AI Summary
5 min readThe Chargers Are Not Just 0-2 — They Look Broken
The Los Angeles Chargers lost 26-14 at home to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, dropping to 0-2 after also losing by the same score to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1. As Ben Maller put it, the Chargers have been "outscored 52-28 combined by the Raiders and the Cardinals" — two teams that went a combined 6-28 last season. This is not a September speed bump. This is something worse.
Jim Harbaugh's Program Is Going Backwards
For the first time in his coaching career — spanning Stanford, Michigan, the San Francisco 49ers, and now the Chargers — Jim Harbaugh has started a season 0-2. Even during his worst years at Stanford, his teams won at least one of the first two games, usually because they scheduled a lightweight. This year, the Chargers are the lightweight. They lost to two of the worst teams in football at home.
Maller's diagnosis is blunt: "Jim Harbaugh got behind the wheel of the struggle bus and went over the curb through the flower bed and straight into the neighbor's swimming pool." The Chargers committed eight penalties, six fumbles, and two interceptions against the Raiders. There was no rain, no snow, no wind — just a 75-degree day at SoFi Stadium. And yet the team looked like it was playing in wet sand.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (04:26) **Chargers' 0-2 Collapse: Harbaugh's Program in Reverse** - Ben identifies the Chargers' loss to the Raiders and Cardinals as the NFL's most compelling story, arguing it's proof Jim Harbaugh's program is going backwards, not a mere speed bump.
- 2 (10:27) **The Mallor Scale of Panic: 5.5 out of 6** - Ben introduces his panic scale for the Chargers, declaring the situation a major crisis and not just a September bump.
- 3 (12:33) **Brutal Upcoming Schedule: Projecting 0-7** - Ben looks at the Chargers' next five opponents (Bills, Seahawks, Broncos, Chiefs, Rams) and predicts an 0-7 start.
- 4 (13:08) **Game Analysis: Six Fumbles in Perfect Weather** - Ben details the Chargers' self-inflicted errors in their loss to the Raiders.
- 5 (14:24) **Questioning OC Mike McDaniel: "Capital Yeepers"** - Ben argues it is absolutely fair to question the new offensive coordinator after just two games.
- 6 (15:52) **Justin Herbert's Regression: From Bazooka to Spitballs** - Ben argues Justin Herbert is completely out of sorts, getting outplayed by Kirk Cousins and Jacoby Brissett.
- 7 (17:49) **Raiders' 2-0 Start: "Easy There, Sparky"** - Ben dismisses the Raiders' 2-0 start as a product of luck, not a statement of their quality.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Ben Maller talks about the Chargers 0-2 start to the season and if it's just a September speedbump or evidence that Harbaugh's program is going backward, if it's fair to question new OC Mike McDaniel, if this Raiders win is a huge statement, Maller to the Third Degree, and more!
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