Mike McDaniel’s offense scored two field goals on Sunday, and now his job with the Los Angeles Chargers is in doubt. After a 22-6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs dropped the Chargers to 0-6, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reported growing buzz that the team will soon fire its offensive coordinator. Adam Gase is expected to take over if McDaniel goes.
The Chargers have scored 90 points in six games, an average of 15.0 per game, and Sunday’s six points were a season low. Among the fans who reacted, the louder argument was over who should replace McDaniel.
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Florio’s report made the rounds among Chargers fans on X on Sunday night, and a post relaying it filled with replies.
Florio stopped short of calling it final. “It’s not done yet, but it’s the move that many are expecting to see,” he wrote.
He identified Gase as the team’s pass game specialist and a former head coach of the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. He also noted that McDaniel spent four years as Miami’s head coach after five years as an assistant with the San Francisco 49ers.
After the game, head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked whether McDaniel will keep calling plays. He didn’t say yes.
“We’re going to look at everything,” Harbaugh said. He said the job he’s doing starts with him and that the plan is to watch the game and meet with his offensive coaches.
He said the review also covers the coaches and how the offense is executing. He added that the effort he sees in meetings and on the practice field has to translate to games. “I feel bad for our players, our team, our coaches, our fans. It needs to be addressed.”
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Gase potentially taking over drew more pushback than the firing itself.
“Adam Gase is a worse OC than Mike McDaniel that’s how bad the offensive ecosystem is for the Chargers,” one fan wrote in answer to the post. Another left room for one version of Gase: “2013 Adam Gase? Sure…. Otherwise feels more like a lateral move.”
The name fans kept offering instead was Shane Day. One fan made the case in the thread’s top reply: “My vote is to give Shane Day a try in an already lost cause of a season. Give Herbert someone he already trusts!”
One fan wanted Day as part of a wider shake-up that would still give Harbaugh another year: “I would rather have Shane Day be the interim OC.”
Another fan wrote, “No way they wouldn’t promote Day over Gase, that’s insane.” That drew a quick rebuttal: “Gase has called plays before. Day has only been a quarterback coach.”
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A smaller group didn’t much care who took over, as long as something changed. “Well, it can’t possibly get any worse,” one fan wrote.
Another fan went a step further: “Please! It can’t be any worse. Let Justin Herbert play quarterback the way he knows how to – pre McDaniel.”
One fan looked past the coordinator entirely: “Jim Harbaugh’s the one that needs to go.”
Another fan turned on the whole organization: “This franchise is not serious! Just fold up and be no more!”
McDaniel had few defenders. One fan in his corner argued, “Make them all finish the season. This not MM’s fault.”
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Quarterback Justin Herbert didn’t have a diagnosis either. Asked why the offense hasn’t clicked, he said he didn’t know and that if he had the answers, they would be having a different conversation.
Herbert finished 22 of 37 for 204 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, and he was sacked four times. The Chargers managed 259 total yards and went 0 for 3 on fourth down. Trailing 19-3 at halftime, they had their best chance to climb back early in the third quarter.
After a 57-yard catch by Quentin Johnston, they reached the Kansas City 1-yard line. A holding penalty on rookie Jake Slaughter pushed them back to the 11, and they settled for a 30-yard Cameron Dicker field goal. They never scored again.
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The defense and special teams kept giving the offense chances. Cam Hart intercepted Patrick Mahomes in the end zone, and the defense stopped the Chiefs on fourth down at the goal line.
Special teams forced and recovered a fumble on a Chiefs punt return, and Harrison Butker missed a 52-yard field goal. The offense turned those four breaks into 17 plays, 38 yards and no points.
The Chargers don’t play again until Nov. 1, when they face the Los Angeles Rams as the road team at SoFi Stadium. Whether McDaniel is still calling plays that day is the question the bye week has to answer.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.