Jim Harbaugh’s return to the National Football League started off red-hot as the Los Angeles Chargers began their 2024 campaign 2-0, outscoring their opponents 46-13. Since, the team has gone 1-3, scoring more than 15 points just once in four contests.
Monday Night Football in Week 7 marked the Chargers’ sixth game of the season. Los Angeles, facing the 2-4 Cardinals in Arizona, headed into the contest with aspirations of advancing to 4-2 on the year. Instead, the team dropped to .500 after starting as hot as any team across the NFL.
The Chargers are falling back to earth after an otherworldly initial two weeks.
It’s all part of the process as Harbaugh continues navigating his first year back in the pros. In many ways, things are going better than anticipated regardless.
Who could have predicted Los Angeles, who had just moved on from weapons Keenan Allen, Mike Williams and Austin Ekeler, would take the NFL by storm right out the gate? J.K. Dobbins was the league’s leading rusher at the time, totaling 266 rushing yards and two scores through the season’s first two weeks.
Dobbins finished with over 130 rushing yards in each contest. The 25-year-old has been unable to record triple-digit rushing yards in any contest since, finishing north of 45 rushing yards just once.
Los Angeles’ offense as a whole has suffered as a result. Although the team scored 20+ points in Weeks 1 and 2, they’ve hit that mark just once through their last four games.
The Chargers are currently responsible for the 25th-most yards per contest with an average of 300, and tie for 25th-most points per outing at 17.7. The offense needs to get going if L.A. wants to string together wins; their three wins came in each game with 20+ points scored.
Three weeks of favorable matchups ahead for the Los Angeles Chargers
Starting in Week 8, the Chargers face a three-week stretch of favorable opponents. First on the schedule are the 2-5 New Orleans Saints who will be without wideout Rashid Shaheed, and potentially without star receiver Chris Olave and quarterback Derek Carr as well.
New Orleans suffered a 33-10 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday; the same Broncos club that Los Angeles was able to knock off in Week 6. Spencer Rattler was held to 172 passing yards and All-Pro running back Alvin Kamara was limited to a mere 10 yards on a team-high seven carries.
The Chargers next matchup is against the 1-6 Cleveland Browns who rank dead-last in yardage per game with 253.9 on a weekly basis. Reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett is a threat, and superstar running back Nick Chubb may return by then, but it remains a favorable matchup for Los Angeles nonetheless.
Finally, the Tennessee Titans cap-off a three-week stretch that may yield Justin Herbert and company three wins. Like Cleveland, the Titans have also claimed just one victory through the season. Their offense ranks 31st-worst in yardage per outing at 259.2, tying the Chargers with 17.7 points scored on average.
Los Angeles has the chance to be 6-3 heading into Week 11 with a three-game win-streak. They’ll need to handle business in the meantime.
*Top Photo: Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
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