Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert Address Chargers' Surprising Loss vs. Cardinals to Open NFL Season

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh told reporters his team was "sloppy" and its performance was "uncharacteristic" during a surprising 26-14 loss against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

"You get punched. How we respond is what I'm thinking about right now," he added. "There's things to get better at offensively, defensively, and special teams... everyone knows that. Uncharacteristic things happened."

Justin Herbert echoed a theme throughout his postgame comments, meanwhile—a lack of execution:

The Chargers only managed 268 yards on offense, 22 minutes and 29 seconds in time of possession and had two turnovers. Herbert was also sacked three times. From top to bottom, it was rough.

There was a lot of excitement heading into the 2026 season, given the addition of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator. One game in, the offense is much more of a work in progress than anybody would have anticipated.