Despite having set numerous regular season records during his first six NFL seasons, Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has a less-than-ideal track record in the postseason. In his first taste of Playoff action, Herbert and the Chargers saw a 27-0 lead evaporate against the Jacksonville Jaguars as quickly as you could say 'DUUUUVAL.' Remarkably, Herbert's second Playoff appearance was even a bigger disaster.
Not even a full year ago, the Chargers entered a Wild Card Round matchup with the Houston Texans as 3-point favorites, but departed as losers by 20 points. In that 32-12 defeat, Herbert played what was without question his worst game as a professional, throwing 4 interceptions and completing just 43.8% of his pass attempts, the lowest completion percentage he's ever had in 96 career games.
Now there's no shame in having a subpar day against what has turned into the best defense in the National Football League during the 2025 season, but that's no consolation for Justin Herbert. The Pro Bowl quarterback still has a sour taste in his mouth after last year's beatdown at the hands of the Texans, and with Houston making the trip out to Los Angeles this week, it's on Herbert's mind more than ever.
"It was one of those things that you continue to think about," Herbert said, according to Kris Rhim of ESPN.com. "No one felt worse than I did after that game. And I think it's important to continue to move forward and realize that it's what happened. It would be crazy of me to deny the truth of what happened and to live in this reality where if I tried to block it out, I don't think that's doing any good."
Props to Herbert for owning a career-worst performance, but there's additional context that should be considered when looking back on that game. It's worth remembering that the weapons the Chargers had put around Herbert last year were inferior to the group of pass-catchers and running backs flanking Herbert this year.
It's also worth noting that Herbert was sacked four times and pressured on nearly 40 percent of his dropbacks in that Wild Card loss against Houston. Unfortunately for the Chargers, Herbert might be under fire just as often this Saturday afternoon.
Not only do the Texans employ two of the top edge rushers in the NFL (Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter), the Chargers are playing without two cornerstones of their offensive line... tackles Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt. Unless Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman has something really nice schemed up, Herbert could end up running for his life just as often, and with similar results, as last year.