The Chargers are mostly to blame for the ugly Wild Card loss to the Texans

The Los Angeles Chargers came into their AFC Wild Card matchup with Houston Texas as favorites with 2.5 points. They came out of that game a 32-12 loser with massive questions surrounding the future of the franchise. So who’s to blame for the Chargers’ ugly playoff loss to the Texans? With such a colossal failure, you have to start from the top.

Justin Herbert’s last line from Saturday was 14-of-32 (43.7%) for 242 yards with one touchdown, four sacks and four interceptions. To put Herbert’s play in perspectiveThe Chargers quarterback completed 65.9% of his passes and threw three picks in the entire 2024 regular season.

When KB throws four picks in a game, takes more sacks, and completes less than half of his passes, there is almost no chance for their team to win. And while the sample size is still small, Herbert appears to be developing a pattern of going small in the biggest games.

The last time we saw the former Oregon Ducks QB in the postseason, he and his Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars en route to a 31-30 loss in the early days of 2023. In that game, Herbert went 25-of-43 for 273 yards with no INTs and three sacks.

It’s not as bad as the Chargers-Texans game, but it’s not good either.

Ever since Herbert came into the league in 2020 and won Offensive Rookie of the Year by a landslide, pundits have put his name among the top young signal-callers in the NFL. When you hear talk of the future of the league, it’s Patrick Mahomes at his best, followed by a group of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert.

For those who haven’t figured it out already, Herbert is not on the level of Allen Jackson and Herbert. And after Saturday, he might not even be on the level of Young Gun across from him, CJ Stroud.

Herbert is now in a group with the man who beat him two seasons ago, Trevor Lawrence, and other draft picks who clearly have a lot of talent but seem to be missing something. This includes names like Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa and Baker Mayfield.

This AFC Wild Card game was a win for the Chargers, and while there were issues elsewhere, but the bottom line is not the pitching, four interceptions would have drastically increased the team’s chances of victory.

Unlike his quarterback, there’s no doubt that Jim Harbaugh is a winner. He is 55-25-1 as an NFL head coach, 118-46 in college at Stanford and Michigan, and has won a college national championship and coached in a Super Bowl.

Still, in a disheartening playoff loss, the buck has to stop at the top.

The Chargers went on a streak in this game, and J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards got just nine and seven carries, respectively. And with the offensive line failing to protect Herbert, the game plan was clearly flawed.

There was also the odd situation when the Texans returned a blocked extra point for a score, and Cameron Dicker didn’t know exactly what to do when faced with a live ball. It could have been panic in the moment from Dicker Kicker, but it’s also something you can put down to training.

Ultimately, Harbaugh should be successful in LA, but there are still a few things he needs to figure out — both schematically and personnel — before the Chargers can become a dangerous playoff team.