At some point, we all saw it coming. The Los Angeles Chargers ripped off three straight wins in the division, then went and dropped what should’ve been a layup. The New York Giants, with their rookie quarterback, Jaxson Dart, walked into MetLife and handed the Bolts a 21-18 loss in Week 4.

While the reasons behind the Chargers’ fall were plenty, we’ll discuss the obvious one: The offensive line. It couldn’t protect Justin Herbert. The pressure kept on mounting. And the quarterback went on to put up a poor outing. Right after that went down, the head coach, Jim Harbaugh, was supposed to address Herbert’s performance issues, and he sure did.

“He’s taken too many hits,” the HC said. “That’s very concerning. We gotta get better. We gotta put him in a better position.” Indeed. The O-line has been a major concern for Harbaugh and the Chargers, even though they won their first three. They lost Rashawn Slater for the season in training camp after the Pro Bowl left tackle ruptured his patellar tendon.

In Slater’s absence, LA shifted Joe Alt to left tackle. For the first three weeks, it turned out to be a great decision. But during the first quarter in Week 4, the Giants’ linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux fell into Alt’s right leg, and the LT was then carted off the field. Alt was ruled out of the game at the beginning of the second quarter. The further reports suggest the 22-year-old has suffered a high ankle sprain, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

But unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the Chargers’ O-line dilemma. The Chargers entered the Week 4 game without starting right guard Mekhi Becton, who was ruled out of the game with a concussion. Taken all together, one thing’s clear: It’s hard for any O-line to protect its quarterback when three of the starting front five have been down with injuries (two of which are All-Pro calibre). So when Jim Harbaugh said that the team needs to put Herbert in a better position, let’s just say the head coach wasn’t just talking the talk.

Jim Harbaugh’s biggest issue on the team: Offensive line

Heading into Week 4, the Chargers were one of the six undefeated teams, while the Giants were one of the six teams without a win. Well, not anymore. Sure, one ugly loss to the Giants doesn’t change the fact that the Chargers are still a Super Bowl contender. But as things stand, Justin Herbert’s biggest headache is his O-line, and that’s squarely on Jim Harbaugh to fix.

The reasoning is simple. The quarterback completed just 23-of-41 passes for 203 yards, one touchdown, and a couple of picks. On top of that, Herbert was under constant pressure from the Giants’ pass rush, especially after losing Alt. The New York team’s pass rush lit up Herbert with 12 quarterback hits, with seven of those coming just from Brian Burns and Thibodeaux.

The signs are clear: The damaged O-line is leading to Herbert’s struggles. To make it trickier, Slater is already out. Alt is expected to miss a few weeks. And as for Becton? His return timeline is still unclear. That said, Jim Harbaugh now needs to fix the biggest issue on the team.