![\"Chargers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SUT-L-chargers-011.jpg\")
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert rushes the ball in the first half of Sunday\u2019s loss to the Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.(Luke Johnson \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\nThe Los Angeles Chargers would\u2019ve needed a great game from Justin Herbert to win their season opener Sunday.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t ask me why that\u2019s what was needed. We\u2019d be here all day.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s enough to know that it was a rough day for L.A.\u2019s defense, its special teams and the rest of the offense outside of tackle Joe Alt and a few others.<\/p>\n
Coach Jim Harbaugh didn\u2019t manage the game well. Nor did his coordinators earn high marks.<\/p>\n
With injured star receiver Ladd McConkey sidelined for the whole fourth quarter, Herbert would\u2019ve had to play at its very best for L.A. to have any chance to win.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a Herbert apologia.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s expected to play great, but did not. He gets no free passes for the 26-14 loss, earned by the deserving Arizona Cardinals as a 9 1\/2-point underdog.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the thing: Herbert has moved out of the Golden Boy stage of his career.<\/p>\n
Critics demand that Herbert deliver the sparkling results that great QBs produce.<\/p>\n
If he doesn\u2019t, well, they\u2019re not holding back. Not even in Week 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we wait one more week before Herbert starts becoming the best QB of all time,\u201d former Chiefs All-Pro right tackle Mitchell Schwartz said Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShucks, was stoked thinking today\u2019s the day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert rushes the ball in the first half of Sunday\u2019s loss to the Cardinals at SoFi Stadium.(Luke Johnson \/ The San Diego Union-Tribune)<\/p>\n
Schwartz tends to be measured. He has praised Herbert many times.<\/p>\n
But in the media-and-perception game, it feels like Herbert has entered a more intense phase of his career.<\/p>\n
Offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel\u2019s hire in January is a big part of it.<\/p>\n
McDaniel is expected to rid Herbert of habits that contributed to L.A. not scoring a TD last January in its first-round playoff loss at New England and to his interceptions two winters ago in the first-round defeat at Houston.<\/p>\n
Because of McDaniel\u2019s success with Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and his 10 years in the successful Shanahan offensive system, in which he went to a pair of Super Bowls as an assistant to Kyle Shanahan, Herbert is now expected to have a very good season.<\/p>\n
Further inflating expectations, Harbaugh continues to praise him like few other QBs have been praised. That\u2019s what Harbaugh does. Like when he labeled his Michigan QB, J.J. McCarthy, the best quarterback of a draft class headed by Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye.<\/p>\n
Herbert got a C-grade from me for Sunday\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
He had an above-average first half, amid meager opportunities.<\/p>\n
In the fourth quarter, he pulled his grade down a full letter with a huge mistake.<\/p>\n
On first down from his 40, with Arizona ahead by nine points, Herbert threw a long pass on first down into heavy coverage for 5-foot-8 Derius Davis.<\/p>\n
Safety Andrew Wingard picked it off. Lacking McConkey, Herbert overreacted and forced a play he shouldn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n
From there, Herbert couldn\u2019t have done much to rally L.A.<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t to blame for the offense having only three possessions in the first half.<\/p>\n
The first of those drives went 77 yards for a tying TD, via McConkey catching three passes for 60 yards and Omarion Hampton\u2019s bruising 8-yard scoring run.<\/p>\n
The offense didn\u2019t get another shot until the second quarter.<\/p>\n
Herbert\u2019s teammates muffed that one.<\/p>\n
Hampton fumbled after running into receiver Tre Harris, whom Wingard had driven backward four yards by exploiting suspect technique.<\/p>\n
In L.A.\u2019s final possession of the half, Herbert led a 66-yard drive into the red zone only to get sacked on fourth-and-goal from the 3 due to a quick loss by left guard Trey Pipkins.<\/p>\n
While Pipkins was getting beat, Herbert was scanning to his right at two L.A. pass-catchers clouded by three defenders. When he turned left, the pass-rusher was on him.<\/p>\n
Another problem: Six of Herbert\u2019s first-half handoffs went for \u201cbad\u201d runs, further burdening the QB.<\/p>\n
The Herbert-McConkey connection dazzled \u2014 seven passes netted 106 yards, counting a 24-yard penalty.<\/p>\n
The rest of the offense was mostly dysfunctional. And Arizona was well-prepared, three times anticipating where a high-stakes pass was going.<\/p>\n
Those results: McConkey\u2019s injury\/incompletion on third and long, a third-and-5 incompletion to Harris and a Herbert sack.<\/p>\n
The Raiders are the next opponent.<\/p>\n
The standard won\u2019t change. Herbert will be expected to live up to a star\u2019s standard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Chargers would\u2019ve needed a great game from Justin Herbert to win their season opener Sunday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1333,752,74,76,75,127],"class_list":["post-464062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-los-angeles-chargers","tag-nfl","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}