The Green Bay Packers were out-coached and out-played in all three phases during a 26-11 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon at Dignity Health Sports Park.

The clunker performance dropped the Packers to 7-2 after nine games.

Six observations from the Packers’ loss to the Chargers:

1. Pass rush wasn’t good enough: When the Packers defense can consistently pressure a quarterback with four rushers, they’re tough. When they can’t, veteran quarterbacks have chewed them up. Far too many times Sunday, Philip Rivers stood in the pocket and had time to let deep crossers or deep in-breakers develop across the field. Those are tough routes to cover. The antidote is getting the quarterback off the spot and off schedule with pressure. The Packers couldn’t do it often enough on Sunday, and Rivers sliced them up for 294 yards on 28 attempts.

2. Sloppy start on offense: The start on offense was unfocused, lethargic and unacceptable. On the first play, Davante Adams missed a block and Aaron Jones got cut down for a loss of one. Bryan Bulaga’s false start cost them five more yards. After one official snap, the Packers were already facing second-and-16. The second drive featured two false starts. Both drives ended with sacks on third-and-long. The offense’s third and fourth drives ended with incompletions on third-and-long. The Packers had four pre-snap penalties on offense in the first half alone.

3. Defensive line issues: It’s probably time to start worrying about the guys in the middle of the Packers defense. Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and rest of the defensive linemen are struggling, and it’s producing a trickle-down effect for the entire defense. Blake Martinez is a replacement-level linebacker when he’s not running free, teams are giving more help on the edge rushers on passing downs, and the Packers can’t stop the run when they know it’s coming. Clark hasn’t played like an elite player, and Lowry is having a poor season. The defense will continue to struggle until the interior of the defensive line starts playing better. The Chargers ran inside without much resistance Sunday.

4. Rodgers looked uncomfortable: And it’s hard to blame him. The pass protection was a mess throughout the first three quarters. David Bakhtiari, Bryan Bulaga, Billy Turner and Corey Linsley all gave up quick pressures that either resulted in a sack or quarterback hit. Back-to-back plays on the offense’s second possession of the second half help tell the story. On second-and-10, Bakhtiari and Bulaga both got beat on the edges, resulting in a combined sack by Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. On third-and-16, Rodgers looked skittish in the pocket despite facing only a three-man rush, and he then air-mailed the throw over the head of an open Davante Adams. The Packers got into a position no offense wants to be in: Struggling to protect but needing to throw. Rodgers rushed a few throws and was inaccurate on a few others.

5. No Jones: One week after producing 226 total yards, Aaron Jones handled only nine total touches, including just one catch (on the first play from scrimmage). The Packers ran only 49 total plays, with most coming in the fourth quarter, so getting any one player touches was difficult. Still, it’s hard to imagine why the Packers didn’t try feeding the ball to Jones, especially given the struggles protecting the quarterback. He finished with 29 total yards.

6. Desire matters: Every team in the NFL is talented. The margin for determining wins and losses is so small. So when one team plays like it’s do-or-die and the other plays like they’ve already locked up a first-round bye, results like Sunday happen. Don’t get it wrong: These were two similarly talented teams. The Chargers came into Sunday at 3-5, but they won 12 games last year and have legitimate difference-makers at the skill positions, edge rusher and in the secondary. The Packers went through the motions and got blown up.