In their new home, wins elusive for Chargers

COSTA MESA, Calif. — First impressions are overrated, right? The struggling Los Angeles Chargers sure hope so.

The Chargers have taken Los Angeles but it’s hardly been by storm. Instead, the new NFL team in town welcomes the Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) on Sunday, flying anywhere but high.

Instead, the Chargers are winless after three games, two of them at home, and have resumed their residence in the AFC West cellar, a position the Chargers are well-accustomed to.

“We definitely put ourselves in a big hole,” running back Melvin Gordon said. “We have to find a way out.”

That was the team’s motto after last year in leaving San Diego. But plopping down in L.A. has shown the Chargers, winners of nine games in the two years before this one, haven’t changed much.

“I have been saying, ‘San Diego Super Chargers’ for so long,” Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith, who grew up in San Diego, said after Kansas City beat the Chargers last week, 24-10.

But it’s all about this week and trying to figure out a way to win one. dang. game. The Chargers hope it comes against an NFC East team in the Eagles.

Philadelphia recently kept the Giants winless at 0-3 in their previous game and it’ll be bent on doing that to a Chargers team that is, surprisingly, struggling on offense.

If L.A. is going to make any inroads on the crowded landscape of its new home, its playmakers with the ball have to lead the way: Philip Rivers, Keenan Allen, Antonio Gates and Gordon.

Instead, the Chargers are sputtering when they get their mitts on the ball. Rivers, in particular, played as if the football was a hot potato in heaving three careless interceptions against the Chiefs.

“You hate to be the guy that lets down the group, but you just get back up and keep going,” Rivers said.

If the Chargers fail to win on Sunday — their third straight home game — the season could be going, going gone.

First-year head coach Anthony Lynn isn’t going that route. Instead, he’s certain the team will turn it around, “not next year, but this year.”

But in any year, starting 0-3 all but stamps a club’s ticket to a vacation, and not the playoffs, at the end of the regular season. That makes Sunday’s game so critical for the Chargers and Lynn admits he doesn’t possess any secret potions to find the win column.

“We have to go back to work and we have to get better,” Lynn said. “As coaches and players.”

Maybe in the Chargers’ fourth impression, they will do just that.

SERIES HISTORY: 12th regular-season meeting. Chargers lead series, 7-4. The Eagles visit the Chargers for the first time since 2009, although that was in San Diego and not Los Angeles. The Eagles got beat, 31-23 as Philip Rivers threw for three touchdowns and more than 400 yards. The Chargers defeated them the following year as well in Philadelphia, 33-30. When the Eagles travel to play the Chargers, they are 5-1 and have lost five straight. The lone win came in 1974, 13-7. Sunday’s game will be the Eagles second in California against the Chargers since 1989.

–Defensive Melvin Ingram continues to show there’s more to the Chargers’ pass rush than Joey Bosa. Ingram leads the NFL with 5.5 sacks after collecting a career-high three in Sunday’s loss to the Chiefs. Ingram has a sack in every game this year. “Every time I turned around Melvin was getting a sack,” head coach Anthony Lynn said. “I love his energy, his passion on the sidelines.”

–Quarterback Philip Rivers is looking to rebound in a big way on Sunday. Rivers, who’s in his 14th year, has had some painful days in the NFL but few can match last Sunday when he heaved three interceptions in the first half for the first time. “I think you hope to avoid days like this all year long,” said Rivers, who has led or shared the lead for most interceptions in the NFL in two of the past three years. “But if you have them, shoot, learn from them and go and not overreact.”

–After averaging but 54 rushing yards in the first two games, the Chargers were encouraged when Melvin Gordon rushed for 79 yards and a score on 17 carries. Gordon aggravated a knee injury that derailed his second-half production. “I look for run efficiency,” head coach Anthony Lynn said. “If we run it efficiently, I’ll run it again.” Gordon said he landed awkwardly in the second half but thought he would be fine for the game against the Eagles.

–For the third straight week, a plane is expected to circle the StubHub Center during the game on Sunday to take a jab at Chargers owner Dean Spanos. Last week it read: “Free the Chargers. Bring ’em back to San Diego.”

NOTES: RB Melvin Gordon (knee) didn’t practice on Wednesday. Gordon had to leave Sunday’s game early with the knee issue. … RT Joe Barksdale (foot) was limited in Wednesday’s practice. He was unable to go last week. … LB Hayes Pullard (knee) was limited. … LS Mike Windt (non-football related) didn’t practice. … WR Mike Williams (back) was limited in practice as he continues to ramp up his work load. … DE Whitney Richardson, who was withthe team in training camp, was signed to the practice squad.