For years, Justin Herbert has been widely considered a prototype for an NFL quarterback. Scouts, coaches, executives and many in the media have gushed over his arm and legs, marveled at his mechanics and drooled over his potential.
Heading into every year following his splendid rookie season, the NFL has been bracing for his inevitable breakthrough.
It’s time we all admit that we were just wrong.
After six NFL seasons, plus two ugly games this year, we should all accept Herbert for what he is: a good quarterback but not one destined for greatness. Herbert is no longer being held back by a poor situation.
In 2026, he’s holding back the Los Angeles Chargers.
It’s true that his offensive line is terrible at times and his receivers drop way too many passes. But the best quarterbacks find ways to elevate their teams. And it’s clear that Herbert doesn’t do that, at all.
Justin Herbert is known for putting up big numbers, be he’s eclipsed 250 passing yards just once in the past 11 games. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
His shortcomings were on full display Sunday, as the Chargers fell to 0-2 with a 26-14 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Herbert was just 15 of 27 for 192 yards with a touchdown pass and two interceptions. He was outplayed by Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins, just like he was outplayed by Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett one week ago.
Was it entirely Herbert’s fault that the Chargers lost to two teams that were supposed to be awful to start the season? Of course not. But that’s not the standard of a franchise quarterback. And it’s certainly not the standard for a quarterback Jim Harbaugh recently said “will be known as the greatest, best ever to play the position of quarterback” when his career ends.
The truth is, Herbert is not even on the fringe of the fringe of that conversation. And even with his record pace to 25,000 career passing yards, he doesn’t seem destined to pass Dan Fouts or Philip Rivers on the list of the greatest Chargers quarterbacks of all time.
Now, Herbert does put up numbers. There’s no denying that. But he’s been expected to transcend the numbers, especially when Harbaugh hired Mike McDaniel as his offensive coordinator this season. McDaniel was the guy who was finally going to get the greatness out of Herbert. It’s why the Chargers were considered a dark-horse Super Bowl contender. It’s crazy now to think that just two weeks ago their title odds were equal to the Eagles’ and better than those of the Broncos, Patriots, Bengals and 49ers.
While the season is still young, the 28-year-old Herbert is not. Moreover, the McDaniel addition hasn’t helped at all. And the only logical conclusion is that Herbert is simply missing what makes quarterbacks great.
The hiring of Mike McDaniel as Chargers OC was supposed to bring out the best in Justin Herbert. Through two games, the pairing has resulted in two touchdown passes and three interceptions. (Photo by Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Ernie Accorsi, the former New York Giants general manager who passed away on Saturday, once described the bar like this: “Can they take their team down the field with the championship on the line and into the end zone?” In other words, how do quarterbacks perform in the biggest moments?
Well, Herbert is 0-3 in the playoffs for his career, and he performed pretty poorly in each of those three games. But it’s more than just the results. It’s about making his team better than the sum of its parts, even in the regular season. It’s about making his teammates better than they are.
Herbert couldn’t even do that against the Cardinals or the Raiders, two clubs universally predicted to finish last in their respective divisions. His supporters might point out that Chargers tight end David Njoku deflected a pass into Herbert’s first interception on Sunday. But the truth is the pass was underthrown and behind Njoku, who was a few yards behind the defense and would’ve had an easy big gain if the ball was thrown in front of him. Herbert’s second interception, late in the fourth quarter, was an ill-advised, forced throw into traffic to the wrong side of Derius Davis’ hands.
Herbert’s touchdown pass, to be fair, was outstanding. He evaded pressure, stepped up and sidearmed a dart to tight end Oronde Gadsden, giving the Chargers a short-lived, third quarter lead. But that’s Herbert. For every good play, there’s at least one bad play. One step forward, one step back. And more often than not, the step back comes at a terrible time.
Which brings up one more Accorsi-ism: He said the definition of leadership was “watching Johnny Unitas step off the bus.” His point was that the old Baltimore Colts knew they had a shot every game just because Unitas was their quarterback, because of his presence. They were that confident that he’d find a way to pull a game out.
There’s just no way the Chargers can say that about Herbert. He’s good yet frustratingly overrated. He’s a white-knuckler, not a man that inspires confidence in the big spots. And that’s a huge problem for the 0-2 Bolts. Their upcoming schedule is brutal — at Buffalo, at Seattle, versus Denver, at Kansas City, at the L.A. Rams, versus Houston and at Baltimore. The Chargers need a great quarterback to avoid bottoming out.
But that’s just not who Herbert is. He’s never going to be among the best doing it, much less the best to ever do it. He is, instead, the most overrated.
Jayden Daniels’ Injury Could Cost Dan Quinn His Job
Everything about this season for the Washington Commanders was riding on the health of QB Jayden Daniels. They were sure that their 5-12 disaster a year ago was mostly because he missed 10 games with injuries. They believed that with him healthy again, they could really be a contender again.
Then Daniels was carted off the field on Sunday with a dislocated left elbow and a towel over his head. And that moment might mark the figurative end of the Commanders’ season — and Dan Quinn’s coaching tenure in D.C.
And yes, it’s that serious, because it’s hard to see how the 0-2 Commanders can recover if Daniels is sidelined for an extended period of time. He looked great against the Cowboys on Sunday before his first-half injury, throwing for 96 yards and running for 69 more. The Commanders were in the game prior to that point.
Then they fell apart and lost, 37-20.
The extent of Daniels’ injury isn’t known, but as cruel as it may be, it’s hard to see Quinn surviving another season without his biggest star and best weapon. The Commanders don’t have the defense or running game to push through Daniels’ absence. It would take a brilliant coaching job by Quinn to even reach the heights of .500.
And that might not be enough to keep him on the job for a fourth year, not after he shook up his coaching staff and took over the defensive playcalling as a way to get the Commanders back on track.
Maybe it would be unfair to make Quinn pay for two seasons lost to devastating Daniels injuries. But it sure seems likely that if the Commanders miss the playoffs again for any reason, owner Josh Harris and GM Adam Peters will opt to go into 2027 with a new coach and a fresh start.
Caleb Williams’ Injury Has The Bears Holding Their Collective Breath
It felt like all of Chicago went silent when QB Caleb Williams went down on Sunday afternoon. It had to cross everyone’s mind that a special season might have just slipped away for the Bears.
The good news after the game — a wretched 9-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings — was that Williams had only suffered a hamstring injury and was walking without much of a limp. But even Bears coach Ben Johnson admitted that hamstring injuries can be “pretty damaging.”
And it’s possible the damage is already done.
That’s because even though the extent of Williams’ hamstring injury wasn’t immediately known, hamstring injuries tend to linger. And that’s especially problematic for players who make their living with their legs. Just ask Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who was never the same last year after pulling his hamstring in Week 4 — an injury from which the Ravens never recovered, either.
A fully healthy Williams really is the key to everything in Chicago. He’s grown so much in his first two seasons and looked primed to be an MVP contender this year, now with a stronger grasp of Johnson’s offense. Yes, he was struggling on Sunday in the rain against a tough Vikings defense. But even in that game, he showed how good he is at making something out of nothing and keeping defenses off balance. His presence alone is a huge part of what makes the Bears’ powerful running game go, too.
Tyson Bagent might be a fine backup, but he’s just not nearly the QB Williams is. Few are. And unfortunately, it’s possible Williams won’t be himself again this season. That would be a shame, because there was a chance for this to be a super season in Chicago, if you catch my drift.
Someone Needs To Make Brian Flores Their Head Coach
This will get lost in the headlines about Williams, but don’t dismiss the brilliant job Brian Flores’ Vikings defense did against the Bears — and the miracle they’ve pulled off so far this season.
A week ago, the Bears put up 59 points and 552 yards. Flores’ defense held that unit to 297 yards and three points. Williams was out there for all but the final seven-and-a-half minutes Sunday, and the Vikings had him throttled. Flores’ defensive masterpiece comes on the heels of a brilliant fourth quarter against Green Bay, in which the Vikings forced two turnovers and twice stopped the Packers on fourth down in the red zone to spark a wild comeback victory.
The Vikings are now 2-0 despite some bad quarterback play from Carson Wentz, who took over for injured starter Kyler Murray, and it’s all because of Flores’ defense.
Maybe one club out there team will remember that in the coming offseason, and look beyond the fact that he’s suing the NFL for racially discriminatory hiring practices, and offer him a head coaching job. He certainly deserves it. He’s the best defensive coordinator in football right now, and he was a better head coach than you probably remember in Miami, where he guided a rebuilding franchise to a 24-25 record and two winning seasons in three years.
He deserves a second chance, regardless of whether that lawsuit is settled.
Jalen Hurts Has To Carry The Eagles Now
There were signs last season, and they are even more obvious now: These aren’t the same old Philadelphia Eagles. They’re not going to wear teams down with a best-in-the-league offensive line anymore, and they’re not going to beat teams into submission with a punishing, clutch defense.
So if they’re going to win as much as they’re used to winning, it’s going to be on the shoulders of quarterback Jalen Hurts.
Jalen Hurts connects with DeVonta Smith for 22-yard TD, giving Eagles lead over Titans | NFL Highlights
That was really clear on Sunday in Tennessee when Hurts nearly cost the Eagles the game by throwing two terrible interceptions, but then bailed them out with a brilliant final drive. Down 20-17 with 1:56 to go, Hurts drove the Eagles 65 yards for a touchdown, completing 6 of 8 passes for 61 yards and a 3-yard scoring pass to Darius Cooper along the way. That included two brilliant throws to — and catches by — DeVonta Smith, proving they can be a heck of a duo even without A.J. Brown.
Afterward, his teammates were clear that Hurts was the main reason the Eagles escaped with a win.
“That motherf—er balled out today,” left tackle Jordan Mailata said. “Jalen really got in his bag today.”
- I told you the New Orleans Saints were for real, and were going to be the biggest surprise in the NFC this year. Their come-from-behind, near-win in Detroit in Week 1 was a big clue. But the proof came in their 24-17 win in Baltimore on Sunday. They have it all, from a brilliant coach in Kellen Moore to one of the best young quarterbacks in the game in Tyler Shough (27 of 34, 252 yards, 1 TD passing and rushing), and a defense that held the 1-2 punch of Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry to a combined 102 rushing yards. The Saints probably aren’t a championship contender yet, but they’re good enough to finish on top of the weak NFC South.
- There was a lot of noise that Deshaun Watson was playing for his job this week. If that’s true, he did enough to keep it. He went 24 for 38 for 238 yards, two TDs and no interceptions in the Browns’ 23-19 win in Tampa, surprisingly outplaying the QB he replaced in Cleveland: Baker Mayfield. So far, Watson has done exactly what Todd Monken was hoping he’d do when he named him the starter over Shedeur Sanders. That is, he’s played like a veteran. He’s not great, but he can run an offense, which can really aid the development of a young team. Eventually, Monken might want to take a peek at the future and let Sanders play. But it’s clear the time for that isn’t right now.
- Aaron Rodgers has now thrown 79 passes in two games, which feels like an unsustainable rate for a 42-year-old who has completed just 59.4% of those throws and averaged just 5.2 yards per attempt. Rodgers was 23 of 39 for 187 yards and an interception in an ugly 20-3 loss to the Patriots. His lack of mobility continues to get him into trouble (four sacks, including a fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score) and he just has nothing on his throws downfield. It’s hard to imagine Mike McCarthy would bench his old friend, but if things continue to go like this, he’s going to have to think about giving rookie QB Drew Allar a look at some point in the season.
In NFL Fallout, Ralph Vacchiano breaks down the impact of the biggest events every Sunday.
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