Los Angeles came in believing a healthy offensive line behind Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater would be the story, and instead the unit false-started four times trying to install McDaniel's scheme live. Arizona, missing starting guard Isaiah Adams, leaned on Tyler Allgeier and a questionable Jeremiyah Love anyway — Love opened the scoring on a 5-yard touchdown run despite the ankle issue that had been in doubt all week. The board had this as a heavy Chargers favorite before kickoff; by the finish, that number looked like it belonged to the wrong team.
Omarion Hampton answered right back with a touchdown of his own, then fumbled later on, one of two turnovers Arizona's defense forced. Chad Ryland made all four of his field goal tries — from 27, 44, 34 and 49 yards — and the Cardinals controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes, the kind of clock-eating afternoon that buries a team still finding its footing in a new offense.
Ladd McConkey was the best offensive player on the field for a half — 5 catches, 82 yards, and an 8-yard touchdown that briefly pulled Los Angeles within two — before a third-quarter hit from Mack Wilson Sr. sent him out with a chest injury he never returned from. Harbaugh had no update on him afterward, and the offense never found the same rhythm once he left. Herbert added 29 rushing yards on 5 carries, but the interception and the four false starts up front told the story Harbaugh summed up afterward as sloppy.
Arizona's defense turned the second half into a clinic, allowing one touchdown across the final two quarters and forcing three punts — one of which Simi Fehoko blocked, the first blocked Chargers punt in 76 games, with Trey McBride scoring on the very next play. Andrew Wingard capped it late with an interception that set up the clock-killing final possession, part of a day that made him the first player in franchise history with two tackles for loss, a pick and a forced fumble in the same game. LaFleur earned a game ball for his coaching debut; across the field, Harbaugh is left retooling an offense that looked nothing like the one behind two straight 11-win seasons.
None of this settles where either team is headed over 17 games — Brissett has to prove 277 yards was the floor and not the ceiling, and McDaniel's offense gets a much longer runway than one afternoon at SoFi Stadium. But the opener both teams walked into with very different expectations ended with Arizona's new coaching staff looking finished, and the Chargers looking like the team still installing something.