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Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert made NFL history in a frustrating loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Herbert threw for 349 yards, his most in a game in over a year. The Chargers did not score a touchdown. However, what made history was that Herbert was the first quarterback to throw for 349 yards with a 97.1 passer rating in a loss in which the team did not score an offensive touchdown. So, to add insult to injury to Los Angeles's loss to Arizona, their superstar quarterback will now live in NFL infamy until another player joins him.
“I thought we did a lot of good things, but we've got to score points in the red zone,” Herbert said.
“We've got to do a better job for our defense, for our special teams.”
To add insult to injury, Arizona came into the game allowing the sixth-most yards per game in the NFL (373.3) and the fifth-highest points per game (27.2). Monday's outing was the first in which the Cardinals didn't allow an offensive touchdown since Week 7 of 2021. The Chargers made it to the red zone only once Monday and settled for five field goals from kicker Cameron Dicker, including from a career-long 59 yards in the first quarter.
What else went wrong for the Chargers against the Cardinals?
The Chargers built their roster to dominate a game like this. The Cardinals entered Monday night with one of the worst run defenses in football. They had given up at least 130 yards in five of their six games before facing the Chargers. So what did Los Angeles manage to muster on the ground? The Chargers only managed 51 yards on 20 designed rushes.
Instead, Arizona, one of the NFL's top rushing offenses, made quick work of a strong Los Angeles run defense. The Cardinals had 181 rushing yards on 29 attempts, including 101 from veteran back James Conner. That rushing disparity led to the Chargers leaning on Herbert and for Herbert to make NFL infamy. However, the Chargers struggling to get points has been a theme this season. Los Angeles hasn't scored an offensive touchdown in the second half of a game since Week 1, and Monday night's performance was perhaps the team's worst of the season.
“There's a taste in the mouth. You got to suck it up. And not really much to talk about,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said. “Nelson Mandela said, ‘I don't lose. I either win, or I learn.' And to me, what that means is, you know, let's make sure we learn from things that happen and let that make us better as opposed to any kind of deflecting.”
