Justin Herbert isn’t trying to think about the Los Angeles Chargers’ most recent playoff debacle.
“No,” Herbert answered when asked by reporters if he discussed the Chargers’ 2022 wild-card playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars with teammates this week. “You never let a previous game affect your next one.”
The Chargers squandered a 27-point advantage — the largest blown lead in franchise history — in the epic playoff collapse to Jacksonville.
Much has changed since that historic meltdown. (Herbert is one of just three remaining offensive starters from the loss.)
Yet, the biggest difference is Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers’ head coach has shifted the team’s culture and identity in his first season at the helm.
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Los Angeles won a total of five games last season but is the AFC’s fifth seed entering the playoffs this year.
The Chargers’ last playoff team in 2022 had the 30th-ranked rushing offense and was tied for 21st in scoring defense. Under Harbaugh, the Chargers are a more balanced football team. They have the 17th-ranked rushing attack and the NFL’s top scoring defense. And Herbert just capped off his most efficient regular season throwing the football, becoming the second player ever to have three-or-fewer interceptions while throwing at least 450 passes in a year.
“Credit to him,” Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said. “I mean, he’s up there in the stratosphere now when it comes to (protecting the ball).”
There’s little doubt that Herbert is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s thrown for the most passing yards ever in a player’s first five seasons. Yet, he’s missing the playoff success achieved by his upper-echelon peers.
Patrick Mahomes has three Super Bowl rings. Lamar Jackson is a two-time MVP and has one AFC championship game appearance. Josh Allen’s totaled five playoff wins and has an AFC title game showing. Joe Burrow’s played in a Super Bowl.
Herbert is 0-1 in his playoff career.
“I’ve only played in one game. I think the most important thing is just to trust yourself. To go out there and know that we didn’t get here by chance or by luck. We’ve put in the work in OTAs and fall camp,” Herbert said this week. “We’ve earned this spot and nothing else is given. This is all that we’ve got. We got to survive. We got to go out there and make plays and trust that we know what we’re doing. Trust with the coaches, the training staff, whatever it might be to go out there and play the way that we can.”
The Chargers traveled to Houston on Thursday amid the raging wildfires in the Los Angeles area.
“Our heart goes out and abundant prayers to all those that have been affected by this tragedy,” Harbaugh said Thursday while he wore a Los Angeles Fire Department hat.
Harbaugh said the Chargers’ organization has a plan in place if family members of players and staff need to evacuate their homes while the team is on the road.
Herbert and the Chargers are three-point road favorites versus the Texans, according to BetMGM.
A sign that Herbert’s second playoff appearance could be different?
‘It would mean everything for us,’ Herbert said. ‘This is the most important game this year, because it’s the next one. We got a very good team that we’re playing on Saturday.’