The Los Angeles Chargers are in trouble. Big trouble.
Pegged by many as a Super Bowl contender and a top two or three teams in the AFC coming into this season, the Chargers dropped to 2-4 on Sunday after a disastrous home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
It marked the second straight miserable home defeat for the Chargers, as they fell to the Denver Broncos last week. Not only that, but it represented Los Angeles' third consecutive home loss overall dating back to its Week 3 defeat at the hands of the Houston Texans.
The Bolts' only two wins this season came in Week 1 in overtime against an Indianapolis Colts team that was still finding its bearings after losing Andrew Luck two weeks prior and then against a hapless Miami Dolphins club in Week 4.
It's not just that the Chargers are losing games they should win, either. It's how they're losing them.
Los Angeles has scored a combined 30 points over the last two weeks, getting back-to-back lackluster performances from Philip Rivers (who may be showing his age at 37) and next to nothing from the ground attack.
You would have thought the Bolts' running game would improve with Melvin Gordon's return, but it has actually gotten worse, as Gordon has been a virtual non-factor and Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson have essentially become afterthoughts.
So, what exactly is going on with the Chargers?
I wish I could tell you, and so do they, because this is not what anyone expected from a club that won as many games as the Kansas City Chiefs a year ago.
Los Angeles has talent on offense. It has talent on defense. But the Chargers aren't winning games.
To be fair, LA's defense has been solid. It ranks seventh in the NFL in yards allowed and is giving up a respectable 19.8 points per game, which ranks 10th in the league.
Really, this is more of an offense problem, where the Bolts rank 14th in yards and 22nd in points. Not only that, but Los Angeles ranks 26th in turnover differential at minus-4.
The Chargers have merely been middle of the pack at moving the football, and they have been even worse in cashing in on opportunities.
Some of that has to do with Rivers' poor performance. Some of it has to do with a shoddy offensive line. Some of it also has to do with the complete lack of a ground game since Gordon's return.
It's hard to really pinpoint the main reason for the Chargers' offensive struggles. Getting offensive tackle Russell Okung back will obviously be huge, but he probably won't solve all of the problems.
How much blame Anthony Lynn deserves for this is certainly debatable, as well. There is no excuse for LA losing back-to-back home games to the Broncos (who were winless at the time) and the Steelers (who were on their third-string quarterback who began the year on the practice squad).
That indicates a lack of preparation, and it something Lynn will have to address over the next week as the Bolts prepare to play the Tennessee Titans.
Fortunately for the Chargers, the Chiefs have also lost the last two weeks, so Los Angeles has not lost any ground in the AFC West, but let's be real: Kansas City is winning that division.
The Bolts are likely going to have to settle for battling for a Wild Card berth, and at this point, it doesn't look like they are ready for that.
It's time to panic in LA, and that is not something anyone anticipated.
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