Chargers at Texans Game Day Thread (Wild Card Round) | Post Game Discussion

[CanadianBoltFan]

I mean, he's not even on the same planet as guys like Allen, Mahomes, Lamar, Burrow right now.

Maybe he can have a bit of a resurgence like Goff did when surrounded by more talent (minus getting traded of course).

I dunno, it just feels like a gut punch after the way he had played all year and especially the final month of the season. Was it just a one time bad game, or now a pattern of poor playoff performance?

Just doesn't leave you with a great feeling going into year freaking 6...

Agreed. For all the natural talent, questions remain

[Air Coryell 84]

The offense choked this game away. They had plenty of opportunities in the 1st half to score TD's and get a sizable lead but instead swung the momentum the other way with that terrible pass to QJ that resulted in a INT.

The defense looked gassed by the time the score was out of reach but they did more than enough to give the team a good chance with any semblance of an offense.

I've seen some posts blaming Roman for "abandoning," the running game. He didn't, they just got stuffed running on 1st down the times they tried. Nothing to build on there.

I think Herbert played a terrible game but hope this isn't the type of game that lingers in a bad way into next season but this type of meltdown with 4 picks is something that he'll likely hear plenty about this off-season.

The O-line was overmatched, QJ was awful and Ladd looked like the only player that was ready for the playoff atmosphere on offense.

I think they made a mistake not making Smartt a bigger part of the game plan.

Roman calls for running on first down. How about run on 3rd and less than 3. Pass, pass, run.

[dmac_bolt]

All good points...but there are ample opportunities the next 6 months in the off season to discuss the roster rebuild. We are little over an hour away from a complete shitting the bed by the offense in a long awaited playoff game. Anyone here has the right to disect it and yes rant if they feel so.

I will be over it by tomorrow but right now i am a little deflated, and annoyed. not that we lost but by the way we lost. The performance by a few players was totally unacceptable for a playoff game.

I’m not telling anyone not to criticize the team or any player, Im not going to be calling out anyone’s posts that may or may not be possibly a little ranty - i get how everyone here feels. Folks can let it out, post as they feel. I’m just posting what I saw in the game.

i saw a QB that had no chance at all after the first quarter. can be jmo, thats fine, but he had no chance. He had 1 receiver, no run game, and no OL. no room to step up or escape, he was swarmed from all sides the entire last 3 quarters in less than 2 seconds. Eventually Herbert reverted to bad hero ball because who the fuck cares - what would have happened if he didn’t and he just took more and more sacks instead.

thats just what I saw. Others can rant, i expect another 30 or so pages, thats cool. Guys are pissed here. I’m not, I’m disappointed but we saw that same OL all year long. I posted my fear that the last 2 weeks were just NE and LV, not actual improvement. Maybe that Salyer vs Pipkins OG debate is closer to settled = none of the above. Our IOL stunk all year, it will be replaced.

If 2025 Chargers give Herbert protection like he had in NE and LV games, he will play like he played in those games. I just honestly don’t think any QB could have won behind our OL today. I completely agree Herbert had a bad game, i don’t blame him - thats the difference with many others. Thats ok, they can vent. He will be our QB next year, guarantee.

[beachcomber]

Herbert is not into the Harbaugh pre-game shoulder pad-helmet thing. He looks like a cat with a mouse in his mouth or someone who crapped his pants...something....mojo killer.

Harbaugh needs to chill the fo/back off of that far as I'm concerned.

don't know if Harbaugh is capable of relating to JH10 ?? and he needs to adjust/figure things out....

there is no shortage of coaches responsible for the offensive game plan.... the pendulum needs to swing toward accommodating the kind of QB Herbert is.... don't try to change him.... change your scheme.

[FoutsFan]

Who is blaming only Herbert? I could throttle Will Dissly right now. Those 2 drops were agregious and directly caused an 11 point swing and huge loss of opportunity. The line was a sieve.

But are you ok with your 275 million franchise QB being 14/32 , a 40 QB rating and more picks in the playoff game than he had all season? On the biggest stage he played thw worst game I can ever recall. Not good enough 5 years in.

And if you want to be included with the elite top 4, the first that must go is all the excuses

The usual haters are blaming Herbert and him alone. Are you even reading this thread? People wanting to trade him, cut him and such. It’s just stupid. I understand people are pissed but seriously watch the game, not just the ball. It is a team sport, if the line is. Of blocking, and the receivers are not getting open it makes it very hard on the QB. We all know he had a bad game but there are many that had worse games than him. It’s easy and lazy just to blame the QB and not even notice anyone else.

[rensoul]

Roman calls for running on first down. How about run on 3rd and less than 3. Pass, pass, run.

Like that 3rd and 1 that they got stuffed on and ended up settling for a FG?

[NYBoltFan]

Really, Mconkey was the only receiver that actually played well, if they didn’t drop balls they simply were constantly covered. Hard to look good when nobody is open.

[jamrock]

I mean, he's not even on the same planet as guys like Allen, Mahomes, Lamar, Burrow right now.

Maybe he can have a bit of a resurgence like Goff did when surrounded by more talent (minus getting traded of course).

I dunno, it just feels like a gut punch after the way he had played all year and especially the final month of the season. Was it just a one time bad game, or now a pattern of poor playoff performance?

Just doesn't leave you with a great feeling going into year freaking 6...

He'd look different with a Ben Johnson, Liam Coen as his OC.

But right now his a mid level QB. Tons of arm talent but la ks so many intangibles. You saw it with Stroud today who made critical plays off script.

The JJ stuff is fantasy. Plenty of QB needy teams will be stepping up to offer multiple picks. But we have way too many needs to do that.

[jamrock]

QJ reminds me of Mike Williams never a number 1 receiver but can excel if he’s the number 2. He’s never going to be the guy but as a number two as the 3rd or 4th option he could be serviceable.

MW caught every catchable ball and some that looked uncatchable. That's not QJ. Not even close

[Chargers8491]

I honestly just don't know anymore but we have no other options so we have to hope we can stack the roster enough that it's impossible to fail, and in that case Herbert's play will declare for itself whether he is the answer or not.

You don't throw 20+ TDs and 3 INTs all year and are just an "average" QB. He did that with very little help especially with the IOL play. Just think of what is #'s would be with better IOL play, another WR, a TE that can catch, and a stud RB.

Don't give up on Herbert. Also, don't forget he is also still learning a new system for what the 5 time in is short career? Harbaugh is going to turn him into a champ you just have to have patience.

[Boltx]

Harbaugh needs to chill the fo/back off of that far as I'm concerned.

don't know if Harbaugh is capable of relating to JH10 ?? and he needs to adjust/figure things out....

there is no shortage of coaches responsible for the offensive game plan.... the pendulum needs to swing toward accommodating the kind of QB Herbert is.... don't try to change him.... change your scheme.

I had hoped that some time away from football would have allowed Roman to reflect and potentially change his approach.

He showed flashes of that this year, but at other times would call a maddening game.

Maybe he will reflect some more this offseason. Clearly a talent infusion on offense is needed.

This is where I hope Hortiz gets creative and tries to trade for a vet or two to filled a need. Garrett Wilson from the Jets? I get it, nobody wants to give away draft capital but if you try to plug every hole with a rookie, we're going to be waiting a long time to see dividends, if at all.

Chef Hortiz get creative.

[FoutsFan]

I’m not telling anyone not to criticize the team or any player, Im not going to be calling out anyone’s posts that may or may not be possibly a little ranty - i get how everyone here feels. Folks can let it out, post as they feel. I’m just posting what I saw in the game.

i saw a QB that had no chance at all after the first quarter. can be jmo, thats fine, but he had no chance. He had 1 receiver, no run game, and no OL. no room to step up or escape, he was swarmed from all sides the entire last 3 quarters in less than 2 seconds. Eventually Herbert reverted to bad hero ball because who the fuck cares - what would have happened if he didn’t and he just took more and more sacks instead.

thats just what I saw. Others can rant, i expect another 30 or so pages, thats cool. Guys are pissed here. I’m not, I’m disappointed but we saw that same OL all year long. I posted my fear that the last 2 weeks were just NE and LV, not actual improvement. Maybe that Salyer vs Pipkins OG debate is closer to settled = none of the above. Our IOL stunk all year, it will be replaced.

If 2025 Chargers give Herbert protection like he had in NE and LV games, he will play like he played in those games. I just honestly don’t think any QB could have won behind our OL today. I completely agree Herbert had a bad game, i don’t blame him - thats the difference with many others. Thats ok, they can vent. He will be our QB next year, guarantee.

Good analysis, it’s very easy to pick one scape goat and just run with it. No thought, effort, or analysis needed. Just yell at the one guy because the TV told me too. It will be much better next year. Even with the scape goat running the offense.