What Chargers accomplished in loss to Broncos: Next season schedule is set

Playing out the schedule for an interim head coach, the Chargers looked the part Sunday, losing to Denver 16-9. The defeat was their fourth in a row and seventh in eight games as they fell to 5-11. A Chargers team most recently lost as many as four straight early in the 2020 season.

The loss dropped Giff Smith to 0-2 since taking over as the interim coach for the fired Brandon Staley . The Chargers played Sunday without their top three wide receivers as Keenan Allen (heel) and Joshua Palmer (concussion) were unavailable. Mike Williams (knee) was lost for the season in Week 3.

Two other starters — linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr. (shoulder) and left guard Zion Johnson (neck) — missed their first game of the season. Nick Niemann and Jordan McFadden started in their spots, respectively.

Filling in for injured quarterback Justin Herbert, Easton Stick finished 24 of 38 for 220 yards. Offensively, the Chargers reached the red zone only once and finished two of 11 on third down. The lowlight for the defense came midway through the second quarter when Broncos wide receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey weaved through the secondary and then dived across the goal line to cap a 54-yard touchdown reception.

Essang Bassey, Alohi Gilman, Michael Davis and Asante Samuel Jr. all had shots at Humphrey, but the Chargers couldn’t stop him before he reached the end zone. The moment he caught the ball, Next Gen Stats gave Humphrey only a 0.

2% chance of scoring. The Chargers also had a special-teams lowlight when a fake punt failed in the second quarter. Facing fourth-and-one at their 44-yard line, they attempted the fake but linebacker Nick Niemann, who was lined up as a blocker, mishandled the snap.

The Chargers’ effort Sunday did include a personal highlight for Khalil Mack, who, in the second quarter, reached 100 career sacks. Working against guard Ben Powers, the veteran edge rusher pushed his way into Jarrett Stidham’s space and dropped the Denver quarterback. Mack, 32 and his 10th year, now has 16 sacks for the season, which is a career high.

With the results around the league Sunday, the opponents for the Chargers’ 2024-25 season are now set. The home games: Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, Baltimore, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and Tennessee. The road games: Kansas City, Denver, Las Vegas, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Carolina, New England and Arizona.

With only the regular-season finale at home against the Chiefs remaining, the Chargers’ searches for a new general manager and head coach will become the focus. One of the top names among potential candidates could become available as soon as Monday. If Michigan loses to Alabama in the Rose Bowl, Jim Harbaugh’s future will be an immediate story.

Harbaugh, who went 44-19-1 in four seasons as San Francisco’s coach from 2011-14, interviewed two years ago with Minnesota and last year with Denver. He spent the final two seasons of his playing career — 1999-2000 — with the Chargers. Whatever the Chargers do as it relates to hiring a coach and general manager, they’ll have to adhere the NFL’s Rooney Rule regarding interviewing minority candidates.

The league also now prohibits in-person meetings with coaches employed by other NFL teams until after the divisional round of the playoffs — Jan. 20 and 21. Virtual interviews can be conducted earlier.

So, too, can in-person interviews with Internal candidates. It appears unlikely that anyone currently on the Chargers’ staff would be seriously considered for the head-coaching job. .