Chargers defense exposed in ugly meltdown loss to Commanders

The Los Angeles Chargers defense finally broke without Khalil Mack there as the focal point of the pass-rush.

That was one of the bigger stories of the 27-10 blowout loss to the Washington Commanders in Week 5, where Jayden Daniels diced up the Chargers defense to the tune of 231 yards and a score while the Commanders rushed for 163 yards and two scores on a 5.8 average.

It wasn’t just odd tackling and penalty issues, either, though repeated misses at fundamental times and a team 10 penalties hurt.

But Kliff Kingsbury’s Washington offense simply appeared to have Jesse Minter’s Chargers defense a little lost.

It’s not exactly what the Chargers want to see from the defense after they already dropped a game to a New York Giants team they should’ve beaten. Uncommon opponents or not, they’re inching closer and closer to spoiling that 3-0 start in a complete breakdown.

The good news? Mack’s injury wasn’t season-ending, so he’ll be back to help in time. And the Chargers will get back in the ring with familiar AFC West opponents soon enough.

Plus, should they actually want to use it, the Chargers front office has plenty of cap space and draft assets to make trades happen, should needs keep popping up across the defense.

Even so, coughing up the AFC West chokehold because the team can’t fend off two NFC East squads is a tough development.

Jesse Minter’s defense looks like Swiss cheese all of a sudden. Super frustrating. Lack of pass rush leaves the zone coverage vulnerable.
— Camden (@Camden_Cash) October 5, 2025

Spent plenty of time this offseason talking about the OL depth and needing more pass rush juice. Still problems. No surprise.

The three non-injury stories to me are the dozens of penalties, whatever the tackling has become, and the alarmingly inept special teams.

Coaching...?!?
— Tyler Schoon (@tylerjschoon) October 5, 2025

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