A lot can change in a month.
For most of the offseason, there were two dominant coaching narratives in the AFC West. For the Los Angeles Chargers, there was the thrill of adding former Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator to a playoff-caliber team. For the Kansas City Chiefs, the inability to bring in someone like McDaniel to fill the same role as Matt Nagy's replacement was considered a major letdown.
After the first four games of a new season, the Chiefs are sitting atop the division once again with an unblemished 4-0 record. The team's winning ways are fueled largely by an offense that's ranked among the league's best and is now under the tutelage of Eric Bieniemy, Andy Reid's choice of a familiar face at offensive coordinator rather than a buzzworthy young outsider.
Mike McDaniel is feeling the heat
As for McDaniel and the Chargers, the most recent press conference in L.A. tells you everything you need to know about how that is going. The Chargers are 0-4 and sitting in the divisional basement with games on deck against the Denver Broncos in Week 5 and the Chiefs in Week 6. Morale has sunk so low for those inside and outside of SoFi Stadium that McDaniel is already fielding questions about accountability and the abysmal performance of his offense.
“I have, I think, probably zero percent entitlement," said McDaniel. "I know in this league, particularly in the first block, you’re gonna be held accountable. When you have high expectations, and you’re getting the results we’re getting in your first four, that’s pretty standard operating procedure, as I’ve seen in the National Football League. That’s forever the case.
"Everybody that is paying attention, every fan, everybody wants the Chargers to do better, and in that, I would be foolish, or I’d feel entitled, if I didn’t expect there to be disappointment that comes with the territory of the job," he continued. “If you want things to change and you want narratives to change, you have to change them through action, collectively. If our results are better, that’s the only thing that matters. So it’s pretty easy for me to focus on what I need to focus on. I don’t expect to get praised through failure.”
Through four weeks, the Chargers are No. 29 in points scored. They're a bit better in total yardage at No. 21, but being next to last in turnovers lost is going to stymie any offense. In short, the Chargers aren't all that effective in the first place, but being careless with the football is costing them even more. That's not exactly the hot start that McDaniel was looking for.
The Chargers can still change the narrative
If there's any good news, it's that McDaniel is right about how the results speak for themselves. The truth is that the Chargers could seriously change the conversation on all of this with consecutive wins. Knocking off their opponents is the straightest line toward respectability. It only took a month to sink this low, so things could look different after the season's second quarter.
As for the Chiefs, Bieniemy's offense is No. 5 in total points, No. 3 in total yards, and No. 3 in turnovers lost. For all the offseason excitement surrounding McDaniel and skepticism surrounding Bieniemy, Andy Reid's decision to trust a familiar face is looking smarter by the week.
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