The Chargers turned in the worst performance of any team in the NFL’s wild card weekend, barely looking competitive in a 16-3 loss to the Patriots. Afterward, head coach Jim Harbaugh said he couldn’t explain why his team scored only three points.
“I really don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “I wish I did. If I did there would have been a different result. We’ll be spending a lot of hard work and sleepless nights getting to figure it out. The way these players fight, they give it their very best, they give it their all, we owe them that. Like I told the team, those that stay will be champions. We’re not looking at this as an end, but as another beginning.”
Harbaugh says he’ll look at everything on the team as he assesses how to be better in 2026.
“We weren’t good enough as a team. And that’s what we do: We win as a team, we lose as a team, and it’s our responsibility to have the team in a better position,” Harbaugh said. :"And a lot of it’s the Patriots, too. The Patriots played very well, they did a good job and I want to congratulate them.”
When Harbaugh was hired as the Chargers’ head coach in 2024, he took over a team coming off a 5-12 season. He’s gone 11-6 in each of his first two years with the Chargers, which is undeniable improvement. But his Chargers are also 0-2 in the playoffs. He doesn’t have the answer for why that’s the case, but he knows he needs to figure it out.
