Same old Chargers? The one thing ruining Justin Herbert’s MVP case, L.A.’s hopes of deep playoff run

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The Chargers‘ vanishing act came in a hurry Sunday against the Commanders. When the offense took the field for its opening drive of the second half, Los Angeles’ 10-0 lead had become a 17-10 deficit in 10 minutes of game time.

The offensive line would be the next thing to go up in smoke. On first and 10, an unblocked Jordan Magee came flying in on a blitz, and Justin Herbert quite literally disappeared under a sea of white uniforms and burgundy helmets. It officially went down as a sack by Johnny Newton, but any of the four Commanders creating a Herbert sandwich could have been credited.

No matter. Herbert has bailed the Chargers out plenty of times before, and it looked like he would again, firing a dart to Quentin Johnston for 23 yards. The only problem? Right tackle Trey Pipkins was called for holding. Instead of a second-and-19 conversion, the Chargers retreated into second and 28.

And yet there was Herbert again, delivering a 31-yard rainbow to Keenan Allen to somehow overcome adverse conditions again. The only problem? Stop me if you’ve heard this before: a flag, this time illegal formation on Pipkins for lining up in the backfield.

“We’re good enough to overcome some [mistakes], but you need to minimize them,” Jim Harbaugh said. “That’s an area that we need to get better at.”

And now, the Chargers’ perfect start — and status as NFL darlings — has gone AWOL, too. The Chargers fell, 27-10, to the Commanders on Sunday, and in what’s becoming a concerning trend, offensive line play doomed them again. Herbert took four sacks and has taken 16 on the season, tied for second-most in the NFL. He was pressured on 38% of his dropbacks Sunday and has faced a 45% pressure rate over the past three weeks.

The straw has broken the camel’s back … and maybe the Chargers’ status as contenders.

Things began to go awry — as they seemingly so often do for the Chargers — in the most painful of ways. Just days after becoming the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history a few days into training camp, left tackle Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending torn patellar tendon.

The Chargers cobbled things together by moving Joe Alt from right tackle to left tackle, but Alt suffered a high ankle sprain in a Week 4 loss to the Giants. On Sunday, Pipkins, the fill-in right tackle, and right guard Mekhi Becton, signed this offseason to fortify the interior of the line, were both in and out of the lineup. Even breakout rookie running back Omarion Hampton, handling a workhorse after Najee Harris‘ season-ending Achilles tear earlier this season, left with an ankle injury.

When the offensive line wasn’t an issue, the Chargers operated reasonably efficiently: 5.2 yards per play, nine for 16 on third down and just two punts. Unfortunately, too many of the drives that didn’t end in punts didn’t end in points, either.

• Up 10-0 early in the second quarter and driving once again, Johnston fumbled at the end of a 19-yard gain.
• Down 20-10 in the third quarter, the Chargers were discombobulated getting out of the huddle on a fourth and 2, and Herbert fired incomplete to Tyler Conklin on a disjointed play. 
• Down 20-10 in the fourth quarter, the Chargers drove all the way to the Washington 1-yard line and then went backwards. On third and goal, Herbert’s deflected pass got picked off by Mike Sainristil. Washington then ripped off a 13-play, 99-yard drive to seal the deal.

Even with a mishmash offensive line and a significant penalty problem — 24 for 192 yards over the past two weeks — Harbaugh said he believes the answers up front are in-house and the issues are fixable. It is only Week 5, after all, Los Angeles is still 3-2 and 3-0 in the AFC West, and Alt could return soon. Herbert has shown he can head an elite offense when he has simply functional support around him.

“Concentration, focus in our assignment, our alignment, our technique, all the things that you do as a good football team: things that we have done, that are in our DNA, in our character,” Harbaugh said. “When things are happening outside the team’s character, [we need] more focus in those areas.”

But even he realized that they “have to get the bleeding stopped.” Sunday’s mistake-filled performance and the M*A*S*H* unit that’s trying and failing to protect Herbert showed how quickly things can go from rosy to worrisome in an NFL season.

The sky isn’t falling, but changes and improvement have to happen to ensure these aren’t the “Same Old Chargers,” a phrase synonymous with a franchise that has seen so many promising seasons go unfulfilled.

This news was originally published on this post .

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