{"id":686720,"date":"2026-01-18T16:33:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/686720\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T16:33:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T16:33:16","slug":"nfl-makes-punishment-decision-on-justin-herbert-incident-after-chargers-wild-card-loss-to-the-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/686720\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Makes Punishment Decision on Justin Herbert Incident After Chargers\u2019 Wild Card Loss to the Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL released its weekly list of punishments on Saturday, and it caught everyone off guard. During \u200cthe Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>\u2019 16-3 loss to the New England Patriots<\/a>, an incident involving quarterback Justin Herbert raised eyebrows. The no-call late in the first half sparked chatter, especially after Drake Maye\u2019s team turned the moment into points. Los Angeles fans eyed a punishment after the game, and now the league has made its stance clear.<\/p>\n

During the Chargers\u2019 wild-card loss, the Patriots sacked Justin Herbert six times. One of the hits came in the second quarter with 41 seconds left on the clock. The Chargers were facing third-and-11 when defensive lineman Milton Williams charged towards Herbert to sack him. The cameras caught him contacting the quarterback\u2019s head. However, the officials didn\u2019t throw any flags for roughing the passer, as many expected. Even the league didn\u2019t penalize him when the NFL dropped its game-day accountability report for its wild-card round on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Patriots eventually edged out the Chargers, but the possibility of Williams receiving the fine still lingered. It is because the league can issue fines after reviewing the play, even when penalties aren\u2019t called on the field. According to the league\u2019s rulebook, roughing the passer can lead to fines starting at $17,389. This amount can increase to $23,186 if a player repeats the offense in the same campaign.<\/p>\n

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The league issued only eight fines, and none of the violations involved the hit on Herbert. NBC\u2019s rule analyst Terry McAulay reviewed the play during the broadcast. In his opinion, Williams should have faced a penalty for violating the rule, along with a gain of fifteen yards and an automatic first down for the Chargers. Unfortunately, the game didn\u2019t head in that direction, and their following play ended in a punt.<\/p>\n

In no time, the Patriots leveraged the situation and extended the lead to 6-3 by kicking a field goal right before halftime. The Patriots eventually stopped Herbert\u2019s team from advancing past the first round in the postseason, continuing their playoff drought that stretches back to 2018. Meanwhile, Los Angeles moved fast after the loss as it parted ways with offensive coordinator Greg Roman.<\/p>\n

Justin Herbert\u2019s team makes firings on offense after playoff exit<\/p>\n

Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh\u2019s partnership dates back to 2011, when they both worked for the San Francisco 49ers<\/a>. In fact, he had been Harbaugh\u2019s only offensive coordinator, joining him again in Los Angeles two years ago. However, that changed after the franchise mirrored its playoff performance from last year, scoring just one touchdown. The loss prompted the team to release Roman.<\/p>\n

\"NFL,<\/p>\n

NFL, American Football Herren, USA Los Angeles Chargers Training Camp aJul 25, 2025 El Segundo, CA, USA Los Angeles Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh left and offensive coordinator Greg Roman during training camp at The Bolt. El Segundo The Bolt California United States, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xKirbyxLeex 20250725_jhp_al2_0343<\/p>\n

Injuries undoubtedly played a major role in the team\u2019s offensive downfall. The Chargers lost left tackle Rashawn Slater in training camp, while Joe Alt sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 9. But the team didn\u2019t go easy on Roman and also dismissed offensive line coach Mike Devlin. Meanwhile, Harbaugh broke his silence on Roman\u2019s firing<\/a>, calling it part of an organizational reset.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s results-oriented,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd as an organization, we\u2019re doing everything with one goal in mind: That\u2019s to win a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the past, the coach has relied on a powerful running game along with dominant defenses. This formula has paid off during Harbaugh\u2019s three-year stint with the Niners, but now he\u2019s ready to go beyond this approach. He and general manager Joe Hortiz made it clear that they won\u2019t box themselves while searching for a new offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to compete for the best candidate, and it is an attractive position,\u201d Hortiz said.<\/p>\n

With major changes underway, Justin Herbert\u2019s team signals it is serious about reshaping the offense and changing their postseason fate.<\/p>\n

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The post NFL Makes Punishment Decision on Justin Herbert Incident After Chargers\u2019 Wild Card Loss to the Patriots<\/a> appeared first on EssentiallySports<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NFL released its weekly list of punishments on Saturday, and it caught everyone off guard. During \u200cthe…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":686721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2064],"tags":[100282,241,833,7,12329,253,1012,5661,1159,1014,262,2444,2443,7891,249,6,208,1526,252,2854],"class_list":["post-686720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-chargers","tag-american-football-herren","tag-chargers","tag-drake-maye","tag-football","tag-greg-roman","tag-houston-texans","tag-jim-harbaugh","tag-joe-alt","tag-justin-herbert","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangeleschargers","tag-milton-williams","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots","tag-rashawn-slater","tag-san-francisco-49ers","tag-the-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115917069972026617","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686720","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=686720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}