Mike McDaniel did not dress up the start. The Chargers offense has scored 14 points in each of its first two games, both home losses, and the first-year offensive coordinator spent Thursday answering questions about whether the scheme needs to get simpler.
Los Angeles fell 26-14 to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1 and 26-14 again to the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 20. Justin Herbert has two touchdown passes and three interceptions through those two Sundays. The Chargers sit 0-2 heading into a road game at Buffalo on Sept. 27.
McDaniel, hired in January after four seasons as Miami’s head coach, was asked directly about scaling the offense back. He did not dodge it.
“Of course I consider. I consider pretty much everything. What’s important for my position is that if I’m saying not to overreact either way, good or bad, I can’t do the same. I have to assess. … What I know how to do is evolve. And so I think it’s kind of lazy to just say, ‘Okay, there’s the result. Not good. Let’s do the opposite.’ That’s not why I’m here. That being said, you don’t just point a finger and say, ‘Well, it worked before.’ So I think all of that is being taken under consideration.”
Mike McDaniel, via Kris Rhim on X
Mike McDaniel on simplifying the offense:
"Of course I consider. I consider pretty much everything. What's important for my position is that if I'm saying not to overreact either way, good or bad, I can't do the same. I have to assess.
"… What I know how to do is evolve. And…
— Kris Rhim (@krisrhim1) September 24, 2026
That answer, first circulated by the ESPN Chargers reporter, is the clearest window yet into how McDaniel is processing an offense that has not looked like the one he sold in the spring. He later told the same media session the staff will not “use some wand and score 40.” The work, he said, has to come from better execution of the chances they already get.
Herbert has completed 32 of 54 passes for 401 yards. In the opener he went 17-of-27 for 209 yards, one score and one pick. Against the Raiders he was 15-of-27 for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions, per the Pro Football Reference box. Omarion Hampton found the end zone on the ground in Week 2, but the passing game has not created consistent explosives.
| Week | Opponent | Result | Herbert | Chargers Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vs. Cardinals | L 26-14 | 17/27, 209, 1 TD, 1 INT | 14 |
| 2 | vs. Raiders | L 26-14 | 15/27, 192, 1 TD, 2 INT | 14 |
The ESPN Week 1 box showed Los Angeles with 268 total yards and 81 rushing yards while Arizona held the ball for more than 37 minutes. The same pattern of stalled drives and late-game protection breakdowns reappeared seven days later.
McDaniel also walked through a specific third-and-short call from the Raiders game that he now views differently. He went in believing shotgun on third-and-inches was worth the risk. He left thinking it was not, especially with a late play clock and a rookie center. That is the kind of midweek adjustment he says the job requires.
He has increased his time with Herbert. “I’m much closer to him than I was two weeks ago,” McDaniel said Thursday, adding that the quarterback is taking the early struggles personally. The coordinator framed both jobs as lonely unless the two of them treat the problems as shared.
The schedule does not offer a soft landing. After Buffalo (2-0), the Chargers visit Seattle, host Denver, go to Kansas City, then face the Rams, according to the Chargers’ official schedule. Four of the next five opponents entered the week with winning records or playoff pedigrees. L.A. has not won a game yet.
Whether McDaniel’s offense needs fewer moving parts or simply cleaner operation is the question hanging over SoFi this week. He refuses to treat the 0-2 start as a referendum that automatically demands the opposite of what he installed. He also refuses to pretend the product on the field has matched the vision he brought from Miami. Both things can be true at once. Sunday in Buffalo will show which one he emphasizes first.
