INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- Jim Harbaugh was pretty short with his answers after the Chargers’ 41-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
The saving grace is that it is only Week 2 of the preseason, but the team has a lot of work to do before its season opener in three weeks.
“We got outplayed and we beat ourselves in all three phases,” Harbaugh said. “It’s not going to go well when those two things occur.”
The offense couldn’t move the ball, penalties kept occurring that negated big plays, and overall, it was kind of a mess.
Here are some takeaways from the game:
1. Starting offense was underwhelming
Harbaugh said coming into Thursday’s game that the starters would play one series. They won the coin toss and took the ball, and there was plenty of anticipation to see them.
During the joint practice, the offense was flying around the field. On Thursday, it went three-and-out, which was a theme for the offense in 2025.
On the first play, it was a run with Omarion Hampton, and 49ers defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa blew it up right away for a one-yard loss. Odighizuwa was wreaking havoc during the joint practice and followed it up Thursday.
The second play was a nine-yard pass to tight end Charlie Kolar in which the blocking was a little suspect. The third play was a pass down the field over the head of Ladd McConkey.
“The three plays that they were in there,” Harbaugh said. “Our offense line. It's kind of hard to judge on the three plays.”
Not a great start to the dress rehearsal.
2. Offensive line not great
The Chargers suffered an injury on the offensive line this week when center Tyler Biadasz went down during the joint practice. Harbaugh was asked about him after the game.
“It’s not promising, it's an ACL,” Harbaugh said. “Let's make the decision on whether that's a season ending thing, that's the determination we made.”
Rookie Jake Slaughter is taking over that spot, and his play was decent. He had one play where he ended up on the ground, but the rest of his performance was solid.
“Every time he's had to go in there,” Harbaugh said of Slaughter. “He's a football player. That's what he's showing us, and he's got the ability to process and his athleticism, his strength. It's all plus plus.”
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Aug 20, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers center Jake Slaughter (66) prepares to snap the ball to quarterback Trey Lance (5) in the first half against the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
Cole Strange at right guard was really off because he got beat in the run game and in pass protection. Strange came from Miami with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, but he was not very effective on Thursday.
There were some positives, like undrafted rookie center Jacob Spomer, whom the team is very high on. It also seemed like Branson Taylor and Kayode Awosika had decent performances. Those two appear to be the ones battling for the left guard spot.
3. Quarterback battle should make them re-evaluate things
The battle for the No. 2 quarterback spot is an interesting one because, based on practices and both preseason games, DJ Uiagalelei should be leading the race.
That being said, both quarterbacks have struggled. Trey Lance has used his mobility multiple times in both games to get himself out of trouble, but he hasn’t necessarily looked good.
A former third overall pick competing against an undrafted free agent isn’t what you want as a coaching staff.
“Some of the better plays were called back for illegal formation or the two guys in motion at times,” Harbaugh said. “Just, sloppy, you know. Pre-snap, post-snap. Hard to evaluate the quarterbacks when that kind of error is taking place.”
Lance threw a couple of passes that led to receivers taking hard hits, and he missed a wide-open Brenen Thompson down the field on a play that could have resulted in Thompson walking into the end zone. Instead, Thompson had to dive to try to make the play.
Harbaugh should be looking for a better backup quarterback before the season starts, especially when considering how effective 49ers backup Mac Jones was in the game and the fact that he went 5-3 last season.
4. Too many mistakes
Harbaugh is right about the sloppy play that resulted in multiple plays being negated, but that doesn’t change the fact that Lance hasn’t looked sharp.
On the Chargers’ third drive of the game, Lance found running back Keaton Mitchell for a 21-yard pass on third-and-1 from their own 36. It was taken away because of an illegal formation penalty. They would go three-and-out.
On the next drive, Lance found tight end Oronde Gadsden on first-and-10 from their own 23 for an 18-yard gain, but it was called back for an illegal shift.
On their second-to-last offensive drive before halftime, Lance scrambled on third-and-3 from his own 36 for an 11-yard gain, but there was another illegal formation penalty.
On the next drive, a four-yard Kimani Vidal run on third-and-7 was negated by another illegal shift.
That is four penalties that took away 54 yards of offense.
5. JK Scott mistake
The Chargers made a mistake by not bringing in competition for punter JK Scott because last season he had some wobbly games.
Harbaugh should have brought in a young punter to compete with him, and he still could — and should.
Scott came in with three minutes left in the first half and sent a punt to returner Jacob Cowing, who came up the left side of the field. The only player standing between him and the end zone was Scott, who decided to be a bullfighter and let him pass by.
It was an 83-yard touchdown return from Cowing.
“No, he's got to have a plan when he's in that position to make a tackle,” Harbaugh said after. “Something we need to work on, coach up.”
6. Defense was fine
There isn’t much to make of the defense because of how inefficient the offense was on Thursday. The starting defense did allow three third-down conversions on the opening drive.
The defense also allowed three big plays of more than 20 yards, including a 37-yard run from Sincere McCormick.
The Chargers didn’t generate much of a pass rush, finishing with zero sacks.
One big positive was linebacker Junior Colson starting to show flashes of his potential. San Francisco was on its own 11-yard line on second-and-10 when Adrian Martinez dropped back and threw a pass to a receiver, but Colson jumped in front of it and intercepted the pass for a touchdown.
Linebacker Marlowe Wax is still ahead of him, but Colson seems to be making a push.
7. A lot of adjusting to do
It was not pretty, but there are still three weeks to go before the regular season begins.
"I think we have a lot of things to work on,” Harbaugh said.