Here’s what we learned in the Chargers’ 20-17 overtime loss to the Jaguars in Jacksonville on Sunday. (Wait they lost? I stopped watching after they intercepted their second pass in the final two minutes. All they had to do was… )

1. What are these Chargers?

More than halfway through the NFL season, the Chargers have been a tantalizingly confusing team to follow. They’ve completely flipped the script on how many thought they would play, becoming a defense-first team instead of the high-powered offense that people normally associate with Philip Rivers and the Bolts.

The switch in style has kept the Chargers in virtually every game they’ve played this season and, arguably, in good position to win the majority of those games. Yet, they’re 3-6, needing a miracle run to sniff the postseason in their first year back in Los Angeles.


Sunday’s loss was emblematic of the problems the team has faced in recent years — problems the Chargers thought they had cured in tight wins over the New York Giants and Oakland Raiders. When faced with a seemingly sure-thing victory, the Chargers balked and, eventually, collapsed.

Leading by three points at the two-minute warning, the Chargers intercepted Jacksonville quarterback Blake Bortles. After a gut-punch fumble on the very next play by rookie Austin Ekeler, the Chargers intercepted Bortles again.

Given another chance to win the game, they botched it, quickly were forced to punt and couldn’t stop Josh Lambo, a kicker they cut, make back-to-back field goals to win the game.

While this was all happening, I posed a question to my colleagues in the EverBank Field press box. Are the Chargers a bad good team or a good bad team?


We know they’re OK — a .500 season still seems attainable even after Sunday’s debacle, though they’ll need to play a lot better to get there. But are they closer to the top of the league or the bottom?

Sunday showed that the Chargers are closer to the bottom.

While no team is perfect, the mistakes the Chargers made Sunday — and quite frankly throughout most of the season — disqualify them from being considered a “good team.”

Good teams don’t repeatedly drop pick-six interceptions when gifted with the opportunity. Good teams don’t struggle to find ways to get the ball into the hands of their best players.


Good teams don’t repeatedly get flagged for wildly unnecessary special teams penalties like the Chargers continued to on Sunday when they were flagged for illegally touching a punt that was almost motionless on the ground and for blocking a player who was already out of bounds.

Good teams don’t rough the passer in the final minute. Good teams don’t commit delay of game penalties right after forcing turnovers. Good teams don’t celebrate interceptions instead of gaining needed yardage in the return.

1 / 19 Los Angeles Chargers safety Tre Boston picks off a pass during the second half/overtime against the Jaguars. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 2 / 19 Marqise Lee of the Jacksonville Jaguars reaches for the football in front of Michael Davis of the Chargers in the second half. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images) 3 / 19 Chargers safety Tre Boston tackles Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles as Bortles scrambles for yardage during the second half. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP) 4 / 19 Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo, center, celebrates his winning 30-yard field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers with teammates cornerback Jalen Ramsey and tight end James O’Shaughnessy. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 5 / 19 Jaguars Corey Grant runs for a 56-yard touchdown during the first half against the Charges. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images) 6 / 19 Chargers’ Tre Boston celebrates after an interception in the second half. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images) 7 / 19 Jaguars’ Marqise Lee hauls in a six-yard touchdown in front of Tre Boston in the second half. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images) 8 / 19 Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo celebrates his game winning field goal against the Los Angeles Chargers with teammate cornerback Jalen Ramsey during the second half. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP) 9 / 19 Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler, left, dives over the goal line to score a touchdown past Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey, right, and linebacker Myles Jack, back center, during the second half. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP) 10 / 19 Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram grabs Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles as he tries to scramble from the pocket during the second half. (Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP) 11 / 19 Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Marqise Lee is stopped by cornerback Trevor Williams after a reception during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 12 / 19 Chargers’ Austin Ekeler beats Jalen Ramsey of the Jacksonville Jaguars for a 28-yard touchdown in the first half. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images) 13 / 19 Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers throws a pass as he is pressured by Jaguars defensive end Dante Fowler Jr., during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 14 / 19 Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles is hit by Chargers linebacker Melvin Ingram as he throws a pass during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 15 / 19 Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette looks for a way past the Chargers defense including linebacker Korey Toomer during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 16 / 19 Jaguars safety Tashaun Gipson, right, breaks up a pass intended for Los Angeles Chargers wide receiver Tyrell Williams during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 17 / 19 Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler is surrounded by teammates after he scored a touchdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars on a pass play during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 18 / 19 Los Angeles Chargers safety Tre Boston upends Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette after a short gain during the first half. (Stephen B. Morton / AP) 19 / 19 Chargers’ Melvin Gordon waits on the field during the first half of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. (Logan Bowles / Getty Images)

Good teams don’t whiff on three straight punts in crunch time. Good teams don’t struggle to decide whether the kicker can even attempt field goals from 50 yards. Good teams make positive plays in the return game.


Good teams don’t get limited to a pair of touchdowns week in and out. Good teams don’t get stuffed on third-and-short in the biggest moments.

And the Chargers did all of those things Sunday.

The Chargers are too good to simply be labeled a bad team, too. The defense has been spectacular and completely answered the challenges presented by the Jacksonville Jaguars offense. They shut down running back Leonard Fournette. They forced the Jaguars offense to move the ball via the passing game and they turned them over twice on key drives late in the game.

But offensively, the Chargers haven’t been good enough often enough. On special teams, they haven’t been good enough often enough.


And that, coupled with all the mistakes, is why this is a good bad team. There’s too much evidence to suggest otherwise.

dan.woike@latimes.com

Twitter: @DanWoikeSports