The Los Angeles Chargers are staring down the barrel of an 0-3 start, and honestly, it looks bleak. They are already 0-2, having dropped back-to-back games they absolutely should have won based purely on talent. Get this: they are the *first team ever* to start a season 0-2 after both losses came against teams that lost 14 or more games the previous season. Yeah, that is a stat you do not want to own.
Jim Harbaugh’s Defense Is Getting Cooked
It is Week 3, and the defense under Jim Harbaugh has looked completely lost. Just last week, they let Kirk Cousins carve them up for 253 yards through the air and three touchdowns. That is not just bad, that is a red flag waving in your face. Now they have to march into Buffalo and face Josh Allen, who is on an absolute MVP trajectory through his first two games. Allen has already piled up nine touchdowns and looks like a freight train, completely unstoppable. If Cousins could do that kind of damage, what is Allen gonna do? It feels like the Chargers are just his next victim waiting to happen.
Herbert’s Numbers Are Not Looking Good
On the other side of the ball, Justin Herbert has not exactly been lighting it up, either. The Chargers offense is only averaging 14 points per game, which is just not good enough in today’s NFL. Herbert is also getting absolutely slammed, being pressured at the second-highest rate in the league at 46% this season. What is even wilder is that he is only being blitzed at the fifth-lowest rate, 23%. So defenses are getting to him without even having to send extra guys, which tells you something about the protection. And when he does try to go deep? Forget about it. He has struggled mightily on throws that traveled 10-plus air yards, throwing only one touchdown and three interceptions on those attempts. That is a rough look for your franchise quarterback.
CBS Sports NFL writer John Breech sees this game getting ugly. He has got the Bills covering the touchdown spread, predicting a 31-20 beatdown. Every single expert on SportsLine is picking the Bills to cover, too, including Pete Prisco, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson, Tyler Sullivan, Dave Richard, and Jamey Eisenberg. When all the experts are aligned like that, it is usually for a reason.
Week 3 across the league is full of questions for these 0-2 teams. Can the Houston Texans finally get a win? We have also got the league’s third game in Brazil happening, with the Ravens and Cowboys kicking off in Rio de Janeiro. But for the Chargers, this Sunday is about trying to avoid a catastrophic 0-3 start to their season. You gotta wonder if Jim Harbaugh can rally the troops, because right now, this squad looks completely broken.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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