Things won’t get any easier for the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4.
Sporting an ungainly 0-3 record, the Chargers travel Sunday to Seattle to face the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks (2-1), who will be in a surly mood after their 12-game winning streak was snapped in a 33-31 loss last weekend at Washington.
So what does Los Angeles need to do to get a victory?
“It’s really three things: What you’re doing, how you’re doing it and who’s doing it,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “What you’re doing, that’s scheme. How somebody is doing it, how we’re doing it, that’s the effort. And who’s doing it, that’s the player that’s executing the assignment.”
Harbaugh insisted he’s not worried about the latter.
“We have the right players,” he said. “We have the right players at every position.”
The Chargers’ woes have primarily been on offense under first-year coordinator Mike McDaniel, the former Miami Dolphins head coach.
They had a season high in points in a 24-16 loss last weekend at Buffalo after identical 26-14 defeats to both Arizona and Las Vegas at home.
Quarterback Justin Herbert has thrown for 627 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions.
It “starts with me” Herbert said of the offense’s struggles.
The Seahawks have no such problems, as Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the NFL’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year, has already caught six touchdowns. He is tied for the NFL lead with 27 receptions and is tops with 405 receiving yards.
Smith-Njigba has been targeted on a league-high 37.9% of the Seahawks’ pass attempts and has topped 120 yards in all three games.
“Efficiency-wise, I think he’s been unbelievable,” fellow Seattle receiver Cooper Kupp said. “He’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to do.”
Quarterback Sam Darnold returned last week from a glute injury and completed 31 of 45 passes for 379 yards and four touchdowns, but he was also intercepted twice by the Commanders.
“I mean, the takeaways are tough, but again, we’ll look at them and see why we made those decisions and see what we can do to make better decisions. But I think on the whole, I mean, (Darnold) kept us in the game,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said.
Rookie Jadarian Price carried the ball just twice after a first-quarter fumble last week, finishing with five carries for 15 yards.
“They did a really good job of kind of stopping our run game, but we just got to continue to be better and be more efficient on those early downs,” Darnold said.
There is help on the way, as Seattle opened the 21-day practice window for running back Zach Charbonnet on Wednesday. He won’t be eligible to return until Week 5.
The Chargers are banged up. Left guard Kayode Awosika (fibula), defensive lineman Justin Eboigbe (eye), cornerback Donte Jackson (concussion), tight end Charlie Kolar (forearm), defensive lineman Dalvin Tomlinson (hamstring) and receiver Brenen Thompson (quad) missed practice Wednesday.
Seahawks safety Ty Okada (hamstring) missed Wednesday’s practice and running back George Holani (ribs), safety Julian Love (calf), Price (chest), defensive tackle Jarran Reed (foot) and guard Grey Zabel (groin) were limited.