JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For about 15 minutes, quarterback Justin Herbert sat in front of his locker, silent, staring into the distance. He had taken off his cleats but was still wearing most of his grass-stained uniform.
It was a defining scene for a team devastated by a meltdown that no one could have seen coming. And that scene clarified one point: Herbert and his Los Angeles Chargers teammates are nowhere near recovering from their Saturday night loss.
The Chargers were ineffective in the second half, allowing Trevor Lawrence to throw four touchdown passes after he was the victim of four interceptions, and the Jacksonville Jaguars erased a 27-0 deficit.
The Chargers eventually suffered a 31-30 loss following a 36-yard field goal from Riley Patterson on the last play of the game.
The Jaguars achieved the third biggest comeback in National Football League playoff history.
“I have to produce more than three points in the second half and for that reason I feel terrible for the defense, for the incredible effort they put in today (Saturday). But as a team, we have to be better,” analyzed Herbert.
Several observers will stop at the exploits of Lawrence to explain this rise of 27 points. The Jaguars quarterback has completed 24 of his last 31 passes for 258 yards, with four touchdowns.
Lawrence joined Evan Engram, Zay Jones, Marvin Jones and Christian Kirk for touchdowns, and he himself added a two-point conversion that left the Jaguars (10-8) down 30-28, but with the possibility of a placement allowing them to win the match rather than just tying the score.
But even there, the Chargers (10-8) did nothing to curb their momentum.
“Any time you lead 27-7 at halftime, cause four turnovers and end up winning the turnover battle (5-0), it’s going to be a result that’s going to hurt a lot,” he admitted. Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.
“I feel bad for everyone in this locker room. This is a special group of guys, and it’s the most painful way to lose a playoff game, and certainly how we started the game. »
“It’s the team I know we can be, and in the second half we just didn’t put the game away. »
It didn’t help that cornerback Michael Davis left the game with a pectoral muscle injury, forcing rookie Ja’Sir Taylor out of the field. Unsurprisingly, the Jaguars targeted him.
Another unhelpful factor was defensive end Joey Bosa losing his temper, throwing his helmet hard on the ground and taking a second penalty for unsportsmanlike behavior late in the fourth quarter.
This gesture allowed the Jaguars to advance the ball one yard closer to the opposing end zone and attempt the two-point conversion instead of a one-point convert.
“I think he was frustrated,” Staley said. “There was like an accumulation of things throughout the match. And he tried to talk about it in detail with the referees. But we can’t lose our temper that way. We have to make sure we stay on the good side of things. And you can’t hurt the team that way. »
Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson said he probably would have tried the one-point convert had it not been for the reported penalty against Bosa.
Herbert had 273 passing yards, one touchdown pass and no interceptions. However, the Chargers’ offense was largely ineffective after a 62-yard rush for a touchdown that gave the visitors a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter.
The Chargers finished the game with 320 total yards and 18 first downs, and generated just three points on four possessions in the second half.
We will surely wonder if Staley was not too conservative, both in defense and in attack. He opted to go for a field goal on fourth down and three yards to go midway through the fourth quarter – which Cameron Dicker missed – and turned little to his rushing attack.
The Chargers attempted 23 carries for 69 yards – an average of 2.9 yards per attempt – while Herbert completed 43 passes.
Herbert was mulling this over in his head as he sat at his locker.
“As an attack, we need to move the ball forward better. By air, on the ground, you have to be able to get first downs, and we haven’t done that enough. We didn’t score enough points once inside the 20-yard line (of the Jaguars). »
“As an offense, when you score three points in the second half, it’s your fault. We didn’t execute well, we didn’t convert our third downs, we took penalties. Hard hard. »
