Either way, gushing praise of Justin Herbert is generating heightened and unavoidable attention around one of football's most gifted but divisive stars. Herbert stepped out at SoFi Stadium as the best player on the field last weekend. He stepped off it having been out-duelled and outplayed by, with the greatest respect to him, everybody's favourite bridge quarterback in veteran Jacoby Brissett and a transitioning Arizona Cardinals team adrift of postseason discussion.
Brissett and a valiant defensive display had guided the Cardinals to a 26-14 opening weekend victory over Herbert's Los Angeles Chargers to pierce, but by no means burst (yet), the bubble of a team billed among the most exciting playoff contenders coming into Week One. It was the quintessential Chargers Chargering exhibition based on the discourse of recent years, a disjointed performance of mistakes and miscues negating the influence of superior individual talent. An all too familiar theme to this team.
Now, were you to drop somebody on earth for a day, ask them to watch a showreel of the NFL's starting quarterbacks and point out which they believed might be considered the best, the most feared, the most dangerous, you would bank on an initial eye test leading many to Justin Herbert. He remains something of a dream prototype blessed with the ludicrous arm talent, the marauding ground presence, the dwarfing stature, the fizzing needle-threading velocity and deep ball fireworks - as much, though, fuels most of the frustration surrounding his career thus far. In his most successful moments, he has been spectacular, a match for any defense in the league and one of the most box office showcases in football.
There has rarely been a flicker of doubt over his skillset, but noise-meets-uncertainty over both his killer instinct and credentials among the elite play-callers in the NFL is as loud as ever, you feel. Herbert finished Sunday's loss 17 of 27 for 209 yards, one touchdown and an ill-informed interception while attacking double coverage downfield with 10 minutes to play and the Chargers trailing by nine. His day had started hot when he led an eight-play, 77-yard scoring drive including three passes for 60 yards to Ladd McConkey, whose exit with a chest injury after his touchdown catch before the end of the third quarter left Herbert and his offense short of answers.
In fact, the Chargers proceeded to go punt, turnover on downs, interception, turnover on downs, turnover on downs on the five possessions spent without McConkey, their offense failing to reach opposition territory in four fourth-quarter drives, while also collecting six of their team's total penalties including five in the second half and three straight on their penultimate series. The performance came just days after head coach Jim Harbaugh forecast Herbert going down as the best to play his position. "Allow me to call my shot, like Babe Ruth pointing his bat over to centerfield: Justin Herbert, when it's all said and done, when his career comes to an end, I predict he will be known as the greatest, best ever to play the position of quarterback," Harbaugh said.
"When it's all said and done, and his career is finished, we're going to look back and say, 'Yep, that's the best that ever did it.'" Harbaugh will not and should not change who he is, having become Herbert's most vocal and persistent cheerleader since taking over as head coach in 2024. He has repeatedly hailed his quarterback's potential for greatness and sought to speak Herbert's explosion into existence almost, but with it has come enlarged expectations and a Hollywood fishbowl feel. Is there such a thing as too much hype?
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