The Los Angeles Chargers’ passing attack took a while to get humming this season. Justin Herbert didn’t even have a 200-yard passing game until the month of October. However, Herbert and the passing attack finished the season strong.
In the Chargers’ 34-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Herbert was 28-of-36 for 346 yards with two touchdowns. This was just Herbert’s second 300-yard passing game of the season. In all, the Chargers had 473 yards of total offense, which was a season-high.
Herbert leaned upon wideouts Quentin Johnston and Ladd McConkey heavily. Johnston hauled in a career-high 13 receptions for 186 yards while McConkey had five receptions for 95 yards. If the Chargers can continue to receive this type of production from both Johnston and McConkey, it’ll bode well for their chances of beating the Houston Texans in the AFC wild-card round on Saturday.
After the game, Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh commended Herbert for how accurate he was throughout the win over the Raiders.
“I’m not going to say ‘unbelievable’, because I believe it and because I see it every day but there were throws that he was making that were 15-yard throws, 30-yard throws, 45-yard throws, that were handoffs,” Harbaugh explained. “They were right where you would put it if you were handing the ball off on a running play,” Harbaugh said. “Just an incredible game by him.”
Herbert finished the regular season with a sparkling 23-to-3 touchdown touchdown-to-interception ratio, and although it took a while for the Chargers passing offense to get cooking this season, they’re getting hot at the right time.
When the Chargers face the Texans, it’ll mark Herbert’s second postseason appearance in his five-year career. His lone taste of the playoffs thus far was a 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2023. Two years removed from that loss, Herbert is ready for a crack at his first playoff win.
“It’s always an exciting opportunity to play in the playoffs. That’s all you want, you want a ticket to the dance,” Herbert said. “We’re now in this position, so we have to make the most of it and take advantage of it.”
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