Why Chargers' Justin Herbert might already be damaged goods

Looking at the first interception, which was easily read by Rams safety Quentin Lake, Herbert had a clean pocket, yet still threw well behind his  intended target, Charlie Kolar. Take a glance at his stat line during the play. Herbert had three completions for ZERO yards.

The second pick is just as bad, if not worse. Herbert had an even cleaner pocket, had time to play action and still lobbed an early Christmas gift to Rams CB Trent McDuffie. 

Herbert now has 10 interceptions on the year, and what makes it even dire is that he had 10 interceptions combined over his 960 pass attempts in the 2023 and 2024 seasons, according to PFF.

It's very obvious that Herbert was, at one point, a solid quarterback and has regressed mightily ever since Mike McDaniel took over as offensive coordinator during the offseason. McDaniel made it a point to completely revamp Herbert's footwork and anticipatory throwing during camp, which has done nothing but set the 2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year back and Herbert, as well as the Chargers, may ultimately never recover from it.

Justin Herbert is making problematic history this season

Herbert is now joining some dubious company and is setting some franchise-low marks in the meantime.

Herbert is also the first QB with at least one interception and a loss in each of his first seven games of a season since Steve DeBerg did it with the 2-14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985, according to Josh Dubow of The Associated Press.

The touchdown-less streak is even more eye-opening, as it's the longest streak in the league since the 2024 Miami Dolphins, who went 30 straight drives. That team, of course, was coached by McDaniel.

To rub more salt in the wound, Sunday was Herbert's ninth-straight start without multiple TDs, which is second in Chargers history, only to Ryan Leaf, who went 12 straight. Yeah, he's keeping that kind of company this season.

What makes this the most infuriating, though, is that Herbert still shows flashes of his old self. This near-Hail Mary at the end of the first half on Sunday made Herbert the first QB in NFL history to complete two throws of 50-plus air yards and have them end at the 1-yard line.

Jim Harbaugh remains loyal to Mike McDaniel, which solves nothing

Head coach Jim Harbaugh remains stubborn, vowing to not only keep McDaniel on the coaching staff but allowing him to call plays, even beating around the bush while answering a question about it during Sunday's postgame news conference.

Harbaugh also wants to remain loyal to Herbert, saying he hasn't considered benching him. 

Benching Herbert may not matter at this point as it seems like he's damaged goods and could be beyond refurbishing which — if the team doesn't try to trade him, but who would even want him at this point — would be a complete waste if a WR talent such as Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith fell into their laps come the draft.