LA Chargers: The good, bad and ugly in slaughtering vs. Patriots

The bad:

There were so many ugly things in this game that it is almost hard to pick out what was simply bad and not outright ugly. Let’s take a crack at it.

Justin Herbert

I know, it has become sacrilegious to say something bad about Justin Herbert as a Charger fan but the fact of the matter is that he was not good in this game. He wasn’t just “not good” but he was bad.

Yes, I know, he did not have the best circumstances. The offensive line was horrid and he does not have the best leadership. However, he still missed some throws and struggled against Bill Belichick’s defense.

It did not really matter either way but this game showcased that Herbert has carried this coaching staff this season. The only reason why the Chargers have been in most of these games against better teams is because of Herbert. When he does not have his usual elite performance the rest of the team and coaching really gets exposed.

Herbert will be fine. This one bad performance won’t mean anything long-term. But let’s not pretend like it wasn’t a bad game for the rookie.

The run defense:

To be fair, the defense was not outright terrible in this one, which might sound weird considering how many points they let up. The Patriots had an excellent scripted first drive in which the run defense was really exposed, outside of that, it was not as terrible as it could have been.

The defense was not helped out by the fact that the special teams allowed 14 points mixed with terrible field position both because of the special teams and because of turnovers.

They still were not good, hence why they are in the bad, but they definitely were not as bad as the final score may indicate.