By admin 
There are problems aplenty for the Los Angeles Chargers after losses to the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders in their first two games of the 2026 NFL season. The list of those problems is about as long as a weekly shopping list for a family of seven, and their schedule for the rest of this season will be exceedingly challenging.
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Among those problems is a basic one that is partly responsible for quarterback Justin Herbert’s poor play. Through two games, Herbert has thrown for 401 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, and he has completed just 59.3% of his passing attempts.
Granted, a good portion of the Chargers’ struggles are on him, but some of his teammates also haven’t pulled their own weight.
The Chargers continue to do a poor job of protecting Herbert
Last season, Herbert was sacked 54 times, which was third in the NFL and just one shy of the league high, which was held by both Geno Smith and Cam Ward. According to Pro Football Focus, Herbert was pressured on a league-high 288 dropbacks, and according to Pro Football Reference, his pressure rate of 29.8% was the highest in the NFL.
This problem is repeating itself so far this year. PFF noted that through Week 2, Herbert is the second-most pressured quarterback in the league, behind only Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears.
“Herbert sits just behind Williams with a 45.5% pressure rate,” wrote Mark Chichester. “His production in those situations has suffered, with his PFF grade falling to 28.7 under pressure while the Chargers have generated -0.400 EPA per play on those dropbacks, which puts Herbert 19th among 32 qualifying passers.”
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Last season, a big reason Herbert was under pressure a fair amount of the time was the injuries to star offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater. Alt only appeared in six games because of an ankle injury, and Slater missed the whole campaign with a torn patellar tendon.
But so far this year, while starting left guard Kayode Awosika got hurt in Sunday’s loss to the Raiders, L.A.’s other starting offensive linemen are healthy. New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel has implemented a zone-blocking scheme, and it hasn’t fully materialized.
While Alt and Slater have done a solid job of pass-blocking to start 2026, Awosika has been a mixed bag, guard/tackle Trey Pipkins III and right guard Cole Strange have struggled mightily and rookie center Jake Slaughter has been merely decent at best.
With Awosika and Pipkins injured, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said that Trevor Penning could start at left guard in Week 3 versus the Buffalo Bills if Awosika or Pipkins are unable to play, per Alex Insdorf. Penning briefly played in Week 2 while Cole Strange was being medically evaluated, and he didn’t do well, as PFF (subscription required) gave him an overall grade of 52.2 for the game.
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This story was originally published September 22, 2026 at 9:22 PM.