The Chargers are 0-6 for the first time since 2000. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh remembers that well.
That's because Harbaugh was one of the quarterbacks on the terrible 2000 Chargers, who were 0-6 through six weeks like this year's Chargers. That 2000 Chargers team ended the season 1-15.
The Chargers began the 2000 season with Ryan Leaf as their starting quarterback. Leaf had been the No. 2 overall pick in 1998, was awful as a rookie and missed all of his second season with a shoulder injury. The 2000 season was Leaf's last chance in San Diego, and it did not go well. Through the first two weeks, the Chargers were 0-2 and Leaf had one touchdown pass and five interceptions, so they benched him for Moses Moreno in Week 3.
Unfortunately, Moreno was also terrible, and he suffered a shoulder injury in that Week 3 game, so Leaf started again in Week 4. But after Leaf again struggled in Week 4, he was benched again, this time for Harbaugh.
Harbaugh started Week 5, and he completely transformed the Chargers' offense: Through the first five games, Moreno and Leaf had combined to average 131 passing yards, and totaled one touchdown pass and seven interceptions. In Week 5, Harbaugh threw for 348 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception, against the defending Super Bowl champion Rams. Unfortunately for the Chargers, their defense couldn't stop the Greatest Show on Turf, and the Rams won 57-31.
Harbaugh kept the starting job for four more games, but he didn't play as well, and by the time the Chargers were 0-10 they went back to Leaf to close out the season.
Leaf won one game as the starter, but the Chargers' 1-15 record was the worst in franchise history. At least, the worst so far. Harbaugh's 2026 Chargers have a chance to break the 2000 team's franchise record for the most losses in a season.