The Chargers are 3-0 after a comeback 23-20 win over the Broncos on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Here are five takeaways from Week 3.
1. Justin Herbert for MVP?
We’ll gladly be the first to get the Most Valuable Player conversation started.
Because after Justin Herbert’s clutch performance Sunday afternoon, there’s zero doubt the Chargers quarterback should be an early-season candidate for the award.
“Oh my gosh, bro. The dude is unbelievable,” Trey Pipkins III said. “I have zero words. What I can say?”
“He was getting hit, making throws. He led us the entire time,” Pipkins added. “If that’s not MVP, I don’t know what is.”
Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh added: “He’s the greatest … he’s 1-of-1 who I’ve ever seen at the quarterback position.”
Keenan Allen said: “Hats off to Herbo. He’s the guy.”
Herbert threw for 300 yards with one touchdown and an interception for a passer rating of 76.6 in Week 3.
But look past the numbers and you’ll see it was a gutsy performance against one of the league’s best defenses.
Herbert was sacked five times and hit 14 times in all. In fact, NFL Next Gen Stats noted he was pressured on 54.7 percent of his dropbacks against Denver, the highest pressure rate he’s faced in any game of his career.
And Herbert still did that. Which is lead a game-tying touchdown drive with under three minutes left before marching the Bolts into field goal range in the closing seconds of Week 3.
Herbert completed eight of his final nine pass attempts for 93 yards in the final five-plus minutes of game action. It was his 13th career fourth-quarter comeback and 17th career game-winning drive.
“We knew we had one job and that was to take the ball and go score. That’s exactly what we did,” Herbert said of the final drive.
Everybody was in awe of Herbert in the postgame locker room. Teammates raved about his play. Harbaugh gushed about his toughness.
It wasn’t the first time they had seen Herbert rise up and play his best when it mattered most. It was just the latest example of it.
Harbaugh, a former NFL quarterback marveled at Herbert’s ability to stand right back up after each hit from a defender.
“There’s almost something about it, he takes that hit and there’s no facial expression change, there’s no limp, there’s no grabbing … it’s almost like it didn’t even happen,” Harbaugh said. “There’s something in his competitive fire where it motivates him even more. It even takes him to another notch.”
Herbert downplayed that guts he showed, simply saying it’s part of being a franchise quarterback.
“It’s just part of the game [and] of playing quarterback. You’re going to get hit and it’s going to be tough,” Herbert said. “You’ve got to stay gritty and know they’re going to knock you down, but you have to get back up.
“The offensive line is looking at you, the receivers and tight ends, making sure you’re the leader and stepping up and getting back up, for sure,” Herbert added.
And where did Herbert learn that mindset from?
“Probably Jim Harbaugh. He’s one of the tougher guys and I’ve tried to emulate him,” Herbert said.
With the game on the line Sunday afternoon, the Chargers looked to their leader to deliver in the clutch.
Herbert did just that. And he deserves all the MVP talk that should come his way.
“Sometimes I don’t know how he does it,” Omarion Hampton said. “But he makes something happen. I couldn’t ask for anything better than being beside Justin.”
Ladd McConkey said: “When we need him to show up in the biggest moments, he does. We go as he goes.”
Derwin James added: “That’s my quarterback.”
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