With the Colts’ loss last night, the Chargers officially locked up a playoff berth last night. For the second straight year under Jim Harbaugh, the Bolts will be playing meaningful January football. It will be the third trip to the NFL Playoffs for Justin Herbert.
Herbert was also named as one of the AFC’s 2025 Pro Bowl quarterbacks today along with New England’s Drake Maye and Buffalo’s Josh Allen. It’s the second Pro Bowl nod for Herbert of his six year career.
Justin Herbert is carrying the Chargers right now, and the stats show it.
Herbert is unlikely to get a ton of MVP buzz. Matt Stafford and Drake Maye appear to be heavy favorites for the award in various odds listings. But Herbert has kept the Chargers treading above water at a time where injuries and other circumstances could’ve derailed the team.
First, there’s the injuries on the roster. LT Rashawn Slater ruptured his Achilles before the season. His replacement in Joe Alt started and finished just four games this season. The offensive line has had over 20 combinations play in 2025. RBs Omarion Hampton and Najee Harris missed a majority of the season with their injuries.
There were a slew of defensive injuries as well. EDGE Khalil Mack and LB Denzel Perryman missed over a month of the season each. The Chargers used all eight of their regular-season IR activation slots this season and had several season-ending injuries on top of that.
The offensive line combinations and injuries to their two key tackles has had effects on the Bolts’ offense as well. Via ESPN Analaytics, the Chargers are 31st in run block win rate and 32nd in pass block win rate. Herbert has been pressured on drop backs 243 times this season. That’s the most for any quarterback this season.
For the last 3.5 weeks, Herbert has also played with a broken hand and led the Chargers to three straight wins. His effort against Philadelphia was historic as the Bolts QB had hand surgery just a week before beating the defending champion Eagles on Monday Night Football.
Where Herbert lacks compared to his MVP contender counterparts is the raw stats. He’s thrown for just 25 touchdowns and 12 interceptions for 3491 yards. It’s still an incredibly impressive statistical season considering the circumstances, but it’s not going to get the love from the national media relative to Maye or Stafford’s seasons.
While Herbert won’t win MVP, there is still a path to him being able to get some votes in the process. If the Chargers were to win the division over the Broncos by finishing out the season 2-0, it would certainly grab some national headlines. Pair that with how Herbert has played since injuring his hand and it’s easy to see the praise he would get for the Bolts’ first AFC West title in 16 years.
No offensive line, a broken hand, and injuries everywhere-and yet, Justin Herbert is dragging Los Angeles to the NFL Playoffs. If he doesn’t win MVP, he should at the very least get some votes and respect.