Jim Harbaugh Assigns Blame After Chargers' Meltdown vs. Texans

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Renzo Pocholo Salao | Last updated Jan 12, 2025 9:28 AM ET

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh had no excuses after his team completely collapsed against the Houston Texans on Saturday.

The Chargers held a 6-0 lead over the Texans midway through the second quarter of their Wild Card round matchup at NRG Stadium. But Houston managed to completely flip the script, outscoring LA 32-6 the rest of the way to seal a 32-12 Texans win.

The usually enthusiastic Harbaugh was in a somber mood when he faced reporters for the Chargers' postgame press conference. In Harbaugh's eyes, there was nobody else to blame but himself.

Harbaugh admitted that Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans did a better job of preparing his team for the playoff matchup.

“They were the better team today," Harbaugh said. "All respect to them. Not being the better team today, I’m accountable for that, so that’s on me, and congratulations to DeMeco Ryans and the Texans. They were the better team.

“They played a better game. Coach Ryans had them better prepared."

Harbaugh also took accountability for not putting Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in a position to succeed.

Herbert statistically had the worst game of his career Saturday against the Texans. He went 14/32 for a 43.8% completion rate, which is the lowest he's ever recorded in 81 career games (2 postseason games). Herbert also threw a career-high four interceptions after never having thrown more than two beforehand.

Harbaugh still deserves credit for leading the Chargers to an 11-6 record, their best regular season finish since 2018. But even Harbaugh wasn't able to turn around the Chargers' postseason fortunes in his first season in Los Angeles.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: