a 24-16 defeat in Buffalo<\/a> despite temperate weather and the favored Bills committing five turnovers and 10 penalties.<\/p>\nIn January 2024, Spanos and son John Spanos chose to pay up for Harbaugh, a proven winner. The five-year contract was worth $75 million. Harbaugh\u2019s $16 million salary this year sits fourth among NFL coaches, per Sportico.com.<\/p>\n
Compared to Harbaugh\u2019s current team, the Spanoses didn\u2019t get any worse from their cheap hires who preceded Harbaugh \u2014 Mike McCoy followed by Anthony Lynn and Brandon Staley \u2014 at the outset of their third seasons.<\/p>\n
McDaniel is paid\u00a0big money, too, by NFL standards.<\/p>\n
His compensation isn\u2019t publicly known, but it\u2019s way up the scale.<\/p>\n
The Miami Dolphins are still paying off his head coaching contract and L.A. must be paying him, too, what with McDaniel last offseason commanding interviews from two other playoff contenders and drawing interest from the Eagles.<\/p>\n
McDaniel\u2019s offense \u2014 too cute, too busy \u2014 stumbled to the franchise\u2019s worst two-game start to a season since head coach Norv Turner\u2019s first San Diego offense sputtered to open the 2007 season.<\/p>\n
Sunday, coming off a six-fumble game that also saw star right tackle Joe Alt commit four penalties and allow a safety, McDaniel\u2019s unit was better prepared.<\/p>\n
There were no turnovers or penalties in the first half, a 10-10 draw.<\/p>\n
Rookie tackle Travis Burke, appearing on offense for the first time this season, succeeded on multiple plays as a sixth lineman to assist with pass blocking and a ground game that went for 74 yards.<\/p>\n
But in the second half, L.A.\u2019s offense downshifted into Chargering mode.<\/p>\n
There were seven penalties, two of them false starts inside Buffalo\u2019s 10.<\/p>\n
There was Quentin Johnston, who can never be fully trusted, dropping a perfect third-and-7 pass, echoing the first-half drop by Oronde Gadsden.<\/p>\n
Calling into question the coaches, the offense embarrassed itself on a crucial fourth-and-7.<\/p>\n
While a timeout was being contemplated, the play clock got away from the coaches and QB. The play came in late, leaving just nine seconds left when the huddle broke. Near zero, when a harried tight end shifted, someone should\u2019ve called timeout.<\/p>\n
Instead, the slapdash sequence ended in an incompletion.<\/p>\n
Herbert stands as L.A.\u2019s third highly paid underachiever. His salary cap charge of $46.3 million is second among all quarterbacks, surpassed only by the Rams\u2019 Matthew Stafford.<\/p>\n
Sunday, Herbert made it three games in a row with a bad interception in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
This one was extra bad.<\/p>\n
With L.A. ahead 13-10 early in the quarter, Herbert dropped back from Buffalo\u2019s 23 on third-and-5 and threw a post-route pass.<\/p>\n
A Bills safety picked it off at the 1 by cutting in front of recent L.A. addition Marquez Valdes-Scantling, a 31-year-old receiver on his ninth NFL team.<\/p>\n
Tom Brady blamed Herbert entirely for the pickoff, saying the QB should\u2019ve seen the safety but didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
\u201cPoor awareness, poor decision,\u201d said the former QB\/Fox analyst. \u201cThrows him a meatball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buffalo (3-0) drove for a TD, stopped L.A. on the dysfunctional fourth-and-7 play following Johnston\u2019s drop and kicked a field goal, all but closing out a ragged game.<\/p>\n
L.A. (0-3) and its rookie coordinator Chris O\u2019Leary did get big plays from several young defenders, headed by rookie safety Genesis Smith (two sparkling interceptions) and rookie end Akheem Mesidor (a fast sack against star tackle Dion Dawkins).<\/p>\n
But the game exposed L.A.\u2019s lack of deptg.<\/p>\n
Two injury replacements made large errors \u2014 a tight end\u2019s false start at Buffalo\u2019s 1, a cornerback\u2019s poor pass coverage that led to a tying TD and his hold on second-and-26 that led to a go-ahead TD.<\/p>\n
In its next game, L.A. will have a chance to upend a much-injured Seattle team. Sunday, the Seahawks lost 33-31 to Washington.<\/p>\n
Regardless, Spanos\u2019 big boys need to pick up their games.<\/p>\n
Harbaugh has lost to three rookie head coaches.<\/p>\n
The McDaniel-Herbert offense has lagged far behind the McDaniel-Tua Tagovailoa\u00a0offense\u2019s first three games, back in 2022.<\/p>\n
Herbert isn\u2019t to blame for inferior blocking and receiving.<\/p>\n
But the fourth-quarter interceptions like the one Sunday, which came soon after a penalty spared him an end zone pickoff, could end up looming large if L.A. misses the playoffs. And when you\u2019re getting paid like a top QB, you\u2019re expected to turn winnable games into victories.<\/p>\n
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