It's no secret that former Oregon Duck and current Los Angeles Chargers starting quarterback Justin Herbert has his critics. With five seasons under his belt in the NFL, Herbert detractors claim that because the former Duck has yet to win a game in the playoffs (with postseason losses in 2022 and 2024), the star doesn't have the clutch game to secure meaningful wins when it matters most.
Chargers' General Manager Joe Hortiz went to bat for the 27-year-old quarterback on the "Up and Adams Show" with Kay Adams, as he sat down this morning to discuss the NFL Draft and how the Chargers are looking for the upcoming season.
"Justin has shown plenty of clutch moments," Hortiz said to Adams. "He's led the team to wins. He's led us to wins. Gosh, I wasn't here the year he did it but in the shootout he scores late to tie the game and, you know, and he's done so many remarkable things already."
Hortiz is likely referencing Herbert's 2021 game against the Cleveland Browns, when a second-year Herbert threw for 398 yards and an at the time career high four touchdowns. His 9-yard quarterback keeper and two-point conversion brought the Chargers over the Browns at 27-21. After four lead changes in the final 15 minutes of the contest, Herbert and the Chargers secured a 47-42 victory.
However, Herbert does still have those two dropped postseason games on his resume. Most recently, the quarterback had the worst game of his career in a 32-12 playoff loss against the Houston Texans. During that game, Herbert threw a professional career record of four interceptions and had a season-low 43.8 percent completion rate in his passes.
Charger's coach Jim Harbaugh originally pushed back against critics of Herbert after the game, shouldering the blame in defense of his quarterback.
"Completely unfair. I wouldn't spend two more seconds thinking about what happened in that game. It didn't go good, and that's on me, that's my responsibility, that's my accountability," Harbaugh said. "I really felt going into that tournament that we were as good as the best teams in the playoffs. Not just as good as any team, as good as the best teams in the playoffs."
Hortiz argued that many other NFL greats have similar marks on their resumes.
"He's got two playoff losses, right? That happens,"Horitz said to Adams. "That's happened to a lot of great quarterbacks. You know what our goal is? To keep giving him cracks at it and I know he's going to deliver and he's so talented, so smart, and really one of the best competitors I've ever been around. You watch him and he throws his body on the line, strings the play out as long as he can to make something special happen."
The overall message from Hortiz about Herbert: greatness is already there, and the post season wins are on their way.
"So, it's coming. That's what I'll say: it's coming. I don't worry about his clutch game. I've seen it. I've seen it in person," Horitz continued.
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