The Clock Is Ticking on Mike McDaniel, Sean McVay Holds the Answer for Justin Herbert

The Los Angeles Chargers offense has not been doing well and has not been consistent. The failures on offense are the catalyst to why they are currently 0-5.

Injuries have not helped the situation at all. This week's injury report, combined with the current players on injured reserve ensnares more than half of the original 53-man roster.

The arrival of Mike McDaniel in Los Angeles was met with near-universal praise and excitement. Expectations immediately skyrocketed and the coaching staff did rounds on sports talk shows throughout the offseason hyping up how everything was coming together.

All of the excitement came crashing down in week one when the offense looked lost and had zero timing mastered. The offense has not smoothed out the rough edges and have shown little signs of life. To make matters worse, franchise quarterback Justin Herbert is playing the worst football of his career as are many of the Chargers players.

Where did this all go wrong? Mike McDaniel is a disciple of the Shanahan system that is currently all over the NFL. McDaniel worked alongside 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, Packers head coach Matt Lafluer and Rams head coach Sean McVay in Washington under then-head coach Mike Shanahan. McDaniel worked under Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers before being hired as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins in 2022.

All of the coaches from that Washington staff have adapted the original Shanahan system in their own unique ways to counter modern NFL defenses. McDaniel was particularly unique because he used a NASCAR version of the offense that utilized elite speed to stretch defenses horizontally and create giant lanes for ball carriers to operate.

McDaniel's offense relied on rhythm, anticipation and timing. He utilized motions and cheat motions in extreme ways to create conflicts for defenders. McDaniel with wide receiver Tyreek Hill and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took the league by storm.

McDaniel's version of the offense has several pitfalls. The offense is designed to create conflicts for defenders and run and pass plays look structurally similar to use illusion as a weapon, in known passing situations such as playing from behind or in third-and-long situations, the illusion is non-existent.

The hyper focus on speed also limits options for short-yardage packages when all of the linemen are smaller and faster but struggle to generate vertical push. This issue has become abundantly clear for the Chargers in 2026 with how the offensive line is structured.

One of the most glaring issues with the offense in general is when the speed and finesse track stars are not available, the timing of the offense goes completely awry. This may be where McDaniel overestimated the Chargers weapons. LA's weapons are not of the same caliber in terms of speed as McDaniel had on hand in Miami and therefore the defender conflicts, spacing and reads are all not working to same success.

The Chargers are also consistently being hit with negative plays on calls with heavy motion. One of the signature ways that defenses have countered the wide-zone rushing attack associated with Shanahan offenses is by utilizing quick B-gap penetration to throw off the motion man if they can win fast enough but also completely disrupting guards moving horizontally.

The biggest example and wake up call for Shanahan-based offensive coordinators was in Super Bowl LIII when Bill Belichick and the Patriots completely shut down McVay's Rams by completely destroying the middle of the offensive line with five and six man fronts limiting the Rams to only three points.

How McDaniel can look to his former colleague Sean McVay to evolve his own game

2026 has not gone well for the Chargers offense and, in particular, quarterback Justin Herbert. The Chargers, with inferior interior offensive linemen, have been susceptible to quick losses both is the run and passing game disrupting much of the timing. The receiving corps is heavily depleted by injuries and has been unable to get open quickly, with the exception of healthy Ladd McConkey.

The NASCAR-style offense has been unable to create conflicts for defenders with deception simply because the defense has been able to see plays coming at them. The play calling has been rather predictable and much of that is tied to Los Angeles' personnel limitations.

The trouble for the Chargers has been rooted in the interior offensive line. There are far too many plays being disrupted in the backfield to find any sort of rhythm.

Sean McVay and the Rams were the first to truly have a unique personnel difference when compared to other Shanahan offenses, a strong-armed quarterback in Matthew Stafford. Stafford was able to access more of the field than a typical rhythm and timing point guard style quarterback. The limitations and the necessity for deception and complexity of the Shanahan system were removed with a quarterback like Stafford.

The Rams shifted to incorporate deeper routes, more downhill run concepts and deeper play action off of a shift to a more downhill running game. Herbert has thrived on traditional play-action passing concepts and many of his career highlights all come off of play action or play-action bootlegs.

Sean McVay adapted and evolved his system and play calling to maximize his quarterback's strengths as opposed to asking him to adjust rigidly to his system. Transitioning from Jared Goff to Stafford showed a rapid incorporation of deep crossing routes in the middle of the field off of play action. This also helped to remove the predictability of the quick passing game.

McVay more recently has also shifted the offense to more heavy personnel usage and the Rams are at the top of the NFL in 13 personnel usage, meaning the offense features one running back and three tight ends. This is also an aid to the downhill rushing attack.

The Chargers do use a similar personnel package fairly often deploying 22 personnel featuring a fullback and two tight ends. The offensive line is banged up and now features multiple rookies, although they performed well against the Broncos, leaning into this concept should be a priority.

The bottom line is, the current offense and design is not working, not consistently at least and Herbert looks uncomfortable. McDaniel has a former colleague from the same offensive tree who adapted the system to a quarterback with a similar skillset to Herbert's. Even Matt LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers have evolved with quarterback Jordan Love to push a more vertical passing game in lieu of the quick game.

Can McDaniel borrow a bit from McVay or even LaFleur and build a different gameplan? Or is it already too late? The offense does not need to be redesigned, but the offensive gameplans could be changed for the offense to look different but can McDaniel find the correct blend? The Chargers hope so.