For years, Justin Herbert has been viewed as the template NFL quarterback: a rare blend of size, arm talent and mobility, supported by clean mechanics and an apparently limitless ceiling.
After an outstanding rookie season, expectations have risen each offseason that Herbert would finally turn consistent production into a genuine breakthrough campaign.
Two games into 2026 make that optimism difficult to sustain.
After six NFL seasons and two difficult starts this year, Herbert looks more like a capable starter than a quarterback built to carry a championship-caliber team. Los Angeles has struggled at times along the offensive line, while its receivers have dropped too many passes. Even so, elite quarterbacks find ways to raise the level of the players around them, and Herbert has not done that consistently.
In 2026, the quarterback who was supposed to elevate the Chargers appears to be the player limiting them.
Herbert has built a reputation for strong passing production, but he has surpassed 250 yards through the air just once in his previous 11 games. (Photo by Brooke Sutton/Getty Images)
His limitations were evident Sunday as the Chargers fell to 0-2 with a 26-14 home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. Herbert completed 15 of 27 passes for 192 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Cousins outplayed him, following a week in which Herbert had also been overshadowed by Arizona quarterback Jacoby Brissett.
Los Angeles was not solely responsible for either defeat, particularly after two disappointing starts. Even so, that is not the standard expected from a franchise quarterback, nor does it align with Jim Harbaugh’s prediction that Herbert will eventually be remembered as the greatest player ever to play the position.
Herbert is not even near the edge of that conversation. Even at a historic pace toward 25,000 career passing yards, he has yet to demonstrate that he will surpass Dan Fouts or Philip Rivers among the Chargers’ all-time quarterbacks.
There is no denying that Herbert produces volume. The concern is whether he can move beyond raw statistics and raise his team’s ceiling. That expectation grew when Harbaugh hired Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator, with many projecting that McDaniel would unlock Herbert’s next level and turn the Chargers into a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
The season remains young, but Herbert is 28, and McDaniel’s arrival has not improved the early results. The evidence suggests that Herbert lacks the defining quality shared by truly great quarterbacks: the ability to make his team and teammates better in moments that matter.
Mike McDaniel’s hiring was intended to unlock Herbert’s next level. Through two games, however, the pairing has produced two touchdown passes and three interceptions. (Photo by Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who died Saturday, once defined the ultimate test this way: “Can they take their team down the field with the championship on the line and into the end zone?” Put simply, how does a quarterback perform when the stakes are highest?
Herbert is 0-3 across three playoff appearances, and his performances were poor in each. The concern extends beyond his record. Great quarterbacks make their teams better than the sum of their parts and elevate their teammates, even during the regular season.
He did neither against Arizona or Las Vegas, two clubs widely expected to finish last in their divisions. Chargers tight end David Njoku did deflect Herbert’s first interception, but the pass was thrown under and behind him. Njoku was trailing the defense and would have had an easier opportunity for a substantial gain if Herbert had delivered the ball in front. The second interception, late in the fourth quarter, was a forced throw into traffic on the wrong side of Derius Davis’s hands.
To give Herbert credit, his touchdown pass to tight end Oronde Gadsden was excellent. He escaped pressure, stepped into the throw and sidearmed a precise dart that briefly put Los Angeles ahead in the third quarter. That pattern summarizes his early season: impressive plays followed by costly mistakes, often at the worst possible moment.
Accorsi also offered a revealing definition of leadership: watching Johnny Unitas step off the bus. The Baltimore Colts believed they had a chance every week because Unitas’s presence suggested he would find a way to win.
That degree of certainty is difficult to apply to Herbert. He is talented but has been rated far above what his results have justified. He can win close games, yet he has not consistently projected the composed, championship-level confidence associated with an elite franchise quarterback. At 0-2, the Chargers now face at Buffalo, at Seattle, against Denver, at Kansas City, at the Rams, against Houston and at Baltimore. They need a major season from Herbert to avoid a disastrous stretch.
The early evidence does not support that conclusion. Herbert is likely to remain productive, but he does not appear to possess the traits that separate an elite quarterback from a very good one. For a Chargers team already 0-2, that remains the central concern.
That need for Hurts was clear in Tennessee. He nearly cost Philadelphia the game with two poor interceptions but rescued it with an excellent final drive. Down 20-17 with 1:56 remaining, he led the Eagles 65 yards for a touchdown, completing six of eight passes for 61 yards and throwing a three-yard scoring pass to Darius Cooper.
The drive included two strong throws to DeVonta Smith that he converted into catches, further demonstrating that the pair can be effective even without A.J. Brown.
Afterward, Hurts’ teammates made it clear that he was chiefly responsible for the escape victory.
“That motherf—er balled out today,” left tackle Jordan Mailate said. “Jalen really got in his bag today.”