The Los Angeles Chargers walked into Sunday as the biggest favorites of the week, laying 9.5 points against the visiting Arizona Cardinals. Even that spread felt generous for Arizona, a rebuilding franchise with a first-year head coach in Mike LaFleur. But the Cardinals quickly proved everybody wrong.
They held a 13-7 lead at halftime and carried that momentum through the rest of the game, clinching a massive 26-14 upset over one of the NFL's Super Bowl hopefuls. Jacoby Brissett went 27 of 37 for 277 yards and one touchdown with zero interceptions, while Trey McBride led all pass catchers on either side with 95 yards and a touchdown on nine catches. Tyler Allgeier and Jeremiyah Love combined for over 100 yards rushing, and Arizona's defense completely shut down the Chargers' offense.
Justin Herbert finished 17 of 27 for 209 yards and one touchdown with one interception, while second-year back Omarion Hampton rushed for just 43 yards on 12 carries, averaging 3.6 yards per carry and coughing up a costly fumble. Head coach Jim Harbaugh called out his team after the stunning loss. Not the start that we wanted, but credit to the Cardinals," Harbaugh said.
"Some uncharacteristic things happened. Give them credit for making them happen. I would call it sloppy at times.
That's something we need to get fixed." More news: Eagles Rookie WR Makai Lemon Had Historically Bad NFL Debut More news: Michael Irvin Sounds Off on Cowboys After Brutal Loss to Giants The Chargers totaled just 268 yards, one of the lowest marks of the week, and were inefficient all game, going just 2 for 8 on third downs and 0 for 3 on fourth downs, while giving up 64 yards on seven penalties. The defense, the Chargers' strong suit, was arguably even worse. They gave up 393 total yards, didn't force a single turnover, and lost the possession battle.
For all the hype surrounding the Chargers coming into the season, particularly on offense with new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, nobody had a double-digit loss to the Cardinals in Week 1 on their bingo card. It could just be that Arizona is a lot better than expected. But that doesn't take the blame off Harbaugh and the Chargers.
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