Justin Herbert Compared to Michael Jordan by NFL Coach After Chargers' Win vs. Chiefs

There may be no better comparison in all of sports for an athlete to draw than Michael Jordan, and that is exactly what Justin Herbert did as he put the finishing touches on the Los Angeles Chargers' 27-21 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs with a 19-yard scramble on 3rd-and-14 that ended with a graceful slide.

"Kept the feet up, for emphasis, kind of like (Michael) Jordan against Utah with the pose—the pose slide," a rival coach said of Herbert, per Mike Sando of The Athletic.

The Jordan pose in reference was when His Airness held his shooting form after hitting what proved to be the winning shot for the Chicago Bulls in the final seconds of Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz.

Jordan's play had more stakes than Herbert's in a season-opening game, but one coach believes the impressive performance from the Chargers quarterback was a sign of things to come.

"They finally started throwing the ball (on early downs) with Herbert," the coach said. "They might have won the division the last couple years if they had done that. He is so good, and people don't give him his due."

Los Angeles has been conservative at times in the past under head coach Jim Harbaugh, but it opened up the playbook Friday.

Herbert went 25-of-34 for 318 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions and outdueled Patrick Mahomes in the process. Mahomes played well himself with 258 passing yards, one throwing touchdown and one rushing touchdown, but it was the Chargers that earned the key divisional win out of the gates.

▶️ Full Chiefs-Chargers Recap

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"I'd be embarrassed if I had a dynamic guy who could throw it all over the place and he is averaging 150 yards passing per game," a third coach said of Los Angeles. "There is an acknowledgement that Herbert is really f---ing good."

With Herbert slinging the ball around the field, the Los Angeles receiving group also finished with impressive stat lines. 

Quentin Johnston tallied five catches for 79 yards and two scores, while Keenan Allen hauled in seven catches for 68 yards and a touchdown. Ladd McConkey didn't find the end zone, but he posted six catches for 74 yards as well.

"It's MVP level," Chargers offensive Greg Roman told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. "It really is. That's a big-time game and he played about as good as you can. … Patrick Mahomes goes down the field and answers, and Justin Herbert comes out, right back at ya, and oh by the way you're not getting the ball back at the end."

Roman also believes the mix of impressive throws and runs such as the one that clinched the game will set Herbert up for more success moving forward.

"Last year, when he got his feet involved, great things happened," Roman said. "We scored a lot of points and won those games—Denver, Cincinnati. And showing a lot of cutups of it, and just talking through it: Oh, look at what Josh Allen just did, look at what Mahomes just did. It's making him aware. It's not a mandate. It's as we continue to just be the winningest group we can be on offense, that's something that we just need to get more out of him.

The Chargers are yet to win a playoff game in the Herbert era, but the team on display Friday looked more than capable of changing that. That is especially true if the offense remains aggressive with one of the most talented quarterbacks in the league leading the way.