Herbert admits he 'wasn't good enough' in Chargers' loss - ESPN

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The 2025 season was supposed to be different for the Los Angeles Chargers, a team that made an improbable playoff run despite injuries to some of its best players.

But it ended like it always has for this era of the franchise, with a dejected Justin Herbert taking responsibility for an uncharacteristically poor performance in a playoff loss. This time it came in the form of a 16-3 defeat to the New England Patriots.

«I didn't play well enough and didn't make any plays,» he said. «And when it mattered most, we didn't score any points.»

Herbert finished 19-of-31 passing, with 159 yards and no touchdowns. He led the Chargers in rushing with 55 yards.

Herbert has been one of the league's best quarterbacks all season, navigating behind one of the league's worst offensive lines and willing the Chargers to eleven wins. But on Sunday, he looked far from the player he had been all season.

On the Chargers' opening drive, for example, he had a wide-open Ladd McConkey running across the field for what likely would have been at least a significant gain, if not a touchdown, but scrambled for a nine-yard gain instead. On a third and 7 in the third quarter, McConkey had sprinted past the Patriots' secondary, but Herbert underthrew him. Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones Davis broke up the pass.

When asked how to assess how he saw the field Sunday, Herbert was blunt: «Obviously, not well enough.»

Herbert thrived at finding lanes as the pocket collapsed this season, finishing with a career-high 498 rushing yards. For most of Sunday's game, the Chargers gave Herbert plenty of protection, and he made questionable decisions.

On the second of six patriots sacks Sunday, for example, Herbert drifted around the pocket before