The Chargers are now 0-6 after a 22-6 road loss to the Chiefs on Sunday.

Here are five takeaways from the Bolts in Week 6:

1. Chargers drop to 0-6

The Chargers can't get out of their own way.

As a result, more than a third of the way through the 2026 season, the Bolts are still looking for a win.

"Obviously 0-6 going into the bye, I did not think I would be up here addressing that question," Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said postgame. "I truly believed and was confident we'd win this game.

"We have to address everything, especially offensively. We're not scoring enough points," Harbaugh added.

Through six games, the Chargers have followed a similar script in their losses.

The defense, for the most part this season, has done enough to walk off the field with a win.

Special teams, while erratic at times, has settled down and had its best game of the season in Kansas City.

But, as Harbaugh alluded to in that answer above, the Bolts offense has simply not been anywhere good enough this season.

Sunday's performance from Mike McDaniel’s unit produced a season-low six points.

"It's not good enough. As an offense, we need to score points and hold up our end of the bargain," Justin Herbert said.

Before the season began, expectations — both internally and externally — were sky high at what the Chargers offense could look like with McDaniel and Herbert at the helm.

As of Sunday evening, the Chargers offense ranks last in the league in EPA per play (-0.190), well below the 31^st-ranked Titans (-0.127).

The Chargers have only averaged 15.0 points per game this season and have also been plagued by penalties and miscues on a weekly basis.

With the unit unable to generate anything consistent through six games, Harbaugh was asked after Sunday's game if McDaniel will continue to call the plays.

"We're going to look at everything," Harbaugh said. "The job I'm doing, it starts with me. The plan is to watch this and get with our offensive coaches.

"I see the effort, the work being put in, in the meetings and the practice field. To get that to translate to the field is what's necessary," Harbaugh added. "I feel bad for our players, our team, our coaches, our fans. It needs to be addressed."

Harbaugh and Herbert were each later asked why the offense hasn't clicked so far this season.

"We're in a position to need to look forward and evaluate every part of what we're doing," Harbaugh said. "The job I'm doing, the job the coaches are doing, the way we're playing, the way we're executing on offense. All those things we need to evaluate."

Herbert said: "I don't know. If I had the answers, we'd definitely be having a different conversation."

The Chargers don't play next weekend as they will have their bye week. The Bolts will then be the road team in a Week 8 matchup with the Rams at SoFi Stadium.

Until then, the Chargers will try to grapple with the fact that are still winless heading into the bye and won't secure their first win of the 2026 season until at least November 1.

"You just never expect to be in this position. The reality is the reality, that's where we are," Tony Jefferson said Sunday.

He later added: "I don't really have too [many] words. 0-6 just doesn't roll off the tongue very well."

2. Offensive red-zone woes

The turning point of Sunday's game was clear.

Down 19-3 at the break, the Bolts were in position to cut into Kansas City's lead and potentially make it a one-score game with plenty of time left.

After Herbert found Quentin Johnston for a 57-yard pass, the Chargers found themselves on the Chiefs 1-yard line, just three feet from a much-needed touchdown.

But the Bolts went backwards from there as rookie Jake Slaughter was called for a holding penalty to move the ball back to the 11.

The sequence that followed — a shovel pass for a 1-yard loss and a pair of incompletions — forced the Chargers to settle for a 30-yard field goal.

Instead of potentially making it a 19-11 game, the Bolts remained down by double digits and wouldn't get that close to the end zone for the rest of the game.

"That's aggravating as hell," Cole Strange said. "We should have put that in the end zone."

Harbaugh added: "That was a very big opportunity. It was big. When it comes to coming about specific plays, I'd like to watch it on the [flight] home."

Overall, the sequence highlighted a tough day for the offense in the red zone as the Bolts settled for field goals on both trips inside the 20.

Earlier in the game, the Bolts got down to the 11 but took the three points on fourth-and-4 from the 5.

"We have to score points. It's not good enough by us," Herbert said.

3. Defense does its part

Defensively, Chris O'Leary's group continued to show up and give their best effort.

Yes, they allowed 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 19 attempts to Kenneth Walker.

But two of those carries, including a 33-yard touchdown run, amounted to 49 yards for the Chiefs running back. The rest of his 17 carries went for 79 yards as the Bolts defense largely kept him contained for most of the game.

The unit also held their own against Patrick Mahomes as the Chiefs quarterback went without a touchdown pass for the first time all season.

Cam Hart came up with a brilliant end-zone interception on Mahomes, who wasn't sacked but was flushed out of the pocket due to pressure on numerous occasions.

"Defensively, again, they came up with stops," Harbaugh said. "Big turnover in the red zone.

"Executing against a highly productive operation," Harbaugh added.

The Chiefs converted just three of 10 third downs Sunday against the Bolts defense, which is now 12^th in the league in defensive EPA per play at -0.028.

4. Special teams makes an impact

With the Chargers in search of their first win, special teams provided a boost throughout Sunday's game at Arrowhead Stadium.

Derius Davis ripped off a 21-yard punt return, his longest of the season, and Ryan Ficken's group also pressured Harrison Butker into missing a 52-yard field goal.

But the biggest play Sunday came when the Bolts forced and recovered a fumble on a Chiefs punt return.

With JK Scott punting from his own end zone, Troy Dye knocked the ball loose and Caleb Murphy came away with it.

While officials initially ruled the Chiefs recovered, Harbaugh challenged the play and got it reversed.

"I believe I forced it out, have to look at the tape. Murph recovered it, scrum at the bottom of the pile, stuff changes down there," Dye said. "Glad they reviewed it and got the ball back. That was a good thing for us."

Dye said he hoped the strong day on special teams could be a turning point for the unit for with 11 games left.

"I think we needed to play a little bit better throughout the game on special teams and I think we went out there and did our job," Dye said. "There's a couple things we left out there that we can probably do better at on the returns.

"But that's with every week, there's always something to find regardless of win or loss. You always want to get better regardless," Dye added.

5. Offense sputters in key moments

While the offense's red-zone woes mentioned above were frustrating, so too were the unit's inability to capitalize on momentum swings.

Moments after the Hart interception, the Chargers offense couldn't take advantage and punted.

There was more of that in the second half, too.

The Chargers defense forced a turnover on downs midway through the third quarter when they stuffed the Chiefs on a fourth-down run at the goal line.

Backed up in their own end zone, the Chargers offense committed a delay of game on the way to a three-and-out.

And even when special teams came up clutch with the fumble recovery, the Chargers offense managed to lose two yards on the drive and punted it away again.

To make matters worse, the Bolts had a chance to seize more momentum early in the fourth quarter after the Chiefs missed a 52-yard field goal.

But even when the offense crossed midfield, the unit turned the ball over when KeAndre Lambert-Smith fumbled on third down.

"We got to stop having self-inflicted wounds," Lambert-Smith said. "I can't turn the ball over, we didn't get points that drive.

"We got to stop shooting ourselves in the foot, get on the same page, make plays and we can win," Lambert-Smith added.

After those four momentum-swinging sequences, the Chargers offense ran a combined 17 plays for 38 total yards.

"There's no justification," Harbaugh said. "Anything I would say would sound like an excuse. I'm opposed to that to the core and pointing fingers. I believe this is a team game.

"Definitely offensively, we need to evaluate and we need to look at it all. Everything we're doing and how we're doing it," Harbaugh said.