The Los Angeles Chargers lost once again in Week 3, and it seems a key part of it may fall on the offensive tackles.
The Los Angeles Chargers are now in a very rough spot, sitting at 0-3 following the 24-16 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 3.
Throughout the game, the Chargers played very well on defense as they forced five turnovers, but unfortunately, the offense was unable to take advantage of those opportunities.
On that note, quarterback Justin Herbert had a tough game as he was sacked twice and hit a total of seven times over the course of the game. Those stats are indicative of a rough performance from the offensive line, but there is another stat to look at that really shows where the Chargers' offensive line is at, performance-wise, this season.
In particular offensive tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater have struggled to start the 2026 season.
According to Chargers ESPN reporter Kris Rhim, Slater has recorded a 76 percent pass-block win rate this season, which ranks 57th out of 66 qualified offensive tackles. Additionally, Rhim noted that Alt leads the NFL in penalties, and the Los Angeles offensive line as a whole recorded a pass-block win rate of 34.8 percent, which is the fourth-lowest in Herbert's career.
Clearly these are not good stats for the Chargers up front, but when looking at the struggles of Alt and Slater it is honestly pretty shocking as they have never struggled like this before and were thought to be the strength of this offensive line.
So far this year, the Chargers offense has really struggled as they have not crossed 20 points yet and have simply looked out of sync under offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, which is not a great spot to be, especially this early in the season.
The crazy part about the rough start that Los Angeles has had thus far, is the fact that this may have been the easiest part of their schedule. In the next four weeks, the Chargers have to go on the road to play the Seattle Seahawks, then they come to play the Denver Broncos followed by a road game against the Kansas City Chiefs, and then they will be the road team against the Los Angeles Rams.
With that said, the Chargers offensive line, and specifically Alt and Slater have to figure out how to respond very quickly, otherwise Los Angeles may be in a position where they are staring at scenario where getting to .500 and having a decent season is not even on the table anymore.
So, as the Chargers head into Week 4, it will be interesting to see how head coach Jim Harbaugh and McDaniel try to help this offensive line get on track when they go on the road to play the Seahawks, and if the struggles continue, it is worth wondering what changes Harbaugh may have to make, whether it be for players or coaches.
