Patriots Get Away With Roughing Justin Herbert on Key Play in First Half

Stephen Douglas | 2 Hours Ago

Justin Herbert took a blow to the head late in the second quarter. / NBC

The New England Patriots took a 6-3 lead into halftime against the Los Angeles Chargers in their wild-card game on Sunday night. A long scramble by Drake Maye set up a field goal in the final seconds to give the Patriots the lead, but should the Patriots have even had the ball?

On the previous Chargers posession, officials ignored what should have been called roughing the passer against the Patriots defense. Facing second-and-three from their own 35, Justin Herbert dropped back to pass and was hit in the head by defensive end Milton Williams. Herbert went down for a sack, but no flag was thrown.

NBC's Cris Collinsworth and Mike Tirico noted the seemingly illegal blow to the head in real-time and then rules analyst Terry McAulay confirmed that a drive-extending penalty should have been called.

Terry McAulay: "That's forcible contact. It should have been a penalty for roughing the passer." 🏈🦓🎙️ #NFL #SNF #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/VLzPCPv9Cw

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 12, 2026

"It's forcible contact," said McAulay. "He still gets roughing the passer protection until he clearly establishes himself as a runner, which he didn't do. That's forcible contact. It should have been a penalty for roughing the passer, 15 yards."

McAulay ended his explanation just in time for Tirico to call Maye's big run.

It should be noted that the Chargers appeared to benefit from a replay review when Herbert was called down short of the line to gain a few plays later, but Chargers fans probably don't want to hear that.

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