EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel blamed himself Thursday for the team's offensive struggles.
"I'm fully responsible," he said. "... I spend zero time trying to avoid blame. It's quite the opposite."
McDaniel, fired in January after four years as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, was brought in this offseason to make the Chargers' offense among the league's best. The team's offense had been an Achilles heel the past two seasons, scoring only one touchdown over two playoff losses, and McDaniel was viewed as one of the final pieces for this team to reach true championship contention.
His addition gave the Chargers the fifth-best odds to win the Super Bowl ahead of this year in ESPN's Football Power Index.
Instead, the Chargers' offense has been a disaster. Quarterback Justin Herbert is second in the NFL in interceptions, and his QBR (27.4) is the second worst in the NFL, higher than only that of Giants quarterback Jameis Winston. The Chargers rank 29th in points per game (14.7) and tied for fifth in turnovers (6).
Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills was the latest nightmare for this team, which now has an 0-3 record to start the season. The Chargers' defense forced five turnovers, while the Chargers committed only one and somehow lost the game. McDaniel said it was the first time in his career he could remember losing with a plus-four turnover differential.
"We were the reason we lost the football game," McDaniel said. "And you gotta pull your weight in this league."
Still, McDaniel said he isn't discouraged. He pointed to the volatility of the NFL and his own example: Three years ago, his offense scored 70 points in a Week 3 win over the Denver Broncos.
"People want to tell you that you're the greatest offensive history of the National Football League," McDaniel said.
And the media did, including one piece published in September 2023 by CBS Sports that wondered if it was an overreaction or reality that "Miami has the greatest offense in the Super Bowl era." But McDaniel's offense flopped in the postseason, as Miami lost in the first round to the Kansas City Chiefs 26-7.
"I'm not minimizing it; it's not acceptable to me," he said of the offense. "But also not creating a fake land that ignores annual history," he said. "There's a team that you guys can think of right now, either way, that everyone was crowning."
McDaniel also defended Herbert, who received a rare public critique from coach Jim Harbaugh earlier this week. "Nothing has changed with Justin Herbert," McDaniel said, adding that he feels like he better understands Herbert after three weeks.
"I think at this point I have a much better understanding of things that lead to him making good plays," he said. And yet McDaniel said Herbert's play has to improve, just like everyone else's on the team, and he said so does his coaching.
"There are things we've done in the past three games that are active participation in losing the game," he said. "And so flat-out our jobs are going to prove everything, and I'm not living in hope, I'm living in reality."
The Chargers will look to get on track against the defending Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
"It's going to be loud," McDaniel said. "They're going to be a salty team that has lost their first game in like 12 games. And you know what, that's just what we need: an opponent that definitely is not going to feel sorry for us."
