The Ravens host the Los Angeles Chargers on "Monday Night Football" in Week 10. Here are five things to know about the Chargers.
They have fallen short of preseason expectations.
The Chargers entered 2026 with legitimate Super Bowl buzz.
Coming off back-to-back 11-win campaigns, they brought in former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel, regarded as one of the league's brightest offensive minds, to help take L.A.'s offense to new heights. Quarterback Justin Herbert, a two-time Pro Bowler who has one of the strongest arms in the NFL, was a popular pick to win MVP.
Through eight games, it hasn't gone according to plans. At 0-8, the Chargers are the NFL's only winless team.
When looking at what caused the 0-8 start, one place to begin is the facet that many thought could be one of the NFL's best that instead has been the NFL's worst.
Their offense has hit historic lows.
The Chargers rank last in points per game this season (15.1). They're the only team that hasn't scored more than 23 points in a game yet. The league's highest-scoring offense (Buffalo) has scored at least 23 points in every game this season.
In the fourth quarter of their Week 9 loss to the Houston Texans, the Chargers broke a streak of 37 consecutive drives without a touchdown when Quentin Johnson raced for a 58-yard touchdown. Before Johnston's catch-and-run, L.A.'s last offensive touchdown came on Oct. 11. It was the longest such streak by any team since a 39-drive streak from Week 16 of 2023 to Week 1 of 2024, also by the Chargers.
Quarterback Justin Herbert is having the toughest season of his career.
According to Next Gen Stats, Herbert has the second-lowest expected points added (EPA) per dropback of any quarterback with at least 200 dropbacks. Only Daniel Jones of the Indianapolis Colts is lower.
Part of Herbert's decline can be attributed to an uncharacteristic meltdown in ball security. Entering this season, Herbert had been intercepted on just 1.7% of his career pass attempts. Entering Sunday, Herbert leads the league with 11 interceptions and has thrown at least one pick in each of L.A.'s first eight games. It's the longest streak to start a season since Peyton Manning threw one in each of the Denver Broncos' first nine games in 2015, per ESPN Insights.
Herbert has also been sacked 31 times this season, the second most behind Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. He was sacked a career-high eight times against the Texans on Sunday.
Since the start of last season, which has spanned 24 regular-season games, Herbert has been sacked 85 times. In the past 10 seasons, only Watson, Russell Wilson and Justin Fields have been sacked that many times in a 24-game stretch, according to Stathead.
Although Herbert has been pressured a lot, nine of his interceptions this season have come with no pressure. Sunday could be a quality opportunity for the Ravens' defense, which only has four interceptions this season, to tally some takeaways.
Herbert still presents a serious threat with his arm, as he leads the NFL with five completions of at least 50 yards.
"This was maybe, I would say, the most drastic change that he's made from one [offensive coordinator] to the other," said Head Coach Jesse Minter, who was L.A.'s defensive coordinator from 2024-25. "But I see flashes, and I see potential. I see extreme arm talent and I see extreme athleticism, which I've seen a bunch in the practice field the last couple years."
Ravens Defensive Coordinator Anthony Weaver faced Herbert when he was with the Miami Dolphins last season. Herbert completed 29 of 38 passes for 264 yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, leading a game-winning field goal drive late in the fourth quarter.
"He makes some throws where you just kind of – I unfortunately was a victim of it a year ago in Miami," Weaver said. "So, I know exactly what he's capable of, and with the pieces around him, they can explode at any moment. So, I respect this league too much and the talent in it to take any team for granted."
Herbert's supporting cast has shown both promise and struggles.
Running back Omarion Hampton, who showed immense potential last season as a rookie, is a strong runner with elite burst. Former Raven Keaton Mitchell is Hampton's backup and has 178 rushing yards on 46 carries this season.
But running the ball in general has been tough sledding for the Chargers even though they rank 16th in total rushing yards. Hampton has the third-lowest rushing EPA of any running back this season, per Next Gen Stats.
As for pass catchers, Ladd McConkey is the team's best all-around receiver, but he's dealt with various injuries this season and missed practice time this week. Johnston is a tall speedster, and Tre Harris leads the team in receptions with 21.
Like the Ravens, the Chargers have struggled with penalties, ranking fourth in the NFL with 8.25 penalties per game. Left tackle Joe Alt has tied for the third-most penalties of any player with seven (five have been false starts).
The Chargers' defense hasn't been very productive, but they've kept the team within striking distance in most games.
The Chargers rank No. 20 in yards per game allowed and No. 28 in points per game allowed. According to Next Gen Stats, they rank 21st in pressure rate since Week 5, and have 13 sacks on the season. In Week 9, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud lit up the Chargers for 384 passing yards and five touchdowns.
On the flip side, the Chargers held Bills quarterback Josh Allen to a season-low 204 passing yards in Week 3 and allowed less than 200 passing yards in consecutive games against the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos. L.A.'s seven interceptions rank No. 9 in the NFL, and they've allowed more than 30 points in a game just once this season.
L.A.'s defense has also been given the worst field position in the league. On average, opponents have started their drives at L.A.'s 37-yard line. Part of that has been Herbert's interceptions: eight of them happened in or were returned into Chargers territory.
As for impact players, outside linebackers Tuli Tuipulotu, Khalil Mack, and first-round rookie Akheem Mesidor are the only Chargers with multiple sacks this season.
The Chargers could have one of their top defenders available after a wild sequence of events. On Tuesday, the Chargers agreed to trade linebacker Daiyan Henley to the Denver Broncos in exchange for a 2027 fourth-round pick and a 2028 fifth-round pick.
However, the deal was called off after Henley failed his physical. According to Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, Denver based Henley's physical results on whether L.A. would accept a lesser pick than the 2028 fifth rounder.
The Denver Post's Parker Gabriel reported that, "The information the Chargers provided before the trade did not match what Denver found during the physical" and that the NFL approved of the Broncos revisiting the compensation package that the two teams had agreed upon.
Henley, who's in the final year of his rookie contract, is an excellent defender in coverage and also leads the Chargers in tackles since 2024.
One matchup to watch will be how often Zay Flowers gets matched up with L.A.'s linebackers, including Henley. Flowers has found a ton of success when guarded by linebackers in man coverage, but Henley is adept at holding his own against opposing pass catchers.
