For those of you that didn’t know, Justin Herbert is a pretty good football player. Brandon Staley had a message for the team this off-season and it was that toughness outweighs talent. He said that being called a ‘talented’ team should be taken as disrespect. Thursday Night Herbert was the toughest player on the field. We all see his skillset on display weekly but on TNF (Thursday Night Football) we saw his heart and toughness on full display.

The Chargers were in control for most of the game until one bad throw in the red zone led to a defensive TD, a 99-yard interception return to be exact. Up until the 2nd half of this game, the offensive line has been outstanding. All-Pro Center, Corey Linsley didn’t play in the second half. He is irreplaceable. Linsley calls the shots and gets his line in the right places. When the Chiefs went up by 10 it seemed like backup Chase Daniels was going to finish the game. At that point, we saw Herbert be ‘that guy.’

Herbert could have walked for a first down on 3rd and 1, instead, he threw it into the ground setting up a 4th and 1. There was no way anyone was ready for what he did next. Dropping back and delivering a dime over the top to DeAndre Carter to get the Chargers inside the 10. This setup Herbert’s 3rd TD pass of the game to Josh Palmer to cut the lead to 3. Anyone watching this game would say the same thing. If the Chargers recovered that onside kick there was no way Herbert was losing that game. The Chargers didn’t lose they just ran out of time.