We’re already onto Week 3 in the 2026 NFL season, and teams are beginning to show their identities, proving they could be playoff contenders, or worse, teams that need some serious changes.
And while some squads have been surprises in good fashion, others haven’t.
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For future Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski, the Los Angeles Chargers fall into the latter bucket.
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Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh reacts from the sideline during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Caroline Brehman)
“The Los Angeles Chargers I would say are probably the biggest mess in the NFL in terms of how they’re playing and where they should be,” he told OutKick in New York City during an event for Bounty.
In the spirit of his partnership, we asked “Gronk” who is biggest mess in the NFL is after the first two weeks. He brought up the Miami Dolphins at first, but he believes it was “expected” considering their roster questions entering the season.
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But nobody expected the Chargers, a team led by head coach Jim Harbaugh with new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, to be 0-2 after facing the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders – two teams that many didn’t predict to have playoff hopes in 2026 – to start the year.
So, Gronkowski was quite candid about what he’s seen thus far in Inglewood, California from that group.
“That’s a mess over there right now,” he said. “They gotta just grab a Bounty paper towel and wipe off all their linemen, because they’re not clean. They’re dirty and they’re falling all over the place. Get the blocks down schematically and keep Justin Herbert clean in the pocket so he can perform.”
Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel looks on as quarterback Justin Herbert warms up before a preseason game against the San Francisco 49ers. (Getty Images)
The Chargers were expected to be a team to watch for the Super Bowl this season, especially with McDaniel coming in with his explosive offensive scheme. But the Chargers have produced just 14 points per game across their two contests, which is the third-lowest average in the league thus far. They are also 23rd in total offensive yards averaged per game, and the tape shows why.
Herbert is having a rough time finding any rhythm on offense, and while the offensive line, a pain point for the Chargers in recent seasons, has a lot to do with it, he’s also not making the plays many expect him to thus far. Herbert has thrown just two touchdowns, while being picked off three times in two games. He’s also completed just 59.3% of his passes.
However, Gronkowski implored that one player, even if it is your quarterback, can’t take sole blame for a team not hitting the mark everyone expected them to.
“It’s not just one thing that’s going wrong. It’s a lot of things going wrong,” Gronkowski said. “The quarterback just not playing good ball, the offensive coordinator just not reading his team and not putting them in the right position. Offensive line is stinking it [up]. The wide receivers just not making the plays when they need to. It’s a collective of everything. Like, it’s in the air – it’s not just one thing.
Rob Gronkowski attends WrestleMania 42 Night 2 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, on April 19, 2026. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE)
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“So, you have to fix everything as a whole when you go down that low. …It’s football. It’s such a team game that one player can’t make you collapse the way they’re collapsing. It’s everyone as a whole.”
It’s still just two games into the season, but the Chargers have a gauntlet of a schedule moving forward. They will head to Buffalo this week to face the 2-0 Bills, while having to take on the Seattle Seahawks, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Rams, Houston Texans and Baltimore Ravens after that.
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