Same season, different year

The Chargers finished 11-6 in back-to-back seasons under Jim Harbaugh, both times in second place in the AFC West. Both times they lost in the Wild Card round.

Offense never reached its potential

Despite Herbert's elite arm strength and mobility, the Chargers scored just 368 points in 2025. That's 150 points behind the league-leading Rams.

Mike McDaniel's debut was a disaster

The new offensive coordinator's first game saw the Chargers dominated by Arizona 16-3. The Cardinals controlled possession 37:31 to 22:29 and forced two turnovers.

Herbert's terse postgame comments

Asked about his interception, Herbert simply said "Yeah" when asked if he saw the safety. Given a chance to elaborate, he added just one more sentence.

“Yeah, it was a shot play that I threw, and he made a good play on it.”

The execution excuse

Herbert repeatedly blamed execution rather than scheme or opponents. His body language and delivery suggested he may have already given up on the season.

“We just didn't execute. It's on us as an offense to not have penalties, we gotta score points in the red zone.”

Worse than Andrew Luck's situation

Herbert has been sacked 241 times in 99 games with the Chargers. Andrew Luck, who retired early citing physical toll, was sacked 185 times in 94 games.

Three blockers, one defender

One play captured the offensive line's dysfunction: three Chargers linemen blocked a single Cardinals player while two defenders ran through to sack Herbert.

Harbaugh's preseason regret

The head coach admitted the team made preseason-type mistakes and wished he'd given starters more reps before the opener.

“We made some preseason-type of mistakes. Now in retrospect, I wish we'd played our guys a little bit more.”