The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2026 Football Preview. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps, as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2026 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the Los Angeles Chargers performed from a penalty perspective in 2025 and where they can improve in 2026.
Los Angeles Chargers 2026 Penalty Outlook: Discipline, Flags & Hidden Edges
The Good
- The Chargers ranked No. 1 in generating offensive holding penalties per game on opposing teams.
- The Chargers registered an overall net positive versus opponents in generating automatic first downs via penalty.
- The Chargers recorded a net penalty yard advantage versus opponents in the first, second, and third quarters of contests.
- The Bolts were the No. 1 beneficiary of face mask penalties in 2025.
The Bad
- The offense was uncharacteristically undisciplined in 2025, accounting for 53% of the team’s overall penalties.
- The Chargers ranked as the least penalized offense in the NFL in 2024, but ranked 13th in penalties per game in 2025.
- The Chargers ranked as a top-10 penalized team for pre-snap infractions. False starts were the big driver of the elevated numbers, a category in which the Bolts ranked third overall for false starts after ranking 32nd in 2023 and 29th in 2024.
- The above point played a major part in offensive holding and false starts accounting for 43% of the team’s overall penalties, compared to just 34% of the team's overall penalties in those categories in Jim Harbaugh's first two seasons in LA. This represents an outlier performance for Harbaugh-coached teams, so expect a major improvement in both categories this season.
- An above-average 29% of the team’s overall penalties occurred on third-down plays, higher than the NFL average of 23.8%.
- The Chargers surrendered a disproportionate 57.5% of automatic first downs via penalty on third and fourth-down plays. The league average was 38.8%.
Grade: C
The Chargers benefit by having nine contests scheduled in their home stadium.
However, the additional game is no walk in the park, with the Bolts facing their cross-town rivals and the preseason Super Bowl favorite Rams.
The front office overhauled the offensive line in the offseason, while the return of Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater gives the Chargers a huge boost.
An improved line would lay the foundation for a potentially top-five offense in the NFL, orchestrated by offensive mastermind Mike McDaniel.
The Chargers have been a one-and-done playoff team in each of Jim Harbaugh’s first two seasons in LA, and a repeat performance would be viewed as entirely unsatisfactory in 2026.
This season represents the Chargers' best chance to clinch the AFC West in a long time, laying the groundwork to launch an extended playoff run that has yet to materialize with Justin Herbert.
Bolts fans hope the third time is the charm in the Harbaugh era.
This analysis continues in the 2026 Football Preview
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Warren Sharp’s 600+ page full-color PDF, the 2026 Football Preview, is unlike anything you have read. Stunning visualizations, including new heat maps and stat pages, are built with the reader in mind. Innovative, next-level thought processes abound in every team chapter and article.
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- Team Chapters previews are in-depth, data-driven & full of actionable info
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- Reasons to bet over/under win totals & analysis of futures betting market
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- Penalty analysis for all 32 NFL teams
