Riding a three-game winning streak into their Week 11 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Los Angeles Chargers gave themselves absolutely zero chance of extending that streak to four. Well, that's not exactly true, as the Bolts did take a 3-0 lead and trailed by only one, 7-6, after Cameron Dicker kicked his second field goal of the afternoon with just over eight minutes to play in the second quarter.
But from there, it was certainly all downhill, as the Jags scored 28 unanswered points en route to an easy 35-6 victory. From a defensive standpoint, Sunday marked just the second time all season that Jesse Minter's unit has allowed 30-plus points, the only other instance coming back in Week 7 in a 38-24 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
And on the offensive side of the ball, this contest was easily the Chargers' worst performance of the year. In each of their first 10 games, the Bolts had amassed no fewer than 314 total yards and had surpassed the 400-yard mark on three occasions. On Sunday, however, they gained a mere 135 yards and a measly eight first downs, both figures representing the lowest totals of the Justin Herbert era.
As for Herbert himself, the sixth-year signal-caller had one of the worst overall games of his career.
Justin Herbert threw for a career-low 81 yards in the Chargers' loss to the Jags
In terms of accuracy, he connected on just 10 of 18 passes, giving him a season-low 55.6 completion percentage. And those 10 passes went for just 81 yards, marking the lowest total of his entire professional career and only the second time he's failed to reach the 100-yard mark.
The only other time Herbert didn't hit triple digits was a 96-yard performance in a 24-7 loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 14 of the 2023 season. The difference there, though, was that he suffered a broken finger in the second quarter, an injury that not only knocked him out of the game but ultimately ended his season.
Sunday was also the first time all season that Herbert failed to throw a touchdown pass. He did, however, throw his ninth interception of the season on what turned out to be the final pass of his day early in the fourth quarter, thus giving him the second-lowest regular-season passer rating of his career at 44.0
The only time he was worse in the regular season was in Week 13 of his rookie campaign, when he earned a 43.7 rating in a 45-0 loss to the New England Patriots. His true career low was 40.9, which came in the Chargers' 32-12 loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round of the postseason this past January.
So, yeah, it was just a bad day all around. Now, to be fair, Herbert was yanked for Trey Lance early in the fourth quarter. And, of course, as it's been for quite some time now, he wasn't allowed to get comfortable for much of the afternoon, as the Chargers' makeshift offensive line continues to disappoint, with new acquisition Trevor Penning proving to be a massive mistake. Herbert was pressured nine times, bringing his league-leading total to 182, and was sacked twice, bringing his season total to 35, which ranks second behind only Drake Maye (36).
Simply put, this was a burn-the-tape type of outing for Herbert and the Chargers as a whole heading into their bye week, and they'll look to get back on track when they return to action in Week 13 against the Las Vegas Raiders.