- The Los Angeles Chargers have a recent history of playoff collapses, including blowing a 27-point lead in 2022.
- Quarterback Justin Herbert has excelled in the regular season but is 0-2 in his playoff career.
- The Chargers’ offensive line has been a significant weakness, allowing an NFL-high number of pressures on Herbert.
- Los Angeles will face the New England Patriots in an attempt to reverse their postseason fortunes.
Disastrous is an appropriate term to describe the Los Angeles Chargers’ recent playoff history.
A 27-point collapse to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2022 playoffs, the largest blown lead in franchise history. Justin Herbert tossed a career-worst four interceptions and had a career-low 43.8% completion percentage in the Chargers’ 2024 playoff loss to the Houston Texans – it was likely the worst performance of Herbert’s career.
“It was one of those things that you continue to think about. There are a lot of football games that you just remember. Whether they are good or whether they are bad, they stick with you. I think it’s a great learning experience. No one felt worse than I did after that game,” Herbert said recently about last year’s playoff loss. “I think it’s important to continue to move forward and realize that it’s what happened. It would be crazy of me to deny the truth of what happened. To live in this reality where if I tried to block it out, I don’t think that’s doing any good.”
Herbert’s been one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks during the regular season, as the sixth-year Charger earned his second career Pro Bowl invitation. His 2,285 career completions are the most ever in a quarterback’s first six seasons, while his 24,820 career regular season passing yards are the second most in the same span.
The playoffs are a different story.
Chargers vs. Patriots: Herbert, Bolts look to exorcise playoff demons
Herbert is 0-2 in his playoff career. The Chargers’ last postseason win was in the 2018 playoffs when Philip Rivers was their starting quarterback.
When the Chargers face the New England Patriots on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium, they’ll try to write a different chapter in their playoff history.
“You definitely look back at where you been. But you don’t want to be focused or too locked in on what’s happened in the past because there is so much that’s happening that’s different this year versus last year. We have different players from last year,” Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “We’re trying to do things a little differently. We obviously know what happened in the past. But we can care less because this first round is not last year’s first round.”
The Patriots are a 3.5-point favorite, according to BETMGM. But the Chargers have the confidence knowing they’ve won their two most recent meetings against New England, including a 40-7 victory last year. The Chargers are also 5-0 in primetime games this season.
One glaring issue: Can Chargers offensive line hold up to playoff pressure?
A glaring issue that hindered the Chargers during last year’s playoff loss and throughout this year, though, has been the team’s offensive line. The Chargers have been unable to fill the massive voids created by the season-ending injuries to tackles Rashawn Slater (patellar tendon) and Joe Alt (ankle).
The Chargers finished the regular season with an NFL-most 32 different offensive line combinations, according to Next Gen Stats. Herbert was pressured on an NFL-high 263 of his dropbacks, sacked a career-most 54 times and hit a career-high 74 times. The Chargers finished the regular season with the NFL’s worst pass block win rate and ranked second to last in run block win rate, per ESPN.
New England’s ability to exploit a leaky Chargers O-line is the preeminent key to the wild-card matchup.
“It’s just doing what were coached to do. Getting back to our fundamentals, taking good sets,” Chargers tackle Trey Pipkins III told reporters this week. “That’s really all you can do. You can set yourself up well, take a good set, beat them to the spot, you set yourself well up to win.”
A recent playoff history marred in disappointment. Herbert and the Chargers have a chance to create some positive postseason memories. But their playoff success this season in large part hinges on their patchwork offensive line.
Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.