The reckoning has arrived for the Los Angeles Chargers and quarterback Justin Herbert.
Any quarterback’s game will suffer if his big fellas cannot be counted on to hold up.
Herbert was that quarterback Sunday in Jacksonville.
Inadequate blocking over several weeks, [not just in the 35-6 loss to the Jaguars](https://wpdash.medianewsgroup.com/2025/11/16/chargers-routed-by-jaguars-in-final-game-before-bye-week/), seemed evident in Herbert playing well below his standard.
He seemed unsettled, a bit frenetic and not trusting of his teammates or even himself.
It wasn’t surprising given the struggles within his blocking units.
Two offensive tackles, each one a star, were lost for the season. Right guard Mekhi Becton, a mainstay for the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles last year, suffered his own injuries and tapered off.
Code Red.
For months, Herbert responded better than most quarterbacks would have.
He made escapes-and-throws worthy of Patrick Mahomes. One beat the Denver Broncos. Another decked the Miami Dolphins.
It was fun to watch, but it was a sugar rush. No quarterback can thrive when the blocking’s flimsy.
His confidence leaks out. Bad habits seep in. Batteries get run down.
Herbert’s rough show in Jacksonville recalled Philip Rivers’ protection-related decline 13 years ago.
Rivers had seen so many blocking breakdowns coming into and during the 2012 season that, deep into the year, he would acknowledge “seeing ghosts” — football talk for a quarterback who’s so spooked, he overreacts to phantom rushers and a number of defensive ploys.
Two chapters come to mind.
During a prime time loss to the Denver Broncos, in which Rivers made several uncharacteristic errors, Steve Young, the Hall of Fame quarterback, did not stint in his analysis. Rivers, he said, had developed bad habits. His footwork had gone to the dogs. He was not reading out certain plays that he should have. Young said San Diego’s subpar blocking had caused the unraveling. Young had lived similar nightmares. Early in his professional career, Young was pounded often by opponents.
Later in the ’12 season, when the Chargers played in Tampa, the ghosts chased Rivers into a scamper right and a panicky throw directly to a Bucs defender.
Ballgame.
When Rivers returned home after the long flight, his football-loving son, Gunner, was waiting up. He had one simple question: “Dad, why did you throw that pass?”
That’s what heavy doses of subpar blocking can do, even to a Pro Bowl quarterback.
Rivers’ getting off track due to protection issues was exactly the problem that Norv Turner, the Chargers’ head coach at the time, had tried to prevent for his quarterbacks throughout most of his coaching career.
Turner was a former quarterback whose expertise on offense led to numerous successes as an NFL coordinator and head coach. He owned two Super Bowl rings from his time as a playcaller and designer with the Dallas Cowboys. Quarterback Troy Aikman had Turner present him at his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Even so, Turner couldn’t keep Rivers’ detours. It cost Turner his job.
No NFL head coach appreciates sturdy blocking more than Jim Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback who refers to offensive linemen as weapons.
About when Harbaugh took the Chargers’ job two Januarys ago, he surely noticed that the team was well-positioned to draft Joe Alt, an impressive tackle from Notre Dame, that April.
The Chargers chose Alt fifth overall, after three quarterbacks and Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. were selected. Alt had a very good rookie season. But during this season, he has suffered two ankle injuries. The second one led to surgery, ending his season. Taking into account also tackle Rashawn Slater’s unavailability and the line’s subpar interior, I wrote off the Chargers’ Super Bowl potential three weeks ago.
Not playing this week will benefit the Chargers and Herbert. A win next week over a bad Raiders team would lift them to 8-4. A second consecutive playoff berth under Harbaugh remains a possibility.
But Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz will have a lot of work to do within the offensive line — and perhaps also the offensive structure and scheme — between now and next season.
Too many ghosts get seen by the quarterback, and the whole team gets haunted.