goal, that is a four-point swing.

The other consequential play was also on a third down. Tuli Tuipulotu sacked Fields to stop the Steelers momentum only for it to be overturned by a holding call on Samuel that was completely avoidable and not even part of the play. That led to a Steelers field goal, resulting in a swing of seven points due to Samuel.

Zion Johnson (and the rest of the interior defensive line)

The Chargers' offensive line was a mess against the Pittsburgh Steelers and that was partially to be expected. Pittsburgh has one of the best defensive fronts in the sport that is going to have its way with just about every team in the league.

However, this Chargers' unit certainly could have played better and the poor effort was led by Zion Johnson. The third-year first-round pick simply has not put it together for the Bolts and it is starting to become an actual concern 37 games into his NFL career.

The Chargers will be just fine against lesser-talented teams even if the interior offensive line is not performing. But if Zion and the IOL have more games like Sunday then the Bolts are never actually going to beat an above-average team.