Justin Herbert's Chargers Mocked by Twitter for Blowing 27-0 Lead in Loss to Jaguars

AP Photo/Chris Carlson

A 27-0 lead went up in smoke Saturday as the Los Angeles Chargers saw its four-score edge evaporate en route to a 31-30 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday in the AFC Wild Card round.

The Chargers amassed four interceptions of Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence in the first 22 minutes of the game, including three from cornerback Asante Samuel Jr. alone.

L.A. parlayed those turnovers into a 27-0 edge thanks to a pair of Austin Ekeler touchdowns, a Justin Herbert nine-yard toss to Gerald Everett and two Cameron Dicker field goals.

The rest of the game proved disastrous for the Chargers, who were gashed on the ground (20 carries for 109 rushing yards for running back Travis Etienne) and through the air (288 passing yards and four touchdowns for Lawrence).

The Jags scored a late first-half touchdown courtesy of a nine-yard pass from Lawrence to tight end Evan Engram. They then proceeded to score on all four of their second-half drives with three touchdowns and a game-winning 36-yard field goal from Riley Patterson.

Oddly enough, the Bolts didn't find themselves having too much trouble moving the ball in the second half on three of their four drives. L.A. got the ball to start the second half and moved all the way down to the Jacksonville 38-yard line before stalling out. The Chargers then had field goal attempts on their next two drives, with Dicker making one from 50 before missing one from 40.

However, a costly three-and-out on their final possession led to the Jags' game-winning field goal.

✨ Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content

The events leading up to that final moment will be remembered all offseason.

Four-time Pro Bowler Joey Bosa took off his helmet and threw it on the field after apparently getting angry on a no-call for a hold during the play where Lawrence found Christian Kirk for a nine-yard score to make it a 30-26 game. Head coach Brandon Staley was seen handing the helmet back to Bosa, who proceeded to smash it on the sidelines.

Bosa got called for unsportsmanlike conduct after the first helmet toss. The Jags opted to take the penalty on the point-after attempt and went for two, where Lawrence reached over the goal line for the score.

After getting the ball back following a three-and-out, the Jaguars faced a 4th-and-1 from the Bolts' 41-yard line with Bosa on the bench. Etienne then ran around the right edge for 25 yards, and Riley Patterson ended this one with a 36-yard boot.

And with that, the Chargers found themselves on the wrong end of the third-biggest playoff collapse in NFL postseason history despite winning the turnover battle 5-0.

L.A. had difficulty moving the ball on the ground (23 carries, 67 yards) although they found more success through the air (25-of-43 for 273 yards and one touchdown for Justin Herbert). But the Bolts could have used the services of Mike Williams, who played in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos despite that matchup having no significance on the team's playoff seeding. Williams suffered a fracture in his back and missed the playoff game.

Ultimately, this was nothing short of a cataclysmic loss for the franchise prone for inexplicable regular-season and playoff losses in its history, as noted by Twitter.

The Bolts have now made 15 playoff appearances since 1979 without ever making the Super Bowl.