LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Chargers began the 2025 season expecting to compete for a Super Bowl. Through three weeks, they looked like a team capable of doing that.
Los Angeles ended a seven-game losing streak to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 with one of the best games of quarterback Justin Herbert's career and a passing offense that was close to flawless. The Chargers followed it up with a dominant win over the Raiders in Week 2 and then rallied to a 23-20 victory over the Broncos, where they trailed for most of the fourth quarter but won on a game-winning field goal.
It was the kind of resilient win that always evaded the ever-disappointing Chargers, but after three wins over division opponents, it appeared that maybe coach Jim Harbaugh had lifted this organization from mediocrity once and for all.
"I don't think I have the vocabulary to really express how great I feel," an overjoyed Harbaugh said after the Broncos' win.
But two games later, the Chargers of the first three weeks are unrecognizable. Losers of two straight, L.A.'s piled up injuries, its previously sound offense has stalled, it has racked up penalties and has one of the league's worst offensive lines.
How did all of this happen, and where do the Chargers go from here? We answered three big questions facing Los Angeles after the loss to the Commanders.
How do the Chargers replace running back Omarion Hampton?
Harbaugh announced Monday that Hampton will be placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury and will miss at least the next four games, a significant blow to an already injury-laden Chargers team.
Hampton had a slow start to the season, but after veteran running back Najee Harris suffered a season-ending Achilles rupture in Week 3, he quickly proved why the Chargers selected the rookie in the first round.
He had been a consistent bruising force in the rushing offense and a safety valve in the passing game for Herbert, catching 17 passes since Week 3, which is tied with wide receiver Keenan Allen for second on the team. And Hampton is third in the NFL in yards from scrimmage (364) since Week 3.
Without Hampton, the Chargers will turn to running backs Hassan Haskins and Kimani Vidal. Haskins, in his third season, has spent much of his career as a reserve player and a special teamer. His career high for rushing yards is 93, from his rookie season with the Titans. He has five carries for 13 yards this season, all of which came last game.
Vidal, last year's sixth-round pick, was on the practice squad but has been elevated to the active roster. Vidal had 43 carries for 155 yards last season and caught a receiving touchdown in his first game active last season. He has four carries for 18 yards in 2025, which all came against Washington.
The Chargers also have rookie Amar Johnson on the practice squad and signed veteran Nyheim Miller-Hines to the practice squad Tuesday, according to a source.
Johnson hasn't appeared in an NFL regular-season game yet but shined with the Packers in the preseason. Hines, 28, was with the Chargers in training camp and has five years of playing experience, shining mainly as a return specialist. In July 2023, he suffered a torn ACL and LCL and hasn't appeared in a regular season game since 2022.
Can the Chargers do anything to fix the offensive line issues?
Ahead of this season, Chargers brass boasted about the offensive line, with everyone from general manager Joe Hortiz to Harbaugh calling their two tackles, Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, the best tackling pair in the NFL. Add in the signing of right guard Mekhi Becton and Harbaugh said throughout the offseason that he was "bullish" about the O-line, specifically the depth.
Months later, that depth was tested and the results were abysmal.
Slater suffered a season-ending ruptured patellar tendon in training camp, Alt is currently nursing a high right ankle sprain that kept him out of last week's loss and Becton is dealing with a hand injury. Through five weeks, the Chargers have been one of the league's worst lines, with the 28th-ranked pass block win rate (51.7%) and 24th-ranked run block win rate (69.7%).
When asked if the Chargers have the players in the building to protect Herbert, Harbaugh said they do, but the performance suggests the opposite.
Austin Deculus, who the Chargers traded a conditional seventh round pick to the Houston Texans for in training camp, has replaced Alt at left tackle and has been one of the NFL's worst at the position.
Deculus has a 69% pass block win rate in the two weeks he's filled in for Alt, which ranks last among eligible tackles. In that same span, he has the 11th worst run block win rate (64.7%) and has been credited with allowing three sacks, the most among any tackle in the league.
Harbaugh said the Chargers would evaluate options at left tackle ahead of Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins (1 p.m. ET on CBS), but the Chargers' hope in the offensive line seems to rest with the health of Alt's ankle.
Are the Chargers an undisciplined team?
L.A.'s 24 penalties over the past two weeks are the most in the league, and the most for an NFL team coached by Harbaugh ever over a two-game span. Those penalties have often scorned the Chargers in key moments.
In the loss to the Commanders, Herbert had back-to-back completions of 24 and 31 yards nullified due to a false start and an illegal formation by tackle Trey Pipkins III. Wide receiver Ladd McConkey had what would have been the most impressive punt return touchdown of the NFL season in that same game, only to have it erased due to a roughing the kicker penalty on linebacker Marlowe Wax.
Harbaugh said the team needs to "get the bleeding stopped," and called the penalties "out of character." The next few games should prove whether the recent undisciplined play of the Chargers is who they are or an anomaly.