INGLEWOOD – This was supposed to be a get-right game for the Chargers after last week’s excruciating loss in Kansas City, right?

We-e-e-e-e-l-l-l …

Baker Mayfield had a few things to say about that, and the Chargers had few answers.

Tampa Bay’s quarterback – who resurrected his career in SoFi Stadium two years ago as the Rams’ late-season QB, with 200-yard plus passing games against the Raiders and Broncos – torched this building’s other tenant Sunday. His 22-for-27 day, with four touchdown passes and 288 passing yards, in a 40-17 Bucs victory cast some sudden doubt on what had previously seemed to be a fairly straightforward Chargers march to a wild card spot.

This is how it looked toward the end, to borrow some terminology from another sport. When the Chargers went for it on fourth and 7 from midfield with a little over six minutes to play, it was tantamount to pulling the goalie at a similar juncture in hockey. On this occasion, the effect was similar to an empty net goal. A Justin Herbert completion to DJ Chark Jr. was 3 yards short, and that was the last look the Chargers had at this game.

And now it gets stickier.

For much of this season, Jim Harbaugh’s first Chargers team seemed to be rolling toward a spot in the postseason. Their defense was among the leaders in fewest points allowed and didn’t give up 20 points or more until Week 11, while an offense that had rediscovered a tough, physical running game was the perfect complement to Justin Herbert’s skills and, yes, toughness.

Each of those was nowhere to be found Sunday.

As stated, Mayfield carved up the Chargers’ defense with the pass while Bucky Irving (117 yards, 15 attempts) and Rachaad White (64 on 15 attempts) continually gashed them. Mayfield himself contributed a key 21-yard scramble to set up a field goal just before halftime.

“We know who we are as a team and as a defense and the standard we hold ourselves to,” lineman Morgan Fox said. “… We’re upset, but we know we got to fix it. We’re professionals and our standard is a lot higher than what we put on film today.”

Meanwhile, the Chargers were scoreless in the second half, and much of that could have been due to predictability. They had just 32 yards rushing for the game on 11 carries, 23 of them by Gus Edwards. In the second half, they had 4 yards on 4 carries, and the predictability of the pass led to this result: They were outgained 297-65 and outscored 30-0.

“It’s tough to put up points when we’re 0 for 6 on third down,” Herbert said. “We definitely have to be better at that, whether that’s communication, just being on the same page. We didn’t execute the way we needed to today, especially on third down.”

A month ago they were 7-3. They’ve lost three of their last four, and they are now hanging on to the third wild card spot at 8-6, slipping behind Denver. The Broncos are their next opponent, here Thursday night.

The Chargers are still two games ahead of Miami, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, all of whom are 6-8, but without a quick course correction that cushion could slip away easily enough. After Denver, the Chargers play their Week 17 game at New England – that should be a victory against the 3-11 Patriots, and if it isn’t the Chargers are in more trouble than anyone realizes.

And if it comes down to the final week, that game is in Las Vegas. In 2021, the Raiders knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs in the season-ender in ‘Vegas. And in ’23, they embarrassed L.A. to the tune of 63-21 in week 15, and head coach Brandon Staley was fired the next morning. And the Raiders, now 2-11, certainly won’t have anything else to play for beyond tormenting their archrival one more time.

From this vantage point, the Chargers need to play with desperation, or at least supreme urgency. There is, of course, a fine line, and maybe the distinction between urgency and desperation depends on whether you’re trying to execute plays or to stop them.

“I don’t think there’s a time for where desperation helps anyone,” Herbert said. “That’s just up to us as an offense and us as a team to go out and execute, play the way we need to. Obviously, they’re all important games in December and January, and this is where we want to be and we just gotta keep executing and we have to get better.”

Linebacker Daiyan Henley had a slightly different take.

“I think that this team is going to play better just because we don’t like losing,” he said. “What you’re going to see right now is – it’s desperation, yeah, but we could say we’re desperate since the beginning of the season because we always wanted to get to the postseason. We’ve been knowing that. So taking a loss like this doesn’t make us any more desperate than we already been.

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“We know today we did not play playoff football. We know that it wasn’t acceptable. And I say we because it’s we as a team, as a three-phase group. And I feel like in order to move forward, to be better, we first have to be accountable for how we played (Sunday). And I think that’s what you’re going to see – a bunch of guys accountable and wanting to be better.”

However you define it, with what the Chargers have left – beginning with a short week and a critical game against not only a division rival but the team ahead of them in the wild card race – anything less than supreme urgency, and effort, is unacceptable.

But I’m guessing they’re already aware of that, and they’ll have plenty of reminders over the next three days.

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