Welcome back to the Chargers Mailbag!

We'll run a Mailbag each week during the regular season. Send in submissions for the Mailbag on Twitter @EricLSmith or by email at eric.smith@chargers.nfl.com.

Off we go...

Anthony starts us off with an interesting question.

The Bolts obviously want to bounce back and put forth a better showing than they did Sunday, a loss that was spotlighted by 14 penalties for 107 yards.

Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that he's has an idea how his team will respond after their first loss of the season.

"The way I know they will and the competitors they are," Harbaugh said. "That's what you want to do, get back to work and chase perfection."

But in terms of Sunday's game against the Commanders being important to win the AFC West, I wouldn't necessarily agree with that.

Despite Sunday's loss, the Chargers still sit at 3-1, in first place in the AFC West and have a perfect 3-0 record so far in division games.

In my eyes, getting a win in Week 5 is more about getting back on track and playing clean football rather than worrying about the standings.

No matter what happens Sunday, the Chargers will still be in first place in the division.

All of that stuff will be sorted out down the road. Sunday is about getting back to the play style that guided the Bolts to a wins in their first three games.

Plenty of questions came in about the offensive line this week, which was expected given the disappointing performance from that group as a whole in Week 4.

And it's not as if the Chargers are hiding from the fact they need to be better.

Here is what center Bradley Bozeman said postgame.

"We had some struggles at offensive line," Bozeman said. "That was a really good front. I'm not going to make excuses, we've got to be better obviously.

"Sometimes the ball doesn't quite turn your way," Bozeman added. "We're going to go back to the drawing board, keep working, keep building and go from there."

And Harbaugh also pointed out in his postgame press conference that the Chargers need to protect Justin Herbert better.

"He is taking too many [hits]," Harbaugh said of Herbert. "Yeah, it's very concerning. We'll go back and look, we got to get better. We got to put him in a better position. Don't think he's been in a good position."

So, what's the fix?

You can bet that the offensive line pored over the film from Sunday against a very good New York pass rush.

Getting Mekhi Becton back would obviously help, but the right guard is still in concussion protocol. Joe Alt could also end up missing time depending on how severe his ankle injury is.

If Becton returns Sunday but Alt is out, the Chargers could play either Austin Deculus or Jamaree Salyer at left tackle. Remember that Salyer filled in admirably at that spot in 2022 when Rashawn Slater suffered a biceps injury.

As far Bozeman and James, I don't think we'd see a change there unless it's health related. Bozeman is a captain and well respected in the locker room and on the field.

But no matter who is in there, the line needs to play better. I suspect we see a highly motivated and fired up group at home on Sunday.

Omarion Hampton was a beast on Sunday.

He racked up 128 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries, and also aded five catches for 37 yards.

Plenty of people have noted the carry amount, but keep in mind the Chargers trailed first for the first time this season and then had to adjust on the fly when Alt was hurt in the first quarter.

I'm interested to hear what Chargers Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman will say at his weekly press conference on Thursday. Roman is usually honest and engaging with media members and isn't afraid of some self criticism, too.

Did the Chargers lose because Hampton only had 12 carries? No.

Could the rookie running back maybe had a few more? Sure.

We'll see how Sunday's game goes and what the run-pass split ends up being going forward.

Yes, the calendar has officially flipped to October.

But don't expect the Bolts to start looking ahead past Sunday's game against Washington.

When the Chargers beat the Broncos, Harbaugh quipped that "you can't be 4-0 unless you're 3-0."

The Bolts obviously didn't get there, but his point was that he wants his team to focus on one game at a time and worry about the rest later.

The Chargers went 3-1 in the first quarter of the season and now have the Commanders, Dolphins and Colts coming up before a Thursday game against the Vikings.

We're not going to sit here and predict the outcome of each game. But if the Bolts go 3-1 in each quarter of the season, they will surely be in a great spot come January.

However, the Bolts main objective right now is to get back to their winning ways against the Commanders.