The Los Angeles Chargers are 0-2, and the nature of those losses matters.

Losing to the Las Vegas Raiders in a division game is not necessarily a season-defining failure. Weird things happen in divisional matchups, especially early in the season. The Chargers can be given some benefit of the doubt for that loss alone.

But losing to the Raiders one week after dropping a game by two scores to the Arizona Cardinals, led by Jacoby Brissett, is a different story entirely. You cannot do that.

The Chargers needed to do one of two things. They needed to defeat the Cardinals convincingly and then potentially lose a tough divisional game to the Raiders, or they needed to bounce back from a bad Week 1 performance and handle Las Vegas.

They did neither.

The Chargers aren’t dead after two games, but there are three major reasons fans should already be getting the flag ready, because the headstone for this season is starting to look a little too close for comfort.

1. The AFC West Looks Better Than Expected

The first problem is the division itself.

The AFC West looks considerably tougher than many anticipated entering the season, which makes the Chargers’ 0-2 start even more damaging. Start with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Patrick Mahomes is steadily getting healthier and threw for more than 300 yards this past week. More importantly, Kansas City has started to find a running game. That could be a significant development.

The Chiefs have spent the past several seasons relying heavily on Mahomes to make something happen through the air. If Kansas City can consistently run the football, this could be a much more balanced team than we’ve seen recently.

Then there are the Raiders.

Las Vegas was supposed to be a bad football team. Instead, the Raiders have looked far more competent than expected. They may not suddenly be viewed as a contender, but they have proven that they can be competitive — and that’s enough to make divisional games against them dangerous.

Denver also had a poor showing in Week 1 before bouncing back with a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 2. The Broncos have a really good defense and should be a difficult team to play throughout the season.

That’s the problem for Los Angeles.

The Chargers didn’t start 0-2 against two teams that look completely overmatched. They started 0-2 against the Cardinals and Raiders, while the rest of their division appears capable of making every week difficult.

In a weaker division, an 0-2 start might be easier to overcome. In this division, there is significantly less room for error.

2. The Interior Offensive Line Is a Major Problem

This hasn’t received nearly enough attention.

The Chargers’ interior offensive line has been a major issue through two games, and that is particularly concerning when you have a quarterback like Justin Herbert. Rashawn Slater is good, even if he’s dealing with some injuries, and Joe Alt has established himself as a very good player.

The bookends aren’t the primary problem. The interior is.

Cole Strange and the rest of the interior offensive line have struggled to provide Herbert with consistent protection. Through two games, Herbert has already been sacked six times and has faced constant pressure.

That’s not a recipe for sustained offensive success.

It’s difficult to consistently move the football when your quarterback is under pressure, and it’s even more difficult to expect that formula to work over a 17-game season. The Chargers can overcome some deficiencies at individual positions, but protecting Herbert has to be near the top of the priority list.

He is the player this franchise has invested so heavily in building around. If the interior offensive line continues to collapse, it doesn’t matter how talented the rest of the roster is. The offense is going to have a difficult time functioning at the level necessary to compete in a loaded AFC.

3. The Jesse Minter Loss Is Already Showing Up

This might be the biggest concern of all. And it wasn’t discussed nearly enough heading into the season.

The Chargers didn’t simply lose Jesse Minter to the Baltimore Ravens head coaching position. They replaced him with Chris O’Leary, who had called a defense for one season in his career — and that was at Western Michigan.

To be clear, O’Leary could eventually become an excellent defensive coordinator. Years from now, this could look like nothing more than a young coach going through the growing pains that come with taking over an NFL defense.

But the transition from Minter to a coordinator with one season of defensive play-calling experience, and none at the Power 4 or NFL level, was always going to be a significant adjustment.

And through two weeks, the results are alarming. The Chargers have allowed 26 points per game, 525 passing yards and four touchdown passes against Kirk Cousins and Jacoby Brissett. That’s not good enough, obviously.

The Chargers’ defense was supposed to be one of the strengths of this football team. Instead, there have already been significant questions about how the unit is being coached, how it is being schemed and whether it can consistently get off the field.

Minter’s departure was always going to be a challenge. What made him so valuable was his ability to maximize the talent on the roster, make adjustments and create a defense that often felt like more than the sum of its individual parts.

You can’t simply replace that with a different playbook. The Chargers need O’Leary to develop quickly, and they need the defense to establish an identity of its own.

The Chargers Aren’t Dead — But the Margin for Error Is Shrinking

An 0-2 start does not automatically end a season. The Chargers have 15 games remaining, and there is plenty of time for this team to turn things around.

But the early warning signs are difficult to ignore.

The AFC West is tougher than expected. The interior offensive line is struggling to protect Herbert. And the defense is trying to replace one of the most important coaches on the staff with a coordinator who is still learning on the job at the NFL level.

Those are three problems that don’t necessarily have quick fixes. The Chargers needed to come out of the first two weeks with at least one win, particularly with the Cardinals and Raiders sitting on the schedule.

Instead, they’re 0-2 and already facing a significant uphill climb. The season isn’t over.

But if Los Angeles doesn’t start fixing these problems quickly, the conversation around this team could shift from “Can the Chargers contend?” to “How did this season go wrong?” far sooner than anyone expected.