OCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Even Tom Brady couldn't believe what he was seeing from the Los Angeles Chargers' offense.
In the third quarter of Sunday's Chargers-Bills game, the Hall of Fame quarterback-turned-color commentator couldn't hold back his disgust.
It was second down, the game was tied 10-all and the Chargers were on Buffalo's 3-yard line. Earlier in the game, they had failed to convert on third down in the red zone with an outside zone run out of shotgun formation.
That moment was clearly still on Brady's mind: "No more of this running sideways on the 1-yard line," he said. "One yard. Three downs. You don't deserve to win if you can't punch it in."
The ball was snapped, and quarterback Justin Herbert faked a handoff for a play-action pass, but the play was quickly blown dead for a false start on tight end Hayden Rucci.
"On second-and-1, it's a quarterback sneak; it's downhill. You don't have to do anything cute," he said. "When you run these cute little plays, you're susceptible to some of these penalties."
After a failed third down, the Chargers settled for a field goal. On the sideline, coach Jim Harbaugh put his hands on his knees and dropped his head.
Brady's frustrations echoed those of the Chargers fanbase and pundits who have wondered whether offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel's offense overcomplicates things for this team.
Harbaugh disagreed with that notion postgame, defending the offense and his coordinator. He said that there is "no disconnect" between McDaniel and the offense and was adamant that there wouldn't be any offensive changes moving forward.
"Anytime something doesn't work, you wish you would've run a different play. That's football," he said. "We've got to keep striving and make it work."
Through three weeks, the Chargers' offense is as bad as it has ever been in the Herbert era.
The quarterback who threw for 5,014 yards in his second season and has since carried this ailing franchise on his back looks like a shell of himself. In this new offense, he looks uncomfortable in the pocket, unsure of where to go with the football, and hasn't been able to make the handful of herculean-like plays he has made in years past to keep this team afloat.
On Sunday, he could have easily had three interceptions but ended up throwing just one, thanks to drops from the Bills.
The lone interception came in the fourth quarter. The Chargers were losing by three, and linebacker Daiyan Henley had just forced the Bills' fifth turnover -- punching the ball out of quarterback Josh Allen's hands after a sack by outside linebacker Khalil Mack.
Three plays later, the Chargers were just outside the red zone, but Herbert threw a ball intended for wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling into the arms of Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was there the entire way.
"I need to play better," Herbert said.
In his postgame news conference, Herbert, as he always does, took the blame for all of the Chargers' struggles. In this case, he was responsible for much of it, but not everything. In the locker room, there was a mix of confusion and frustration about how the offense has fallen this far.
"I think everybody should be pissed off," a frustrated Ladd McConkey said. "Sitting at 0-3 when three games that I feel like we could have won had every opportunity. Defense played great. We gotta score more points."
Said left tackle Rashawn Slater: "We're doing it ourselves. We gotta stop shooting ourselves in the foot. We have all the ability in the world, and we're falling short when it comes to the critical time to execute."
The offensive line struggled throughout the day, finishing with a 34.8% pass block win rate, their fourth-lowest PBWR in any game since Herbert joined the team in 2020. Tight end Oronde Gadsden had a drop on third down in the first quarter, and wide receiver Quentin Johnston had a drop on a third down on the penultimate drive of the game. After the game, Johnston sat on the bench with his head down. Wide receiver Tre' Harris helped him up and attempted to encourage Johnston, the former first-round pick whose career has fluctuated between disaster and success.
"Sometimes it's just hard to take," Johnston said. "When you work week in and week out so hard for a certain thing, and it goes a different way."
Johnston's sentiments reflect the feeling of an organization that focused its offseason on retooling its roster for a coordinator in McDaniel who they had hoped would make this team a Super Bowl contender. Instead, the Chargers offense looks as dysfunctional as it ever has.
One glimmer of hope for the Chargers is that this franchise has been here before. The Chargers began the 1992 season 0-4 and made the playoffs, winning the wild-card round over Kansas City before losing to Miami in the divisional round. For that to happen, they'd need an offensive renaissance, which appears a long shot.
"If you're not on board and you don't think this can get turned around, then get out of here," McConkey said. "I feel like we got the people to do it. We got all we need. We just got to go execute."