Chargers' playoff failure raises uncomfortable questions on Justin Herbert

[ad_1] EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — One other season, one other intestine punch. The Los Angeles Chargers walked off the sphere after yet one more playoff loss, and as soon as once more the uncomfortable reality is staring the group — and its fan base — straight within the face: Justin Herbert is now 0–3 within the postseason.

Sooner or later, the justifications need to cease.

Commercial

For years, Herbert has been bought as the reply. The golden-armed franchise quarterback. The long run Corridor of Famer. The one who would lastly erase six many years of Chargers heartbreak. However three playoff video games is not “too small a pattern measurement.” It’s a sample — and it’s an unsightly one.

This newest Wild Card loss was purported to be completely different. New management. A championship pedigree head coach. A employees that, by all accounts, did sufficient to place Herbert in place to win. But when the lights have been brightest, Herbert was nowhere to be discovered. No urgency. No takeover second. No signature drive. Simply one other quiet exit.

And no, this one doesn’t fall on Greg Roman.

Roman paid the value together with his job, however firing him feels extra like organizational remedy than accountability. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh referred to as it a “recent begin” and a “results-oriented” determination. Honest sufficient. But when we’re really being results-oriented, then the dialog can’t maintain stopping in every single place besides the quarterback.

Chargers GM Joe Hortiz was refreshingly trustworthy when requested whether or not the crew put Herbert in place to succeed.

Commercial

“At instances we did, at instances we didn’t,” Hortiz mentioned. “Till we win a Tremendous Bowl, I’ll let you know we weren’t adequate.”

That’s probably the most truthful assertion made by anybody within the constructing — and it applies on to Herbert.

Harbaugh, predictably, defended his quarterback.

“Justin’s a winner,” he mentioned.

However is he?

Winners present up when it issues. Winners elevate in January. Winners don’t shrink in three straight playoff appearances. Herbert hasn’t simply misplaced — he has underperformed relative to his personal elite regular-season normal. And that’s the half Chargers followers are uninterested in ignoring.

This franchise hasn’t gained a Tremendous Bowl in over 60 years. Sixty. That’s generations of loyal followers investing emotionally, financially, and spiritually right into a crew that frequently finds new methods to fall quick. The Chargers don’t want fairly throws in September. They want wins in January.

<img alt="Los Angeles Chargers quarterback, Justin Herbert (10) passing during an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA." loading="lazy" width="544" height="306" decoding="async" data-nimg="1" class="standard-img" style="color:transparent" src="https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/oTAqMrFVE7Mmb7laVNcLnw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw/https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_sporting_tribune_articles_423/e5fda92226c7a8a782696b256957cc09"/> Los Angeles Chargers quarterback, Justin Herbert (10) passing throughout an NFL soccer sport in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

Jessica Cryderman - The Sporting Tribune

Commercial

Los Angeles Chargers quarterback, Justin Herbert (10) passing throughout an NFL soccer sport in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders on November 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.

Proper now, Herbert appears like the final word regular-season quarterback — able to piling up yards, spotlight throws, and analytics love — however not able to carrying a crew when the strain peaks. That’s not a Corridor of Fame résumé. That’s a cautionary one.

The group appears to grasp one thing has to vary, which brings us to the offensive coordinator search. Herbert, notably, can have no say in it.

“I've no questions on his skill as a participant,” Harbaugh mentioned. “He’s not seeking to be the GM or the coach. It’s our duty to place him in the perfect place potential.”

Commercial

That’s advantageous. Quarterbacks don’t want personnel energy. However in some unspecified time in the future, “placing him in place” has to cease being the protect. The teaching employees did sufficient. The roster did sufficient. Herbert didn’t.

So now the Chargers seek for one other “repair.” Marcus Brady has already interviewed. Extra candidates are coming. The web, as Harbaugh mentioned, is broad. They need somebody with a monitor document, imaginative and prescient, and confirmed success. They need a bodily run sport. A troublesome, sensible offense. A “head coach of the offense.”

And possibly they’ll discover the appropriate system. However methods don’t throw the ball. Quarterbacks do.

If Herbert really is the quarterback Harbaugh believes he's, then it shouldn’t matter who the coordinator is when the season is on the road. Nice quarterbacks overcome. Elite quarterbacks elevate. Championship quarterbacks don’t want all the pieces excellent to ship one playoff win.

Commercial

Herbert nonetheless hasn’t delivered one.

The Chargers will maintain constructing. They’ll maintain altering coordinators. They’ll maintain promising progress. However except Herbert proves he will be greater than a regular-season star, the ending will stay the identical.

One other January loss. One other recent begin. One other 12 months additional away from the championship Chargers followers have waited six many years to see.