Raiders Bitter Rival QB Needs to Match the Hype

The Las Vegas Raiders will be in a tough AFC West division next season. The Raiders did not win any games in the division last season, and they would like to change that next season. The AFC West, in many people's eyes, is the best division in football heading into the new season. The Raiders have made a lot of different moves this offseason to ensure they have a chance to win games in the AFC West.

One of the biggest, if not the biggest, moves for the Silver and Black this offseason was trading for veteran quarterback Geno Smith. Smith brings a lot of value to the Raiders, and the quarterback play will be improved next season. That is something the Raiders have not had over the last few seasons. Smith brings great leadership and can handle any offense that the Raiders will use next season.

But there is one quarterback in the division that people have ahead of Smith. And that is the AFC West rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, Justin Herbert. Herbert has been a good quarterback in the NFL since coming into the league, but he still has not taken that step to enter the top quarterbacks in the league.

Every season, people are talking about how the Chargers are going to make a deep playoff run because of Herbert being the Charger, but that has not happened yet in his career. All it has been so far is hype for Herbert.

"However, the downside was that Herbert was sometimes too conservative, and it didn’t help that he struggled in the playoffs, throwing four interceptions in the wild-card loss to the Houston Texans," said Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated. "Herbert is supremely talented, but he has yet to win a playoff game in his first five seasons in the NFL."

"For comparison, Jalen Hurts, who was drafted a round after Herbert went No. 6 in 2020, has guided the Eagles to two Super Bowl appearances, winning it in February. Hurts also has plenty of help in Philly, which makes the case for what Harbaugh is trying to build around Herbert with a less-is-more approach."

"If the Chargers get to the postseason and Herbert doesn’t come through again, it might be time to wonder whether he’ll ever reach the tier of the AFC star quarterbacks such as Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, and Lamar Jackson."

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