Former NFL Pro Bowler joins droves ranting at Chargers in defense of Justin Herbert

The Los Angeles Chargers aren’t escaping accusations of failing Justin Herbert right now.

Saturday’s national game against the Houston Texans pointed a giant spotlight at the issues in Los Angeles.

Herbert had a few MVP-worthy drives, including throwing completions mid-sack and otherwise gutting out key runs despite being just a few weeks removed from surgery on his fractured non-throwing hand.

But the collapse of the defense early, his mess of an offensive line and clearly inadequate game plan dialed up by coaches really let him down.

Now, the Chargers will keep taking the beating in the media and from fans.

Chargers ripped for failing Justin Herbert

If you took a drink each time Kurt Warner said “Justin Herbert has nowhere to throw the ball”, or “nobody is open downfield for the Chargers”, you would have been hammered by halftime.

This is a Greg Roman post.
— Ryan DePaul (@RyanDePaul) December 28, 2025

Criticism has zipped in from all over the place since Herbert attempted to will his Chargers to stay alive in the AFC West race.

One of the most notable bits of criticism comes from former Pro Bowl offensive lineman Kyle Long, who suited up for CBS Sports and had some harsh things to say.

"Justin Herbert is unbelievable,” Long said. Just like I talk about Joe Burrow in Cincinnati, it's almost criminal the lack of help he has when the chips are down in Los Angeles. The protection isn’t there. Their ability to keep him off the turf, it’s not good enough. "

"Justin Herbert is unbelievable ... it's almost criminal the lack of help he has."

- @Ky1eLong pic.twitter.com/yvP87DQgF4
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 28, 2025

The usual disclaimer comes up in this discussion: Joe Hortiz and Chargers brass couldn’t have known that Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater would suffer season-ending injuries. But it was obvious to outsiders that the interior of the offensive line wasn’t good enough, which is its own big problem.

And it’s hard to ignore the up-and-down offensive play-calling from coordinator Greg Roman on a weekly basis. There’s creativity and unexpected good stuff one week, then whatever that was against the Texans.

You know what’s crazy. John Harbaugh fired Greg Roman & his brother Jim Harbaugh said cmon down to SoCal big dawg and hold back Justin Herbert.
— Breiden Fehoko (@BreidenFehoko) December 28, 2025

It’s hard to blame national viewers and non-fans for gesturing wildly at the Chargers when they actually see the team and wondering why Herbert appears to need to do it all on his own.

And it’s impossible to blame Chargers fans who see the shortcomings around Herbert…and have for years.

The fix? Continued smart drafting and some big spending in free agency on problem areas. Not easy, but one could argue Herbert’s style of play isn’t sustainable. He shouldn’t need to be perfect to cover for the mistakes of the front office and coaching staff.

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