Jim Harbaugh Takes Blame for Justin Herbert's Struggles in Chargers' Wild Card Loss

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh took the blame Saturday for his team's 32-12 wild-card loss to the Houston Texans.

Justin Herbert, who threw three total interceptions during the regular season, was picked off four times as the Chargers were eliminated.

"Not being the better team today, I'm accountable for that. So that's on me," Harbaugh said in his postgame press conference.

When asked about Herbert's interceptions, Harbaugh answered: "Again, on me."

"He's got to be able to finish a throwing motion," Harbaugh said. "Quarterback's gotta be able to do that. And we didn't put him in the position to do that enough."

The Texans put Saturday's game out of reach when Herbert threw a pick-six late in the third quarter. Houston safety Eric Murray returned the errant pass 38 yards for a touchdown.

The Chargers took an early six-point lead, then looked to pull ahead further when Deane Leonard picked off a C.J. Stroud pass and got the ball back in the Chargers' hands on the Houston 40-yard line.

On the following play, Herbert came short of Quentin Johnston on a deep pass that ended up giving the ball right back to the Texans.

"We weren't really on the right hash to call it," Harbaugh said about the play. "Again, I take accountability for that one."

Herbert finished the game having gone 14-of-32 for 242 yards and one touchdown in the first four-interception outing of his career.

He was sacked four times while getting pressured on half of his dropbacks, per Next Gen Stats. The quarterback finished out the game with a passer rating of 40.9 and a QBR of 13.0,

Per Sheil Kapadia of the Ringer, Herbert's EPA per pass play ranked 213 out of 214 quarterbacks over the last 10 NFL playoffs.

"The edge pressure, those are really the best we've seen," Harbaugh said about the Texans' defense. "The pressure on the edge, the pass rush, was outstanding."

The Chargers were also held to 50 rushing yards in the loss, the team's second-lowest total of the 2024 season.

"They were doing a tremendous job knocking back at the line of scrimmage and tackling," Harbaugh said. "They were very effective stopping the run. It was a very effective run wall by them."

Harbaugh concluded: "One thing I can promise you is, the sun will come up tomorrow, and we'll be attacking it with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind."

The Chargers last won a divisional round game when the franchise was in San Diego in 2007. Harbaugh and Herbert will hope to get another shot at snapping that drought next year.