The Chargers are set to kick off their 2026 season against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, giving fans their first real look at Mike McDaniel's offense and Chris O'Leary's defense under returning head coach Jim Harbaugh.
Here are four reasons to be concerned about an upset loss for Los Angeles.
Interior questions
With center Tyler Biadasz out for the season with an ACL injury, second-round rookie Jake Slaughter will make his first start at center on Sunday. Cole Strange has been the first-team right guard since he was signed in March, while free agent acquisition Kayode Awosika won a battle over Trey Pipkins III and an injured Branson Taylor for the left guard job. It's not an inspiring group unless Slaughter gets going quickly at a notoriously mentally overstimulating
position. With 2025 first-rounder Walter Nolen III on the other side, there may be a few plays on Sunday where the offensive line looks suspiciously like the unit that sunk the Chargers last season.
Skill position talent
For as lowly rated as the Cardinals are, they have a solid core of offensive playmakers who could give the Chargers trouble. That starts with tight end Trey McBride, among the best players at his position in the league, as well as wide receivers Michael Wilson and Marvin Harrison Jr. Running back Jeremiyah Love has been limited in practice with a high ankle sprain, but if he plays, that adds the third overall pick from this year's draft to the mix as well. Jacoby Brissett throws interceptions at the second-lowest rate in the history of the NFL, so the Chargers also can't necessarily rely on turnovers to get them out of defensive situations.
Defensive drop-off
2025 defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is off to Baltimore as the new head coach of the Ravens, where he's expected to immediately put the AFC North squad back into title contention. After watching Minter's defense in Los Angeles, it's not hard to see why, but that also comes with the other side of the coin: LA's defense may not perform to the same level with Minter gone and O'Leary, a Minter protege, taking over. The rest of the Chargers' defensive staff remains relatively intact, however, so it's possible that they hit the ground running and look just as good as they have for the last two seasons under Minter.
Special teams errors
Cameron Dicker missed a kick in all three preseason games and JK Scott was shaky as a punter in the preseason, but the Chargers will hope that those errors were caused by preseason long snapper Peter Bowden, who will make way for veteran Josh Harris now that the season has begun. With cornerback Deane Leonard, the team's best punt gunner, not practicing this week with an abdomen injury, it's possible that the Chargers will struggle a bit in the third phase of the game, however. If they do, the offense and defense may need to be more on point to open the year and avoid looking sloppy against an inferior opponent.
This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: 4 causes for concern for Chargers against the Cardinals in Week 1
