The Chargers are now 0-3 after 24-16 loss to the Bills on Sunday..

Here are five takeaways from the Bolts in Week 3:

1. Chargers still winless

This one stings.

For the majority of Sunday's game in Buffalo, the Chargers did everything right in order to get a road win against perhaps the NFL's best team.

The Bolts played penalty-free football, took the ball away on defense and didn't beat themselves on offense.

But a full 60 minutes of that was required against the Bills and Josh Allen, and the Chargers fell short for the third week in a row.

"What gives me hope is the people, our team," said Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh. "No denying that the want-to, the fight is there.

"Just keep building on that, chipping away at it, but no question we haven't been good enough yet. That's where we have to push through," Harbaugh continued.

He later added: "We did not win the game. That's painful, that hurts. We didn't get it done."

Justin Herbert said: "We're 0-3, we're not where we want to be."

Ladd McConkey added: "Every time you lose, it's not a good feeling. Got this bad taste in our mouth for too long, so just want to get back on track."

The Chargers are now staring at an 0-3 hole as the calendar turns to October, a frustrating position for a team that spoke of playoff aspirations this offseason.

While there are still 14 games to go, the Bolts know their efforts on Sundays need to start turning into a victorious locker room.

"We really have to find a way to win, whatever it takes. That's what we're searching for, find a way to win. Whatever that looks like," Tarheeb Still said.

He later added: "There's not moral victories, no matter how good you played, if you don't win the game it doesn't matter. Get better, win."

The Chargers are now one of three teams in the AFC who reside at 0-3 along with the Texans and the Titans.

The Bolts will now try to get on track in Week 4 against the Seahawks in Seattle.

"We're getting better every game," Derwin James said. "I know it ain't a getting better league, it's about wins and losses.

"I feel like we're getting better. Go to keep attacking it, that's all we can do," James said.

McConkey added: "If you're not on board and you don't think this can get turned around, then get out of here. I feel like we got people to do it, we got all we need. We just have to go execute."

2. Turnover party on defense

The Chargers talked all week about how a sense of urgency was going to be needed in Buffalo.

The defense took that message to heart by taking the ball away on Buffalo's first play of the game.

Justin Eboigbe punched the ball free before Daiyan Henley recovered, setting off a monstrous day from the defense as the unit recorded five total takeaways.

"We wanted to come out here and get the ball, get after 17 a little bit," Still said of Allen.

Chargers rookie Genesis Smith took over for the rest of the half, notching the first two interceptions on Allen on back-to-back drives.

The Bolts, who had one takeaway in the first two games of the season, weren't done yet.

After the Chargers broke a 10-10 halftime tie with a field goal, Allen and the Bills appeared to hit an explosive play to get into the red zone.

But with Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid fighting for extra yards, Still punched the ball loose before Tony Jefferson recovered at the Chargers 17.

The Chargers then recorded their fifth and final takeaway early in the fourth quarter when Khalil Mack had a strip sack on Allen.

While the officials initially ruled the play as just a sack, Harbaugh challenged the play — and won — as the Bolts tacked on another fumble recovery from Henley.

Sunday's game marked the first time since Week 14 of last season against the Eagles that the Chargers recorded five takeaways in a regular-season game.

James said the defense will take plenty of confidence into Week 4 after a strong performance.

"Going against a dynamic offense like that, I feel like they have a top quarterback, top running back," James said. "They have a lot of guys that can make a lot of plays. Tight ends are good.

"When you can make plays as a defense against that offense, it gives you more confidence to go out there and play against everybody," James added.

3. Offense can't take advantage

But on the other side of the ball…

The Chargers offense took advantage of the Bolts first takeaway of the game by putting together a scoring drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown pass to Keaton Mitchell.

And Smith's first interception was returned to Buffalo's 45-yard line, the Chargers eventually cashed in on a 31-yard field goal from Cameron Dicker.

But after that?

The Chargers couldn't find the end zone — or even the uprights, for that matter — as they went scoreless on the ensuing three takeaways the defense handed them.

"Wasn't good enough. The defense played so well, forced so many turnovers and the offense didn't help them out," Herbert said. "We don't feel good about it, and it starts with me."

Harbaugh added: "There was a lot of opportunity, and we got to capitalize on that. We have to be better, that's how I look at it at this point."

That sentiment was echoed from others on offense, too.

"We have to take advantage of those turnovers," Rashawn Slater said. "We can't be happy taking field goals, we need touchdowns. We need to capitalize on that. It's on all of us."

Jake Slaughter added: "Defense played their tails off, they were lights out. We have to play better for them. It's really frustrating for the entire group."

The Chargers scored six points on five possessions in the second half and have now scored exactly 16 points in every game so far this season.

"I feel like everybody should be pissed off. We're sitting at 0-3 with three games I feel like we could've won," McConkey said. "Had every opportunity. Defense played great, we have to score more points."

4. Offense rues red-zone woes

For all of the offense's frustrations from Sunday, two drives stood out the most.

Both happened in the second half, but the first one was perhaps the most maddening.

Coming out of the break, the Chargers put together a much-needed drive that was killing the clock.

Was the sequence perfect? Of course not.

After getting to the Bills 20-yard line, back-to-back penalties put the offense in a second-and-26 situation before eventually setting up third-and-16 from the Buffalo 25.

Herbert then made his best throw of the day, hitting McConkey for 19 yards down the left sideline to get to the 6.

And, after a Bills defensive penalty, the Bolts were set up perfectly with first-and-goal at the 3.

Then, it was second-and-goal at the 1.

But an offense that has looked out of sync all season that reared its ugly head, as a false start, a 0-yard pass and another false start then occurred.

On third-and-goal from the 11, Herbert found Tre' Harris for eight yards, leading to another Dicker field goal.

"Second and goal, we got to get the ball in, we got to be better, we got to get it in the end zone," Harbaugh said.

The Chargers, at one point just three feet from a touchdown, settled for a frustrating three points.

"We're doing it to ourselves, we got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot," Slater said. "We have all the ability in the world, we're falling short when it comes to the critical time to execute.

"We got to keep getting better, we have to do better. We can't just keep saying that, we have to actually do it," Slater added.

Leading 13-10, there were more miscues on the way.

Shortly after Mack's strip sack gave the offense the ball in prime field position, the Chargers faced third-and-5 at the Buffalo 23-yard line, meaning they were already in Dicker's range.

A touchdown would have given the Chargers a double-digit advantage with maybe 13 or so minutes left to go.

Instead, Herbert opted to target Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone but was picked off at the 1-yard line.

While the offense wasn't technically in the red zone yet, Herbert essentially called it a failure inside the 20-yard line and placed the blame on himself.

"I have to make throws, can't turn the ball over in the red zone," Herbert said. "We got to score points in the red zone."

Overall, the Bolts scored one touchdown on four trips inside the 20-yard line in Buffalo.

5. Defense frustrated by 4^th quarter

While the defense was opportunistic Sunday, there were still plays the unit wished they had back.

The biggest one came with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

With the Bills facing second-and-26 from the Chargers 40, it appeared the Bolts were in position to limit Buffalo to a game-tying field goal.

And that second-and-long play initially looked promising as Akheem Mesidor forced an Allen fumble after an 8-yard run that was recovered by Tuli Tuipulotu.

Instead, the officials ruled that Allen was down before the ball came out. Fine, it would be third-and-18 from the 32.

But Chargers rookie cornerback Rodney Shelley was also called for holding down the field on the play, giving the Bills a fresh set of downs at the 27.

"We just have to be good in critical situations," Still said. "When we have them behind the sticks, we have to execute."

He later added: "Situational football, you have to be elite."

James also realized the magnitude of the play.

"It was big. The drive kept extending on that one," James said. "It's part of the game, we're playing aggressive. Have to get back in the huddle and keep going."

With the ball at the 27, the Bills ripped off back-to-back, 11-yard runs before Allen eventually scored on the ground from a yard out.

The Chargers suddenly trailed for the first time all game and wouldn't reclaim the lead on the way to an 0-3 start.