Justin Herbert demonstrated why he wasn’t worried about the Los Angeles Chargers’ difficulties in the passing game.
Herbert and the Chargers were finally able to pass effectively in their 23-16 win over the Denver Broncos on Sunday. He achieved a season-high 237 passing yards and completed passes to nine players, winning for the first time in four games played in Denver.
“I think the important thing as a quarterback is playing to win the game,” Herbert said after completing 21 of 34 passes with a touchdown. “Sometimes there are going to be games where we feel like throwing is to our advantage.
There are going to be times where we think we have to run the ball and make sure that we are controlling the game. It just worked out that way that we were going to throw the ball today.”
Even with Herbert having a season high in attempts, the Chargers kept a balanced approach, calling 38 pass plays and 37 designed runs.
With his sprained right ankle feeling better for the first time in four weeks, Herbert was more mobile, which was important since Denver brought a pass rush of five or more players 23 times.
Herbert has thrived in these situations. He is 2-0 when teams blitz him more than 50% of the time and 5-3 when the blitz rate is above 40%. He made four completions of at least 20 yards, including a 38-yard touchdown to rookie Kimani Vidal.
“I think when you are doing boot nakeds and breaking the pocket like that, it adds dimensions to our offense,” Herbert said. “As long as we are able to do that and you feel comfortable heading out of the pocket, I think it opens up our play-action game and our run game. The more we can do, the better.”
The run game also improved. J.K. Dobbins had 96 yards on 25 carries.
Coach Jim Harbaugh, who saw a cardiologist on Monday after having an irregular heartbeat over the weekend, said the biggest factor in the offense’s performance was avoiding penalties. The Chargers didn’t have any pre-snap infractions after having six two weeks earlier in their loss to Kansas City.
This also contributed to the Chargers being 11 of 18 on third downs. They avoided many third-and-long situations.
“Offensively I thought it was our best four quarters of football. Very few missed assignments,” Harbaugh said.
