EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — In the offseason, the Los Angeles Chargers, from players to coaches, talked often and openly about transforming their offensive identity.
Through eight games, though, their DNA remains largely unchanged.
The Chargers’ successes on that side of the ball have mostly been rooted in Justin Herbert’s right arm, especially since the bye in Week 5. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman wanted to pair Herbert with a great running game. What has happened instead is what has been the case since Herbert became the Chargers’ starting quarterback in 2020: He is driving and elevating the offense with his playmaking in the passing game.
Coach Jim Harbaugh and Roman wanted to disrupt the status quo. But the gravitational pull of Herbert’s talent has recalibrated the offense to a familiar place.
Herbert is getting healthier, and that is a factor. He was effectively playing on one leg for two games after he suffered a high ankle sprain in Week 2. The rest during the bye was monumental. Since Week 6, Herbert has been moving better. He has been making more plays outside the pocket. He has been able to step into throws and drive those throws with more force and accuracy. The sprain was in his plant leg, and that affected his mechanics.
The result has been Herbert playing at an MVP level over the past four weeks.
The Chargers have been forced to lean into Herbert in the passing game by necessity. They are struggling to run the ball consistently. The Chargers rank 28th in rushing success rate, according to TruMedia. Of their 203 designed rushes on the season, 20.2 percent have gone for zero or negative yards, according to TruMedia.
Those negative plays, combined with untimely penalties early in the season, have led to the league’s highest three-and-out rate at 45.1 percent, according to TruMedia. For context, the Chargers are just off the pace of the 2023 New England Patriots’ offense, which led the league last year with a three-and-out rate of 45.8 percent.
Herbert’s ability to create explosive completions, especially down the field, has kept the offense afloat. Since Week 6, Herbert has completed 19 passes of at least 20 yards, according to TruMedia. Only one team — the Baltimore Ravens — has more in that span. Since Week 6, no offense has more completions of at least 30 yards than the Chargers with eight.
Right now, this is a boom-or-bust offense. The Chargers are 31st in overall offensive success rate and are 22nd in EPA per play, according to TruMedia. This discrepancy means the Chargers are inconsistent on a play-to-play basis but their overall efficiency is being heightened by big plays. Like the 66-yard touchdown to Quentin Johnston against the Cleveland Browns in Week 9. Or the 60-yard touchdown to Ladd McConkey against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.
“Very opportunistic,” is how Harbaugh described the offensive identity this week.
Playing this way could very well be sustainable because Herbert, when healthy, is that good. These plays are not aberrations. They are what happens when Herbert is given the opportunity to attack. The Chargers are also seeing a higher rate of heavy boxes this season as opposing defenses devote resources to the line of scrimmage to defend against Roman, who has traditionally called run-heavy offenses. But this version of the offense is not what Harbaugh and Roman vocalized as the plan through the offseason.
“I don’t think we’re at the point where we can say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re going to do, try and stop us,’” Roman said this week. “But I think we’re moving towards that.”
Roman added that he believes his offense has a “physical identity.” That has not really been borne out in the results so far.
There is the ineffective running game. They have missed the bruising running of Gus Edwards, who has been on IR for the past four games because of an ankle injury. Edwards returned to practice Wednesday, when his 21-day activation window opened.
There is also the leaky pass protection, which took a step back in Week 9 when Herbert was pressured on 47.1 percent of his dropbacks, according to TruMedia, and sacked six times against the Browns.
Overall, Herbert has been pressured on 36.5 percent of his dropbacks this season, according to TruMedia. That rate is on pace with his career numbers — he was pressured on 36 percent of his dropbacks in 2023 and 35.9 percent of his dropbacks in 2022. Herbert’s second season, in 2021, was an outlier. He was only pressured on 26.8 percent of his dropbacks, an improvement that coincided with center Corey Linsley joining the offensive line. In 2020, as a rookie, Herbert was pressured on 36.7 percent of his dropbacks.
The pressure does not preclude offensive production. Herbert has proven that in his career. What is concerning for the Chargers, however, is that more of these pressures are turning into sacks this season. From 2020-23, only 14.5 percent of pressures against Herbert turned into sacks, the sixth-lowest rate in the league in that span, according to TruMedia. This season, that rate has ballooned to 22.8 percent.
Some of this is philosophical. Protecting the football is the first priority for Harbaugh and Roman. “Sacks don’t get you beat,” Roman said this week. “Turnovers get you beat.” Herbert has only turned the ball over twice this season, tied for the fewest in the league. The Chargers are only turning it over on 3.3 percent of their drives, the lowest rate in the league, according to TruMedia.
But some of this, too, is how exactly the Chargers are getting beat on these pressures. They are allowing too many free runners, especially when facing blitzes and stunts. The interior linemen — Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman and Trey Pipkins III — have been particularly uneven in these areas.
Through nine weeks, the offense has not been able to consistently dominate opponents physically, which was the stated goal. The Chargers led the Browns 20-3 at halftime in Week 9. In the second half, they had a 22.2 percent rushing success rate, according to TruMedia. They had three rushes go for zero or negative yards. They gained one first down on their first five drives of the second half.
“We just got to keep stacking the details,” left tackle Rashawn Slater said. “I do think we’re getting closer and closer every single week. Just keep going, keep focus down the stretch. The champions are at their best when they’re tired in that second half. Just finishing better.”
The Chargers broke through on their second-to-last possession, driving 54 yards on four rushes for a touchdown. Running back J.K. Dobbins had a 34-yard run to set up his second score of the game. A positive development, but the Chargers really relied on the defense forcing takeaways to maintain their lead and put the game away.
In the first half, it was Herbert’s playmaking in the passing game that built the lead.
“He’s doing everything he can to win the game the way we need to,” Herbert said of Roman.
What Harbaugh and Roman said they were envisioning and what has materialized are two different offenses. That is not necessarily a bad thing because Herbert has become the engine. Just as he always was.
“What’s your identity?” Roman said. “Trying to win the next game.”
(Top photo: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
