Justin Herbert’s Flop Draws the Worst Type of Josh Allen Comparisons

More Justin Herbert discourse isn't a good look after the Chargers loss.

Justin Herbert | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The vibes are so low around the Los Angeles Chargers right now that Justin Herbert comparisons to Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen aren’t even debates about where they rank on lists. 

No, now the comparisons discuss surroundings and overall processing speed. 

And it’s not a good look for Herbert. 

Let’s backtrack for a second: Herbert just had an indefensible loss to Jacoby Brissett and the Arizona Cardinals. Losing that matchup to a team projected to hold the NFL draft’s top pick after a boatload of Mike McDaniel-centered hype is hard to come back from at this point. 

And sure, bad games happen. But when NFL coaches start making Allen comparisons in bad ways, the outlook becomes slightly more brutal. 

Justin Herbert compared to Josh Allen after tough loss

Josh Allen | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Here’s the reality: NFL coaches aren’t going to pull punches. Most would probably trade for Herbert in a heartbeat if he was available, yes. But they can also honestly talk about what’s going on. 

That’s what makes a new column from The Athletic’s Mike Sando so interesting. One defensive coach he spoke with said both Herbert and Allen process slightly slower than other top quarterbacks, but that Allen has benefited much more from being in the same system for so long. 

Herbert infamously is now on his fifth coordinator in seven NFL seasons and big success this year might just mean bumping that number even more. 

“I still like the guy and think he’s good,” the coach told Sando. “But if he does have a little success, Mike (McDaniel) will get a new job as a head coach. He just has to have a decent year, and the cycle will continue for the quarterback.”

First off, the Chargers would just like to find that sort of success first. But yes, this was an underlying issue we outlined when the Chargers first hired McDaniel: Do well with him, and he's probably leaving after one year to be a head coach again. 

This might sound like more coping to give Herbert excuses. But it’s a longrunning problem and fault of the Chargers organization. There’s no excusing the showing against Arizona, but this is reality. 

And hey, plenty of teams would love to have this “problem” with a borderline top-10 quarterback. The hope has to be that Herbert quickly acclimates better to McDaniel’s offense and starts reaching for more of his ceiling while winning games. 

But right now, it’s pretty hard to argue with this sort of take coming from NFL circles about the Chargers’ franchise centerpiece. 

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