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<\/p>\nEL SEGUNDO, Calif. \u2014 Another season, another gut punch. The Los Angeles Chargers walked off the field after yet another playoff loss, and once again the uncomfortable truth is staring the organization \u2014 and its fan base \u2014 directly in the face: Justin Herbert is now 0\u20133 in the postseason.<\/p>\n
At some point, the excuses have to stop.<\/p>\n
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For years, Herbert has been sold as the answer. The golden-armed franchise quarterback. The future Hall of Famer. The one who would finally erase six decades of Chargers heartbreak. But three playoff games is no longer \u201ctoo small a sample size.\u201d It\u2019s a pattern \u2014 and it\u2019s an ugly one.<\/p>\n
This latest Wild Card loss was supposed to be different. New leadership. A championship pedigree head coach. A staff that, by all accounts, did enough to put Herbert in position to win. Yet when the lights were brightest, Herbert was nowhere to be found. No urgency. No takeover moment. No signature drive. Just another quiet exit.<\/p>\n
And no, this one doesn\u2019t fall on Greg Roman.<\/p>\n
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Roman paid the price with his job, but firing him feels more like organizational therapy than accountability. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh called it a \u201cfresh start\u201d and a \u201cresults-oriented\u201d decision. Fair enough. But if we\u2019re truly being results-oriented, then the conversation can\u2019t keep stopping everywhere except the quarterback.<\/p>\n
Chargers GM Joe Hortiz was refreshingly honest when asked whether the team put Herbert in position to succeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt times we did, at times we didn\u2019t,\u201d Hortiz said. \u201cUntil we win a Super Bowl, I\u2019ll tell you we weren\u2019t good enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the most truthful statement made by anyone in the building \u2014 and it applies directly to Herbert.<\/p>\n
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Harbaugh, predictably, defended his quarterback.<\/p>\n
\u201cJustin\u2019s a winner,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But is he?<\/p>\n
Winners show up when it matters. Winners elevate in January. Winners don\u2019t shrink in three straight playoff appearances. Herbert hasn\u2019t just lost \u2014 he has underperformed relative to his own elite regular-season standard. And that\u2019s the part Chargers fans are tired of ignoring.<\/p>\n
This franchise hasn\u2019t won a Super Bowl in over 60 years. Sixty. That\u2019s generations of loyal fans investing emotionally, financially, and spiritually into a team that continually finds new ways to fall short. The Chargers don\u2019t need pretty throws in September. They need wins in January.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Jessica Cryderman – The Sporting Tribune<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
Right now, Herbert looks like the ultimate regular-season quarterback \u2014 capable of piling up yards, highlight throws, and analytics love \u2014 but not capable of carrying a team when the pressure peaks. That\u2019s not a Hall of Fame r\u00e9sum\u00e9. That\u2019s a cautionary one.<\/p>\n
The organization seems to understand something has to change, which brings us to the offensive coordinator search. Herbert, notably, will have no say in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no questions about his ability as a player,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cHe\u2019s not looking to be the GM or the coach. It\u2019s our responsibility to put him in the best position possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
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That\u2019s fine. Quarterbacks don\u2019t need personnel power. But at some point, \u201cputting him in position\u201d has to stop being the shield. The coaching staff did enough. The roster did enough. Herbert didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
So now the Chargers search for another \u201cfix.\u201d Marcus Brady has already interviewed. More candidates are coming. The net, as Harbaugh said, is wide. They want someone with a track record, vision, and proven success. They want a physical run game. A tough, smart offense. A \u201chead coach of the offense.\u201d<\/p>\n
And maybe they\u2019ll find the right system. But systems don\u2019t throw the ball. Quarterbacks do.<\/p>\n
If Herbert truly is the quarterback Harbaugh believes he is, then it shouldn\u2019t matter who the coordinator is when the season is on the line. Great quarterbacks overcome. Elite quarterbacks elevate. Championship quarterbacks don\u2019t need everything perfect to deliver one playoff win.<\/p>\n
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Herbert still hasn\u2019t delivered one.<\/p>\n
The Chargers will keep building. They\u2019ll keep changing coordinators. They\u2019ll keep promising progress. But unless Herbert proves he can be more than a regular-season star, the ending will remain the same.<\/p>\n
Another January loss. Another fresh start. Another year further away from the championship Chargers fans have waited six decades to see.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL SEGUNDO, Calif. \u2014 Another season, another gut punch. The Los Angeles Chargers walked off the field after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681478,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[241,7,1012,9018,1159,393,1014,262,2444,2443,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-681477","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-chargers","8":"tag-chargers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-jim-harbaugh","11":"tag-joe-hortiz","12":"tag-justin-herbert","13":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleschargers","18":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115904136190066801","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=681477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}