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Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (10) throws the ball during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025, in Jacksonville, Fla. (AP Photo/Doug Murray)
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Justin Herbert and the Chargers looked like a team in desperate need of a break in the action during their 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, a result that ended their three-game winning streak and sent them into their bye week with questions to be answered.
The Chargers (7-4) couldn’t move the ball and couldn’t stop the Jaguars (6-4) from moving it, a bad combination. The Chargers were outplayed in every aspect of the game imaginable, but especially in the trenches. Their offensive and defensive lines were pushed around from beginning to end.
“We’ve got to fly back to L.A., get together and figure out what we’re going to do about it,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said. “We just weren’t doing anything well. Offensively, we weren’t running the ball well. We weren’t protecting (Herbert). Defensively, we weren’t stopping the run. We were losing coverage. Go through every phase, we got beat every which way you could get beat.”
The statistics told an ugly story for the Chargers, an unsightly series of numbers that were as staggering as they were unexpected after solid victories the past three weeks over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans and Minnesota Vikings that seemed to signal a new level of winning play.
“We’ve got to be better, tell the truth, look at the film and keep going,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said during a postgame analysis that covered nearly all of their many shortcomings in their first game in Jacksonville since their 31-30 AFC wild-card meltdown Jan. 14, 2023.
The Jaguars had 30 first downs and the Chargers had eight, for example. The Jaguars converted on 5 of 10 third-down situations and the Chargers were successful on only 3 of 12, for another example. The Jaguars had 345 total net yards and the Chargers had 135, for one more.
Herbert completed 10 of 18 passes for a career-low 81 yards with one interception. He was sacked twice and was forced into the blue injury tent on the Chargers’ sideline to be checked for a concussion after one especially hard hit just before halftime, when they trailed 14-6.
Harbaugh replaced Herbert with backup Trey Lance with the Chargers trailing 35-6 after the second of Jacksonville running back Travis Etienne’s two touchdown runs with 11:02 remaining in the game. Etienne’s 13-yard run was set up by Antonio Johnson’s 44-yard interception return.
Herbert’s interception, on a deep pass intended for wide receiver Ladd McConkey, was only the fourth play of the second half for the Chargers.
“We just didn’t execute,” said Herbert, whose previous passing low was 96 yards in a Dec. 10, 2023 game against the Denver Broncos. “I turned the ball over, played poorly and didn’t make any plays. So, it’s on us as an offense. I could have done better stepping up in the pocket, getting the ball out quicker.”
Why did it all go haywire for the Chargers after Cameron Dicker kicked the first of his two first-half field goals? James had a few answers for the defensive breakdowns, starting and ending with the fact that the Jaguars played keepaway while compiling 30 first downs, including 17 in the second half.
“Very disappointing,” James said. “You want to win every game that you play, and today wasn’t our day. They (the Steelers) were 0 for 9 on third downs last week (at one point). They (the Jaguars) had 30 first downs, so that tells me we were on the field too long. So, we’ve just got to be better.”
Sunday’s showing was a head-scratcher in so many ways. There are games when the Chargers look unbeatable, as during their 25-10 victory over Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers in Week 10, and then there are games like Sunday’s, when they look more like an ineffective last-place team.
“We’ve just got to show up ready to play every week,” James said. “In this league, every (week), somebody’s coming to humble you, and today, the Jags came to humble us. I feel like we were prepared. But you can be prepared but when you go out there and you ain’t stopping them, man, and it’s 2nd-and-3s and 3rd-and-1s, then preparation is out the door because it’s a different ballgame.”
What comes next, how the Chargers use their bye week to their advantage, will dictate whether they slump or soar in the final six weeks of the regular season. Rest and recovery, especially for their many injured players, will be important, but so will preparation, according to James.
“We’ve just got to tell the truth, look at the film and get better, bro,” he said. “Sometimes you can lie when you want to protect the other side (the offense) or protect a phase (offense, defense, special teams) or protect the player, but I feel like this team is very honest, very transparent. Nobody’s got no soft skin, so I feel like everybody can look in the mirror … and they’ll be straight.”