Justin Herbert keeps throwing the football straight into defenders’ hands, and Kurt Warner thinks he finally knows why. The Hall of Fame quarterback went on The Dan Patrick Show to explain, and he pointed at the system, not the player.
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The Chargers are 0-8, the league’s only winless team, and Herbert leads the NFL with 11 interceptions. Warner says the problem is a bad fit between a quarterback and the offense run by coordinator Mike McDaniel.
“This transition to this different type of system, I think, has really messed with him and, you know, taken away his confidence. He hasn’t seen it and played as fast as they need him to.”
Warner explained it in plain football terms. He said the league has moved toward a “pure progression” style, where you look at your first receiver, throw if he is open, and move to the next one if he is not.
That is not how Herbert played for most of his career, Warner said. The old way was coverage-read plays, where the defense tells you where to start. A different coverage, and the read starts somewhere else.
Warner described what he thinks is happening in Herbert’s head. He looks at the first receiver, and the guy is covered. He turns to the second option without seeing what the defense is doing.
By then, Herbert is oblivious to what is around the ball. He decides his second receiver must be open, and he throws it into a defender’s numbers.
It has also taken away his confidence, Warner said. Herbert is not seeing the field as fast as the system needs him to, and everything has gone sideways very quickly. He still makes incredible plays every week, though.
This is not the first time Warner has raised the idea. Earlier this season on The Rich Eisen Show, he said McDaniel was not creating easy throws for his quarterback.
“Justin doesn’t look comfortable playing within what they’re asking him to do.”
The numbers back up the struggle. The Texans beat the Chargers 44-22 on Nov. 8, and Herbert was sacked a career-high eight times. It was the most for a Chargers quarterback since Dan Fouts, 50 years ago.
Herbert went 13-of-23 for 193 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. Los Angeles also snapped a streak of 37 straight drives without a touchdown, a run that began on October 11.
Backup DJ Uiagalelei finished the game and threw his first career touchdown pass.
McDaniel even moved from the sideline to the booth to call that game, and it made little difference. He was the Dolphins’ head coach in 2024, when Miami went 30 drives without a touchdown.
Herbert refuses to point the finger at his coordinator. Earlier this season, he called McDaniel the greatest and said he wants to make him proud. After the Texans loss, he refused to put the blame on him.
“It’s not on him, it’s on us as an offense.”
Tight end Charlie Kolar said the weight of it is real.
“I take a lot of pride in my craft, and to be part of an offense that’s struggling so mightily, it hurts the soul. It certainly does.”
History is not on Herbert’s side either. He is the first quarterback in NFL history to start 0-8 in a season after a Pro Bowl selection and a playoff trip. He is also only the third quarterback to start 0-8 while throwing an interception in every one of those games.
Herbert, 28, was also sacked a career-high 54 times last season, and he was on pace to break that number earlier this year.
Next up is a Monday Night Football game against the Ravens on November 16. The pressure on McDaniel, Herbert, and head coach Jim Harbaugh is not going away.
That is what makes Warner’s theory so interesting for Chargers fans. He is not saying Herbert forgot how to play quarterback. He is saying Los Angeles asked a gunslinger to unlearn what made him one, and the scoreboard is showing the bill.