The Chargers' loss to the Ravens shows how much work Jim Harbaugh still has to do

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The Los Angeles Chargers are an improved team. But Monday night's 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens showed how far they still should go.

That's not an indictment of what coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz are constructing. It continues to be the primary 12 months of an organizational transformation. The Chargers are 7-4. They have a extremely good likelihood of creating the playoffs. The very undeniable fact that the Chargers will play meaningful games in December, starting next week in Atlanta, is evidence of an upward trend.

The roster only has limitations at this stage of the method. The Ravens are real contenders. The Chargers should not at that level yet. In the NFL, high-profile opponents will exploit weaknesses and expose the reality.

“They played better football than we did tonight,” Harbaugh said.

This loss can be painful for Harbaugh as he’s down 3-0 against his big brother John. This loss can be painful for Hortiz, who worked for the Ravens for 26 years. It can be painful for offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who was fired by the Ravens after the 2022 season after six years in Baltimore. It can be painful for each former Ravens now with the Chargers, from assistant general manager Chad Alexander to offensive line coach Mike Devlin to tight ends coach and running game coordinator Andy Bischoff.

Good coaching and a solid roster structure can result in quick and immediate progress. We saw that with the Chargers this season.

It takes time to construct a team able to winning the Lombardi Trophy.

“You can tell there’s a lot of fight and all these different things,” edge rusher Khalil Mack said. “But at this point in the season there are no moral victories. You have to go out and play winning football when it matters.”

The Chargers lacked the physicality to maintain up with Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who finished with 140 rushing yards and 24 carries.

Coordinator Jesse Minter’s unit got off to a fast start. The Chargers forced punts on their first two possessions of the sport. But the Ravens leaned toward Henry on the following drive. Henry broke off a 19-yard run on the opening play. This was followed by a 14-yard run. He totaled 44 rushing yards on the drive, which quarterback Lamar Jackson capped off with a 10-yard touchdown run.

Henry is a freight train and the Chargers had no emergency brake to tug. Once Henry got going, there was no stopping him.

The Chargers lost at the road of scrimmage. They didn’t tackle well on any level.

“We need better block destruction across the board,” Harbaugh said.

Henry averaged 7.1 yards per carry on first down. According to TruMedia, the Ravens averaged 6.4 yards of gain on second, third and fourth downs.

Derrick Henry gets this @Ravens Offensive goes.

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– NFL (@NFL) November 26, 2024

“He’ll be effective if they play like that,” safety Derwin James Jr. said.

Baltimore successfully converted three fourth-and-1 shots. Two of those got here from Henry on a second-half touchdown drive.

Mack said giving up 212 rushing yards is “the thing that makes me angry the most.”

The Chargers weren't at full strength, and that was necessary. Linebacker Denzel Perryman was inactive with a groin injury. This game screams out to be one in all Perryman's signature violent hits. If Perryman plays, he might find Henry in the outlet in the primary quarter and set a unique tone for the defense.

“He’s definitely one of the hearts and souls in the middle of our defense,” James said of Perryman.

Mack also recorded a snap count in his first game back from two groin injuries. Mack, who was inactive last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, played just 27 of the defense's 64 snaps Monday night.

The Chargers were unable to achieve consistent benefits against Henry.

Mack said after the sport that he “tried not to jump on the field in certain situations.”

“I didn’t want a setback,” Mack said, “so I just stayed coachable in those moments.”

More snaps from Mack, perhaps the defense's most consistent player, could have made a giant difference.

“It’s not hard for me to play against this guy,” Mack said of Henry. “I love playing against the big boys.”

The Chargers were also without cornerback Cam Hart, who has been a superb run support player this season. According to Harbaugh, he aggravated his ankle injury during practice on Saturday and was inactive for the sport. Fellow freshman Tarheeb Still began at outside cornerback rather than Hart and ended up going one-on-one with Henry several times.

At the identical time, the Chargers had a full complement of interior defenders. They had Tuli Tuipulotu and Joey Bosa on the sidelines. They had their best cornerback, Kristian Fulton, surrendering a 40-yard touchdown from Jackson to receiver Rashod Bateman within the second quarter. They had linebacker Daiyan Henley and all three of their starting safeties in James, Alohi Gilman and Elijah Molden.

The Ravens scored on five straight drives after their two early punts.

“We just have to get him on the floor,” James said of Henry.

Despite the defensive slump, the Chargers had a likelihood to tie the sport within the fourth quarter and trailed 23-16. Quarterback Justin Herbert and the offense faced a third-and-6 from their 34-yard line.

Herbert fell back after a shotgun blast. Receiver Quentin Johnston was used wide open on a cross route. Herbert delivered an ideal throw. Johnston passed up what would have been an easy conversion after which some.

“I felt like I had some space in the field,” said Johnston, who had no catches on five targets, “so I just turned my head before I fully saw the catch.”

As a rookie, Johnston struggled with failures last season. He called the play a “complete lack of concentration at the catch point.”

“He’s a fighter,” Herbert said of Johnston. “I’m going to keep throwing him the ball.”

Rookie Ladd McConkey is an up-and-coming player. He led the Chargers with six catches on six targets for 83 yards.

But Monday night was a glaring example of how badly the Chargers need assistance. It's a roster restriction after Harbaugh and Hortiz were replaced by Keenan Allen and Mike Williams within the offseason.

The Ravens had conceded a minimum of three completions of 20 yards in every game this season.

The Chargers didn't have a single 20-yard completion in the sport.

Receiver Joshua Palmer had three catches on eight targets.

Receiver DJ Chark, whom the Chargers signed as a free agent in March, was a healthy scratch for the sport. He could potentially give the passing game a lift. Chark only played one offensive snap all season. He was on injured reserve until early November. The reality, nevertheless, is that providing the form of differentiating factor the Chargers need could have to attend until the offseason.

“We’re all going to have some things that we wish we had played and coached better,” Harbaugh said.

The Chargers scored just three points within the second half before a garbage-time touchdown made the ultimate rating seem closer than the sport actually was.

Running back JK Dobbins, one other former Raven, left the sport within the second quarter with a knee injury, and the Chargers struggled to run the ball after his exit. Gus Edwards had 11 rushing yards on nine carries.

“They executed,” Harbaugh said, “and they were the better team tonight.”

Monday evening was a benchmark. And now it's clear where the Chargers stand.

“We’re going to regroup,” Harbaugh said.