For the third time in four seasons, Justin Herbert helped the Los Angeles Chargers to double-digit wins in the regular season and a place in the playoffs. But for the third time in as many trips, the Bolts were bounced in the Wild Card Round yet again, this time taking an embarrassing 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
While the Chargers' defense did everything it could to slow down Drake Maye and the Pats' high-octane offense, the Los Angeles offense failed to get anything going whatsoever, gaining just 207 total yards.
While Herbert led the team in rushing, tallying 57 yards on the ground on 10 carries, he also completed just 19 of 31 passes for 159 yards and took six sacks. And while he at least didn't throw any interceptions after tossing four in last year's playoff loss to the Houston Texans, he obviously also didn't throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his postseason career.
Now, the Chargers' dreadful offensive line, which was the Bolts' biggest liability all season, deserves plenty of blame, but Herbert himself undoubtedly deserves some of the criticism he's been taking as well, as a few of the sacks he took could have been avoided had he not hung on to the football for as long as he did. The sixth-year signal-caller also failed to connect on several throws to open receivers throughout the evening, which Cris Collinsworth had no problem pointing out during the NBC broadcast.
To his credit, Herbert took responsibility for his mistakes, flat-out saying that he "didn't play well enough and didn't make any plays." But his high-profile teammates certainly weren't about to let their quarterback take the fall in the aftermath of yet another disappointing playoff loss, as both Keenan Allen and Derwin James came to his defense.
Keenan Allen, Derwin James, and Jim Harbaugh all came to Justin Herbert's defense
"If anything, he's the reason we were in this position. Throughout the season, had those injuries," Allen said. "Doing what he does. Taking hits, getting back up, coming back, trying to go back to the next play, and keep us in the game."
"Toughness. He was just trying to give us a chance," James added. "Anytime I seen him, guys hitting him from the left, hitting him from the right and he kept battling. Nobody knows how hard it is back there when it's like that. Credit to him for going out there and giving it his all, all season not just this game. All season. Got a lot of respect for 10, I know what type of player he is."
Jim Harbaugh, of course, also chimed in. "Warrior. Doing everything and anything he could to move our team and get us in the end zone," Harbaugh said. "He just gives it everything he can all the time."
Herbert having the support of his head coach and his teammates is obviously a great thing. And Allen's comments should specifically be noted, as he's 100 percent correct in his assessment that the Chargers would never have been in a position to win a playoff game had Herbert not gotten them there with yet another fantastic regular season that led to his second Pro Bowl selection.
At some point, however, if Herbert wants to be genuinely considered as one of the elite quarterbacks in this league, he's going to have to win a playoff game.