Jim Harbaugh paced the sideline with his hands on his hips. He kicked impatiently at the grass at State Farm Field as the Arizona Cardinals ran the clock down. The Chargers head coach had no other answers.
The Chargers’ top-ranked defense folded in the most critical moment and the offense never arrived, losing 17-15 to the Arizona Cardinals on Monday as the Cardinals on a last-second field goal.
“It was a game of a lot of near misses,” Harbaugh said, “or close calls.”
The Chargers (3-3) were plagued by both. While quarterback Justin Herbert threw for a season-best 349 yards on 27-of-39 passing, the offense sputtered with dropped passes and an anemic running game.
Kicker Cameron Dicker was the most reliable weapon, hitting all five of his attempts, including a 40-yarder with 1:55 remaining that put the Chargers up by one.
They just needed their defense that was allowing the fewest points per game to make a final stop.
Instead, an unnecessary roughness penalty on rookie cornerback Cam Hart moved the Cardinals (3-4) to their 45-yard line.
After catching a short pass, Cardinals running back James Conner ran through two tackles on the next play, stretching what should have been a modest gain into a 33-yard back-breaker.
Chad Ryland kicked the game-winning field goal five plays later.
Hart’s penalty was “devastating,” safety Derwin James Jr. said, as Hart’s made glancing helmet-to-helmet contact with Marvin Harrison Jr., turning a would-be third down into an automatic first.
But after the Chargers gave up 16 fourth-quarter points to the Denver Broncos last week and let Conner run through their defense for 101 yards rushing Monday, James didn’t use the penalty as an excuse for a defense that hasn’t fulfilled its mission to play winning football.
“We need these types of games,” James said. “We need to win these types of games to position ourselves where we want to be at the end of the season.”
The primetime game was a prime opportunity for the Chargers to solidify their standing with the struggling New Orleans Saints (2-5) and Cleveland Browns (1-6) next on their schedule.
But no game will be easy with such an inconsistent offense.
While hoping to make the running game part of their identity under Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman, the Chargers were held to just 59 yards rushing in 22 carries Monday against the team that ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing defense.
Already the third-worst red-zone offense in the NFL, the Chargers had to settle for a field goal on their only trip inside the 20-yard line Monday.
They have scored just one touchdown in their last four red-zone attempts and haven’t scored a touchdown in the second half since their season-opening win against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, but we got to score points in the red zone,” Herbert said. “That’s the biggest takeaway from tonight’s game. We got an amazing kicker, but we got to do a better job for our defense, for our special teams.”
With receivers Quentin Johnston (ankle), Derius Davis (hamstring) and D.J. Chark Jr. (groin) out, the Chargers were searching for any offensive weapon to complement Herbert. He completed passes to nine receivers, including a game-high eight catches to tight end Will Dissly for 81 yards, but not all were ready to catch the passes Herbert was lacing through tight windows.
Ladd McConkey, one of Herbert’s most reliable players, had two drops in the first half as the Chargers trailed 7-6. Tight end Stone Smartt snagged a pass for 31 yards in the third quarter, moving the Chargers into Cardinals territory, but the drive stalled when Smartt and fellow tight end Will Dissly dropped passes on consecutive plays.
Receiver Jalen Reagor, who was promoted from the practice squad Monday in part to serve as a punt returner for the injured Davis, was three yards away from his first touchdown since 2022 when Cardinals cornerback Starling Thomas V chopped the ball free on the Chargers’ first offensive drive.
The ball bounced inside the pylon and out of the end zone to give possession to the Cardinals. After his 42-yard reception ended with the Cardinals offense on the field, Reagor, a 2020 first-round pick by the Philadelphia Eagles, grasped the sides of his helmet with both hands in disbelief.
It was the second fumble the Chargers lost in the first two drives. Chargers defensive lineman Teair Tart intercepted a tipped pass on the Cardinals’ first offensive drive, but Conner stripped the ball on Tart’s return attempt and Arizona recovered.
Conner, a bruising 233-pound running back, humbled the Chargers defense that was among the most sure-handed tackling teams in the league. Quarterback Kyler Murray threw for 145 yards and one touchdown and ran for a 44-yard score on the second play of the fourth quarter.
Watching Ryland’s game-winning kick on the big screen in the stadium, Murray subtly pumped his fist as the crowd erupted.
