The Los Angeles Chargers walked into Monday Night Football looking hardly convincing of their ability to clinch a playoff spot (with 50% odds). But Los Angeles walked out with a dramatic overtime win, and Justin Herbert looked like he was ripped from a script rather than an injury report.
Justin Herbert, playing just a week after hand surgery, dragged the Chargers across the finish line while half the stadium wondered how the hell he was even gripping a football. Jim Harbaugh described Justin Herbert as a “superhero” QB in the MNF press conference.
Jim Harbaugh didn’t bother with clichés and went straight to mythology. “He had surgery a week ago and is out here tonight,” Harbaugh said. “It felt like we were in a movie where, you know, the quarterback’s doing this. And it’s like, you get to the point where you go, okay, this is getting a little unrealistic. That’s what it felt like to me. He refuses to lose. It’s just tough as they get. But he’s a superhero quarterback.”
MORE:
When the game hit the point where most quarterbacks crumble, he looked sharper with 139 passing yards and one touchdown. Comparatively, he was way better than Eagles’ Jalen Hurts, who threw five turnovers and four interceptions. Philadelphia sent pressure, trying to attack his injured hand while forcing him to move off his spot. But nothing worked. Herbert’s Chargers delivered the game-winning drive in overtime. Now, per the metrics of ESPN’s analytics, the Chargers have a 72% chance of making it to the playoffs.
Game recap: Eagles vs Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers escaped with a 22–19 overtime win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football. The most surreal moment came in the second quarter when the Eagles produced three turnovers on one play, which ultimately gave the ball back to the Chargers. It was the kind of sequence that summed up Philadelphia’s unraveling and fed Los Angeles the momentum they needed to survive a mistake-filled contest.
The Chargers’ offense wasn’t dominant, but Justin Herbert, playing through a fractured left hand just one week after surgery, delivered when it mattered. Herbert finished with 139 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception, and added 66 rushing yards while managing the game with grit more than flash.
His lone touchdown came early (a 4-yard strike to Omarion Hampton), and the rest of the scoring came via field goals. The Eagles briefly stole the lead in the fourth quarter when Saquon Barkley broke loose for a 52-yard touchdown, but Herbert responded by driving the Chargers into range for a late field goal to force overtime.
Once the game reached OT, the Chargers took control. Cameron Dicker drilled a clutch 54-yard field goal to put Los Angeles ahead 22–19. On the Eagles’ ensuing possession, Hurts’ pass was tipped by rookie corner Cam Hart and intercepted by veteran Tony Jefferson, sealing the Chargers’ victory.
The win pushes Los Angeles to 9–4 and keeps them firmly in the AFC playoff race. For Philadelphia, this marks a brutal continuation of their downward slide, with turnovers and self-inflicted damage burying them in a game they should have controlled.
Herbert didn’t need Harbaugh to call him a superhero. Anyone who watched him play through a broken hand in a primetime overtime win already knew. But it sure didn’t hurt to hear it.