Tom Krasovic: Justin Herbert, Chargers teammates aren't taking to new offensive scheme

Tom Krasovic, The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sep 21, 2026

Published in Football

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SAN DIEGO — In their first two games under NFL playcaller/designer Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and teammates looked far more comfortable than Justin Herbert and Co. have appeared with the Los Angeles Chargers.

The sample size is meager, but the stark contrast warrants a closer look.

Where the Tagovailoa-directed McDaniel offense began the 2022 season with a winning performance against New England and then lit up Baltimore on the road, the Herbert-led McDaniel group has begun with two error-prone, low-flow clunkers in ugly defeats.

No one in the NFL regards Tagovailoa as a better quarterback than Herbert, who went to L.A. sixth overall in 2020 after Miami drafted Tagovailoa with the fifth pick.

The McDaniel-Tagovailoa combination, though, clicked from the outset.

The lefty QB looked comfortable, especially at Baltimore, where he threw for six touchdowns and 469 yards in Miami’s wild, 42-38 victory in Week 2 after he’d piloted a turnover-free, 20-7 win over New England.

Tagovailoa in 2022 had two advantages over today’s Herbert:

Greater skill at run-pass-option (RPO) plays — and Tyreek Hill on his side.

In college, Tagovailoa’s fluidity at RPOs and overall accuracy distinguished him as he earned Alabama’s starting job over Jalen Hurts, who went on to win two Super Bowls with Philadelphia.

Hill was an all-time great playmaker who made football much more fun for his quarterbacks before age-and-injury erosion.

L.A.’s version of Hill is Ladd McConkey.

Unlike most of his teammates on offense, McConkey has adapted fast to McDaniel’s offense.

In the first game, he had a touchdown catch and contributed 106 yards, including a 24-yard gain off pass interference, before sitting out the fourth quarter with a rib injury. Limited to 31 snaps Sunday, McConkey had a 19-yard catch on third-and-11 and two short-gain receptions.

Beyond McConkey, it’s been a stilted show.

In extra points added — an NFL advanced stat that measures the value of a single play by how it affects the likelihood of the team scoring — McDaniel’s first Miami offense netted positive totals of 6.1 and 32.0.

L.A.’s offense finished each game with a negative EPA: -3.3 against the Arizona Cardinals and -8.7 against the Las Vegas Raiders, fueling a pair of 12-point defeats.

Tagovailoa had passer ratings of 104.0 and 124.1 to begin the McDaniel era; Herbert posted an 83.7 and a 59.5.

McDaniel was fired by Miami in January. He took the L.A. job in large part because of Herbert, 28.

In physical traits, Herbert holds a large edge over Tagovailoa in arm strength, run dimension, durability, size, contact balance and physicality.

Mental processing isn’t so easily quantified. There’s no disputing, though, that Herbert came into this season having established himself as a solid-to-very good QB. He succeeded under four different coordinators in Shane Steichen, Joe Lombardi, Kellen Moore and Greg Roman.

This summer, NFL executives surveyed by The Athletic’s Mike Sando placed Herbert sixth among league quarterbacks. The list began with Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford and Joe Burrow in Tier 1 and Lamar Jackson followed by Herbert in Tier 2.

Tagovailoa ranked 26th overall in the same survey.

Just because the 2026 season has gone badly for L.A. doesn’t mean it can’t get worse, though that would take some doing.

The offense’s dysfunction has run a wide gamut before and after the snap. Off to poor starts are right guard Cole Strange, receiver Quentin Johnston and fullback Alec Ingold.

Running back Omarion Hampton has fumbled twice. Hampton’s career-longest rush Sunday — 17 yards — gets an asterisk. It was a stat-stuff on the final snap of the first half.

Star right tackle Joe Alt had four penalties Sunday. In the opener, rookie center Jake Slaughter, pressed into duty by a veteran’s preseason injury, was responsible for three consecutive penalties.

Herbert clinched each defeat with an ill-advised, fourth-quarter throw that went for an interception.

At game’s end Sunday, soon after the pickoff and Alt’s holding penalty that went for a safety, CBS cameras showed McDaniel talking to Herbert as they sat on the bench.

Herbert looked ahead without any expression on his face.

Many San Diegans continue to invest money and time in the lightning-bolt franchise.

For them, a piece of history: The franchise is off to its worst start on offense since the 2007 unit stumbled out of the gate under new coach and offensive mastermind Norv Turner.

In Weeks 1 and 2, it had negative EPAs of -4.94 and -12.50. Philip Rivers, going from “Martyball” to “Norvball,” lost some of his flow and posted D-grade passer ratings of 73.7 and 74. In the opener, Hall of Fame back LaDainian Tomlinson’s 17 carries went for just 25 yards. The team still won, 14-3, against Chicago. A week later, Bill Belichick’s Patriots whipped Turner’s team, 38-14.

By season’s end?

Turner and his players were celebrating an AFC West title.

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