The scouting report on the 2024 LA Chargers has always been that Jim Harbaugh’s squad will beat less talented teams but will not be able to overcome the talent disparity when playing better foes.

Sunday’s loss against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a reminder of that reality.

What started as a promising game for the Chargers with two early turnovers turned into one of the worst losses of the season. Tampa Bay thoroughly outplayed the Chargers on both sides of the ball, pulling away with a 40-17 victory on the Bolts’ home turf.

This was not an accident, nor was it an outlier (in fact, we predicted this outcome weeks ago on Thanksgiving). Instead, it was an eye-opener to the Chargers and the fanbase that this team simply is not as far along as their record may indicate.

The Chargers came into this game touting the top-scoring defense in the entire sport with an 8-5 record that seemingly gave the team a fast pass to the playoffs. Sunday’s game was a reminder that those metrics don’t tell the entire story and are merely surface-level numbers.

Yes, the Chargers’ defense has been good this season and Jesse Minter deserves recognition for the job he has done. But the fact of the matter is the Chargers have not played very many dynamic offenses. And when the Bolts do play a good offense, bad things happen.

The Cincinnati Bengals dropped 27 with a huge second half, the Baltimore Ravens dropped 30 and could have scored more, and the Buccaneers had an absolute field day. Turns out it isn’t as easy to make stops on defense when you aren’t playing Aidan O’Connell, Spencer Rattler, Jameis Winston, Will Levis, or one of the myriad of poor quarterbacks the Bolts have played.

Offensively, the Chargers have been woeful all season. Justin Herbert has dealt with two ankle injuries behind a porous interior offensive line with passing weapons that would look good in the XFL. Seriously. Stone Smartt was third on the team in total targets on Sunday.

The Chargers are a mediocre team talent-wise that has been elevated by good coaching. That is not to say this season has been a failure, and losses like Sunday’s should not change that reality. Even a 10-win season has seven sleepless nights. It is important not to be a prisoner of the moment.

However, that goes both ways. When things were going well against lesser opponents the sky seemed like the limit for the Chargers. The Chargers reminded fans who they really are on Sunday, and while it is unfortunate, it is not inherently a bad thing.

This team making the playoffs after a five-win season and losing talent in the offseason should be a massive celebration. Winning a playoff game on top of that would be icing on top of the cake. This team is not a Super Bowl contender and the Bucs reminded fans of that.

But with how this season has gone, with the Chargers losing to any team with an ounce of talent, winning a playoff game might be too much of an ask.