The progress was great, but the ending was not. For most of 2025, the Los Angeles Chargers looked like a team that had finally shed its bad habits. They played harder and closed games. They leaned into contact instead of fleeing from it. Jim Harbaugh’s first season delivered exactly what it promised: structure, toughness, and relevance.
And then they had a playoff exit that stung so deeply. An 11-6 season ended neither with a shootout, nor with a heroic failure. However, they had an offensive no-show. The Wild Card loss in New England didn’t just end the Chargers’ season. It exposed which pillars of the roster actually matter. If Los Angeles wants the Harbaugh era to last longer than one promising year, keeping the right veterans is non-negotiable.
Season recap
Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
The 2025 Chargers were a philosophical pivot. Under Harbaugh, they abandoned the wide-open-but-fragile approach of previous regimes and embraced a defense-first, run-forward identity. That shift paid off immediately. Los Angeles leaned on a top-tier defense and finally looked comfortable winning ugly.
Khalil Mack was part of that transformation. At an age when most edge rushers fade, he still dominated. The defense fed off his intensity and produced consistent pressure. He helped keep games within reach even when the offense sputtered. On the other side of the ball, Kimani Vidal and Omarion Hampton gave the Chargers reliability between the tackles.
Justin Herbert didn’t post video-game numbers, but he didn’t have to. The Chargers weren’t asking him to be Superman. They were just asking him to be efficient within structure. For most of the season, it worked.
Playoff flameout
Then came Foxborough.
In a frigid Wild Card matchup against the Patriots, the Chargers were suffocated. Herbert was sacked six times, limited to 159 passing yards, and hardly allowed to establish rhythm. The offense failed to score a touchdown. The defense did its job again. However, the lack of protection, speed, and trusted outlets turned the game into a slow-motion collapse.
The 16-3 loss wasn’t a referendum on Harbaugh. It was a spotlight on what cannot change if the Chargers expect different postseason results.
Offseason fixes
The Chargers have very clear needs. The interior offensive line must be rebuilt. No franchise quarterback should absorb six sacks in a playoff game. The secondary lacks a true ball-hawk corner capable of flipping momentum. Offensively, the Chargers still don’t have a speed receiver who forces defenses to back off.
Layered on top of that are difficult financial decisions. Mack and Keenan Allen are aging. However, they are also the cultural anchors of the roster. Letting leadership walk while trying to build toughness is how identity fractures.
EDGE Khalil Mack
Key stats: 5.5 sacks, 32 tackles, 4 forced fumbles
Khalil Mack wasn’t just productive but was transformational. Every week, he set the tone. He collapsed pockets and forced mistakes.
This defense is built around the collective image of Tuli Tuipulotu and Mack. The latter’s preparation, physicality, and accountability define Harbaugh football. Letting him walk would create a leadership vacuum and a production gap that cannot be replaced in one offseason. If the Chargers want their defense to remain elite, Mack must remain its compass.
WR Keenan Allen
Key stats: 81 receptions, 777 yards, 4 touchdowns
Allen’s “homecoming” season erased any doubt about his value. He was Herbert’s safety net, chain-mover, and problem-solver. When the pocket collapsed, Herbert looked for Allen and usually found him. In the playoff loss, Allen accounted for nearly 8.3 yardsper catch.
This offense is not ready to let Allen go. Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey are developing, but neither is prepared to consistently carry coverage or dictate matchups. Removing Allen now would force Herbert to grow trust with a receiver group still under construction. It would also simultaneously ask him to survive behind a shaky line. That’s not progression but regression disguised as youth.
LB/EDGE Odafe Oweh
Key stats: 7.5 sacks (second on team), 8 tackles for loss, 28 total tackles in 12 games
Oweh quietly became one of the Chargers’ most important defensive chess pieces in 2025. Used as a hybrid edge defender, he provided much-needed juice. His 7.5 sacks ranked second on the team despite missing five games. While he isn’t a volume tackler, Oweh’s impact was felt whenever the Chargers needed pressure created now.
The Chargers’ defense is built on winning with the front four, and Oweh is a critical part of that formula. With Mack entering the twilight of his career, letting Oweh walk would create a dangerous pass-rush cliff in 2026. At just 25, Oweh fits perfectly into Harbaugh’s long-term defensive vision as a speed-to-power disruptor who can rush standing up or with his hand in the dirt.
Fragile window
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
The Chargers took a real step forward in 2025. The culture shifted, and the floor rose. However, postseason football is unforgiving. Progress means nothing if you discard the very players who made it possible.
Khalil Mack, Keenan Allen, and Odafe Oweh aren’t placeholders. They are pillars. Lose them, and the Harbaugh era risks becoming another “what if” instead of the sustained contender Los Angeles has waited decades to see.
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