The Los Angeles Chargers came into their AFC Wild Card matchup with the Houston Texans as 2.5-point favorites. They walked out of that game as 32-12 losers with massive questions surrounding the future of the franchise. So, who is to blame for the ugly Chargers loss to the Texans in the playoffs? With a massive failure like this, you have to start at the top.

Justin Herbert

Justin Herbert’s final line from Saturday was 14-of-32 (43.7%) for 242 yards with one touchdown, four sacks, and four interceptions. To put Herbert’s game into perspective, the Chargers quarterback completed 65.9% of his passes and threw three picks in all of the 2024 regular season.

When a QB throws four picks in a game, takes multiple sacks, and completes fewer than half their passes there is almost no chance their team wins. And while the sample size is still small, Herbert seems to be developing a pattern of coming up small in the biggest games.

The last time we saw the former Oregon Ducks QB in the postseason, he and his Chargers were coughing up a 27-0 lead to the Jacksonville Jaguars on their way to a 31-30 loss in the early days of 2023. In that game Herbert was 25-of-43 for 273 yards with no INTs and three sacks.

That’s not as bad as the Chargers-Texans game, but it’s not good either.

Since Herbert came into the league in 2020 and convincingly won Offensive Rookie of the Year, pundits have put his name among the best young signal-callers in the NFL. When you hear conversations about the future of the league, it’s Patrick Mahomes on his own level followed by a group of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Joe Burrow, and Justin Herbert.

For those who haven’t figured it out already, Herbert is not on the level of Allen Jackson and Herbert. And after Saturday, he may not even be on the level of the Young Gun across the field from him, C.J. Stroud.

Herbert is now in the group with the man who beat him two seasons ago, Trevor Lawrence, and other high draft picks who obviously have a ton of talent but also seem to have something missing. This includes names like Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, and Baker Mayfield.

This AFC Wild Card game was a winnable one for the Chargers, and while there were problems elsewhere as well, but the bottom line is not throwing four interceptions would have drastically increased the team’s chances of winning.

Jim Harbaugh

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh walks off after losing to Houston Texans in an AFC wild card game at NRG Stadium.
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

Unlike his quarterback, there is no question that Jim Harbaugh is a winner. He is 55-25-1 as a head coach in the NFL, 118-46 in college at Stanford and Michigan, and has won a college national championship and coached in a Super Bowl.

Still, in a disheartening playoff loss, the buck needs to stop at the top.

The Chargers abandoned the run in this game, with J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards getting just nine and seven carries, respectively. And with the offensive line failing to protect Herbert, the gameplan was obviously flawed.

There was also the odd situation of the Texans returning a blocked extra point for a score and kicker Cameron Dicker not knowing exactly what to do when faced with a live ball. That could have been panic in the moment from Dicker the Kicker, but it’s also something you can put on coaching.

Ultimately, Harbaugh should be a success in LA, but there are still a few things that he needs to figure out — both schematically and personnel-wise — before the Chargers become a dangerous playoff team.