The preseason hype surrounding football in Los Angeles was real. The Rams made bold, splashy moves to tweak an already stellar team and presumably turn them into a monster. The Chargers retooled their coaching staff, adding vaunted offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel in a move assumed would finally get the hapless franchise over the hump and into contention.

Fast-forward six weeks and both organizations are a dumpster fire. The Rams (2-4) have drastically underperformed their potential, losing to the Cardinals over the weekend and finding themselves at the bottom of the NFC West with no clear way to catch up. The Chargers (0-6) are even worse, boasting one of the worst offenses in the NFL, hurtling towards a No. 1 overall pick, with a coaching staff that seems incapable of turning the ship around.

The idea of an all-Los Angeles, Chargers vs. Rams Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium didn’t feel like it was outside the realm of possibility at one point. Now the notion of putting these teams together on football’s brightest stage is a hilarious joke. Neither team is likely to make the playoffs at all, and everything that could go wrong, has.

We all know that icky feeling when you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. From the second your feet hit the floor you know it’s going to be a rough day, and even the most minor of inconveniences feel like an all-consuming plot to ruin your life. That’s life for the Rams after Sean McVay made the ill-advised move to send his team to Australia late for the season opener, have them play on little rest, and get stomped by the San Francisco 49ers to kick off the season.

The Rams are sleepwalking through this season. McVay is known for his razor-sharp football mind, routinely coming up with creative ways to problem-solve — but this season there’s nothing he can do to right the ship. Rams players seem like they’re just going through the motions, as if they bought into the preseason hype about their team’s invulnerability and sauntered into the NFL season without putting the work in.

It’s certainly fair to note that the team has been battling injuries, as Puka Nacua missed games, and the defense hasn’t gotten to benefit from Myles Garrett yet, who is still out following offseason surgery. Regardless, it’s difficult to imagine this team being drastically better simply with those additions. This is not a one or two player problem, but a fundamental, holistic breakdown of everything we know the Rams to be when it comes to discipline, focus, and determination.

Special Teams are indicative of how far this team has fallen. Football’s middle child, the Rams have actively avoided spending and strengthening special teams over the past five years under the assumption they would be wasted resources. That has come back to bite them in 2026, as the Rams are allowing 28.86 yards-per-return, 13.50 yards-per-punt-return, and languishing as the worst kicking team in football, going just 6-for-10 on field goals.

The hits just keep coming for the Rams:

This isn’t a case of lightning striking out of nowhere, but rather everyone failing on the Rams at the exact same time. Rubbing salt in the wound is the fact that the 49ers are undefeated and pulling away in the NFC West, which makes it incredibly difficult to envision a way Los Angeles can catch up. Instead of eyeing the Super Bowl by Week 13, the Rams could very well be starting Ty Simpson and preparing to make big changes for their future.

Getty Images

Getty Images

The shared DNA between the Chargers and Rams was expectation, but it came from very different places. With the Rams we’d seen the potential before, and the idea of adding both Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie to the mix felt like a home run. The Chargers on the other hand had all these pieces on paper that were easy to like, but it was clear Jim Harbaugh wasn’t the offensive guy to unlock their potential — which is where Mike McDaniel entered the picture.

This experiment has been a total mess. The Chargers have injury issues along their offensive line, but that doesn’t excuse how horrific Justin Herbert and Co. are at moving the ball. Numerous other teams have equal, if not worse, injuries on the OL but are performing much better than the Chargers are.

Herbert’s precipitous fall is fascinating, because on paper it just doesn’t make any sense. The Chargers’ QB is seeing roughly the same pressure rate as he’s faced over the last three years, and he has a pocket time within 0.2 seconds of his career high, but 17.9% of his passes grade as bad throws, he’s trending towards a career-high 23 interceptions, and this is all happening despite the length of the offense being dropped to 7.5 intended air yards per pass attempt, which would be the lowest since his rookie season.

In short: The offense is easier, Herbert is worse. This extends to the receivers as well, who are dropping 18.1% of passes thrown their way, and unable to move the chains on critical downs. This has led to Herbert forcing the ball too much, which has led to the team gaining just 24.2 yards per drive, down from 32.4 a year ago.

There’s a significant issue with the Chargers offense, but discerning the larger problem is tricky. Offensively, they feel like a team at odds with itself, which was always the risk of trying to combine the football sensibilities of Jim Harbaugh with Mike McDaniel. Harbaugh is an old-school football head who believes in establishing the run, developing the pass off play action, and meticulously breaking down a defense over time. McDaniel, meanwhile, is a new-school coordinator who believes in winning through explosive plays, chunk gains, and unpredictable sets. What we’re left with is a team that is trying to run both systems at the same time, and it’s blowing up in their face.

If we go back to the play action scenario it really highlights the issue this team is having. In both 2022 and 2024, when Justin Herbert was one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he threw out of play action 165.5 times a season, for an average gain of 8.7 yards per pass. This year he’s on pace to throw 111 passes out of play action, for an average gain of 6.74 yards.

The Chargers aren’t getting results on play action because they can’t establish the run, and they can’t establish the run because Mike McDaniel has never been about “establishing the run.” He’s a coordinator who likes to use running backs as home-run explosive threats, not methodical chain movers. As a result the whole vibe around the Chargers is that there are too many cooks in the kitchen on offense, and all of them are burning their soup to hell.

Sadness. With each passing day it feels more and more like these organizations are hurtling towards rebuilds. The Rams were poised to go on this rapid fire, win-at-all-costs run that was designed to bring a trophy or two to the organization before Matthew Stafford retired and they had to retool. Now this team is likely going to be looking at reshaping its roster on an expedited timeline, and they lack the draft picks to get it done — owning their immediate selections to the Browns as part of the Garrett trade.

As for the Chargers, well, they’re the Chargers. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario where Jim Harbaugh is worthy of retaining his job, but it’s even more difficult to imagine the Chargers having the guts to fire someone with Jim Harbaugh’s resume. Instead, it seems the team is more content to scapegoat Mike McDaniel and Omarion Hampton for the offensive issues, because it’s easier than admitting that Justin Herbert has been butt. We’re back to the same old Chargers we’ve known and loved for decades. A team that looks great on paper, but can’t get the job done.

One thing is certain: These two teams will be going to the Super Bowl — only because both team owners have a vested interest in SoFi Stadium and will get to use their suites to watch two successful teams play football.