LOS ANGELES -- Through the first two weeks of this season, the Chargers looked like a different team, one embodying the vision coach Jim Harbaugh set out when he took the job in January.
There was right tackle Joe Alt -- who the team received criticism for choosing over LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers -- playing like one of the league's best tackles including a matchup with Raiders outside linebacker Maxx Crosby where he didn't allow a pressure. The Chargers had finally established a running game, as Harbaugh promised. Running back J.K. Dobbins led the league with 266 yards and two touchdowns.
The Chargers were putting teams away, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter, which was sixth in the NFL over the first two weeks. They were the antithesis of what this team had been in previous years, now they were a team that pulled away from opponents late in close games and didn't need quarterback Justin Herbert to be the hero to win games.
Two weeks later, these look more like the Chargers of old.
After Sunday's 17-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, L.A. sits at 2-2 heading into the bye week, the same place they were after four games last season. While the way the Chargers got here has been with a vastly different offensive play style and a dominant defense, many of the team's issues of yesteryear have been present: Absent stars, questionable coaching decisions, two losses where the opponent pulled away in the fourth quarter and on Sunday, another one-score loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
It's an all too familiar spot for outside linebacker Khalil Mack.
After each of the team's 12 losses last season, Mack was often one of the last players out of the locker room, his knees wrapped in ice, typically speaking to reporters with his head down in a mix of disappointment and frustration. Mack was in a similar spot Sunday, but less disappointed than he has been after losses; this team is different, he said.
"You can't really focus on last year," Mack said. "In other years, it was kind of like a breakdown, here, breakdown there, and they were able to put up 20-plus points. Today, it seemed like it was a little tougher for them, but all in all, there were a lot of positives. But the negatives, you just got to look at them and correct them."
There were positives for the Chargers to take from Sunday's loss. The team was without some of its best players, including safety Derwin James (suspension), outside linebacker Joey Bosa (hip), and tackles Alt (MCL sprain) and Rashawn Slater (pectoral).
Herbert, playing with a high right ankle sprain, played behind a patchwork offensive line against one of the league's best defenses. And still, the Chargers jumped out to a 10-0 lead in this game and had numerous opportunities to win. What might they have looked like at full strength?
But that's always been the question for these Chargers. Years ago, it was how this team would look if wide receivers Keenan Allen and Mike Williams could stay healthy or how they would look if Bosa could stay healthy. Harbaugh hired executive director of player performance Ben Herbert to help fix the Chargers injury issues. Herbert's plan was to make the Chargers "harder to break," but injuries have still plagued this team.
Beyond the injuries, the Chargers, as they have in recent years, faltered in the game's most crucial moments. It's a point cornerback Kristian Fulton, who signed with the Chargers after four seasons with the Tennessee Titans in the offseason, pointed to.
"From what I've heard, it's always been a thing, just finishing in the fourth," a disappointed Fulton said. "So I feel like we all just got to be better on our end offense, special teams to find a way to win these games."
The notable missed opportunities began with a pass to wide receiver Joshua Palmer on third and 5 in the fourth quarter. The game was tied at 10, with 14 minutes remaining and Palmer fell after catching the pass short of the first down line despite no defenders impeding him.
Officials spotted for fourth and 1, but video showed Palmer rolling past the first down line before being touched by a defender. Harbaugh said he thought "replay assist" would fix the call, and when it didn't, the team was "behind on the clock," so he called a timeout before going for it on fourth down, which the team didn't convert.
"I wish I would've challenged that one. I really do," Harbaugh said. "I think I could be better there. ... I wish I would've thought of just throwing the challenge flag, would've been the same result as saving the timeout. So yeah, I wish that would've come into my head.
Later in the game, on second and 9, the game still tied at 10-10 with 8:41 remaining, Herbert fired a ball to Dobbins, who was running free down one sideline, but Dobbins dropped it. A frustrated Dobbins afterward said that he's "got to make that catch" and was the most frustrated he'd been in his career.
The miscues led to three scoreless quarters for the Chargers. In Weeks 3 and 4 combined, they scored zero points in the 4th quarter. Harbaugh said that the team hasn't been at their best "when our best was needed."
Since drafting Herbert in 2020, seven of their nine games against the Chiefs have been decided by one score. Sunday dropped the Chargers to 1-6 in those seven games. One-score games have been difficult for the Chargers for all Herbert's tenure, finishing 20-26 in those scenarios, tied for the most losses in the NFL over that span.
Still, Herbert and the Chargers preached that Sunday wasn't a sign of the team's old issues lingering.
"We have to stay patient, understand that we got the right guys out there," Herbert said. "We didn't execute. [It] didn't go our way today and that's not going to stop us going forward next week, two weeks, whenever it is."