Chargers fall short in the trenches in blowout loss to Jaguars: ‘We were out-physicaled’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — For once, Jim Harbaugh walked into the news conference room and told the unvarnished truth. Because there was no sugarcoating the Los Angeles Chargers’ 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday. No talk of togetherness or belief or fight could wash the stink of this beatdown. So the Chargers coach got right to the point.

“We got beat every which way you could possibly be beat,” Harbaugh said.

An answer late on in the news conference got the crux of the defeat, and to say it publicly must have pained Harbaugh, a football purist, to his core.

“We were out-physicaled,” Harbaugh said.

He is right. The Chargers lost the trench battle in a landslide, and the result was the worst defeat of Harbaugh’s two seasons as the Los Angeles head coach. It was tied for his worst defeat as an NFL head coach.

The numbers are horrid. The film will be worse.

When told of Harbaugh’s “out-physicaled” comment, edge rusher Khalil Mack replied, “I have a hard time saying s— like that out my mouth. But damn, if he said it, it got to be true.”

The Jaguars converted 30 first downs despite quarterback Trevor Lawrence only throwing for 153 yards on 22 attempts. Those were the most conversions against a Chargers defense since Week 1 of 2023, when the Miami Dolphins also had 30.

Coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit had seemed to turn a corner over the past three weeks. That progress was erased Sunday, especially on run defense. The Jaguars rushed for 192 yards on 47 carries and didn’t have a run over 15 yards.

Thus, Jacksonville head coach and play caller Liam Coen once again bested Minter. Coen was the offensive coordinator last year for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who rushed for 223 yards against Minter’s defense in Week 15.

Most concerning was that the Jaguars consistently won at the line of scrimmage and at the point of attack. The Jaguars had the ball for nearly 38 minutes, the Chargers only 22:05 — the lowest amount for Harbaugh as a head coach in any game. The Jaguars scored four rushing touchdowns, all of them in the red zone. They had four drives of nine or more plays. Their average distance to gain on all offensive plays in the game was 6.9 yards, the lowest average for any team in a game this season through Sunday’s early-window games.

“We got to just show up ready to play every week,” safety Derwin James Jr. said. “I feel like in this league, every six days — or if you got a Thursday game, every four days — somebody is coming to humble you. And today, the Jags came and humbled us.”

The play in the trenches on offense was similarly uninspired. Trevor Penning, whom the Chargers traded for at the deadline earlier this month, started at left tackle. He did little to improve the blocking up front, run game or pass protection. Chargers running backs combined for 20 yards on 10 carries. Practice squad call-ups Amar Johnson and Trayveon Williams had five carries total, after starter Kimani Vidal left the game with a thigh injury. Vidal later returned, but the Chargers had to abandon the run game in the second half considering the score.

Justin Herbert was hit five more times, including two sacks. An additional sack got wiped off the board late in the second quarter when Jaguars defensive lineman B.J. Green II was called for roughing the passer. That was the Chargers’ final offensive snap of the first half. Herbert went to the medical tent to be evaluated for a concussion. He was cleared and returned in the second half.

The play was a microcosm of this Chargers season on offense: Herbert folded in half, fighting like hell to even stand back up after another car-crash collision.

“I know everybody went out there with intentions to be physical,” left guard Zion Johnson said. “Just today, it didn’t show up where we needed it to.”

Herbert was eventually pulled early in the fourth quarter with the Chargers down four scores. Herbert’s final play of the game was an interception he airmailed deep to the left. Ladd McConkey was open, one of the few times in the game the Chargers actually had a free receiver with decent protection on the same play.

“We just weren’t doing anything well,” Harbaugh said. “Offensively, we weren’t running the ball well, we weren’t protecting, we weren’t getting open. Defensively, same. We weren’t stopping the run, we were loose in coverage.”

This loss showed what can happen when a game script gets away from the Chargers. When they can’t stop the run, Minter’s scheme gets defanged. When they fall behind, they struggle offensively. They cannot lean into the running game. They cannot establish physicality. They are forced to drop Herbert back and hold on for dear life in pass protection, often with disastrous results.

With starting tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater out for the season, it will be difficult for the Chargers to play from behind. They are not built to win this way offensively. Teams with leads can attack the Chargers defense on the ground, and the inconsistencies of the run defense make this a hit-or-miss scenario.

As the Jaguars slashed away with 4-yard gains and 6-yard gains on the ground, the Chargers defense got “anxious,” according to edge rusher Bud Dupree. They got out of their gaps. They overcompensated. They got overeager. They missed assignments. All issues during poor stretches for Minter’s unit earlier this year.

“You’re trying to make a play in the situation,” Dupree said, “but you’re only hurting the team.”

The Chargers now head into their bye at 7-4, and the time off is needed. Physically. Mentally.

“This week off will be good for everyone to get their bodies back,” Herbert said.

A three-game winning streak ended with a thud. The shortcomings were revealed in Sharpie. This team does not have a Super Bowl ceiling. The injuries at tackle are a huge part of that.

The more veteran Chargers flew into Jacksonville looking for redemption. Those who played in the 2022 playoff loss at this same stadium wanted to finally cleanse themselves of a stain on their careers.

In the locker room after Sunday’s loss, Johnson, a rookie on that 2022 team, was asked if his mind was wandering back to that January night three years ago.

“It’s tough not to,” he said, “but we’re a new a football team.”

A new team. A new stain. The Jaguars were more physical. It started there. It ended there. They beat Harbaugh at his own game. And now the Chargers are searching once again.

“I ain’t got no panic in me,” Mack said. ““I ain’t got no b—- in my blood. Just got to rally the troops and look at this s— and stamp it, own it and just get ready for the next one, knowing that we got work to do going into this bye week.”

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