The Chargers were embarrassed by the Patriots, suffering their worst defeat in the team history on Sunday, 45-0.
Here are four things that I took away from Los Angeles’ Week 13 loss:
Worst performance yet
Prior to the game, coach Bill Belichick had the highest praise for quarterback Justin Herbert. While everything he said about his strengths sounded good, Belichick is notorious for exploiting rookie signal-caller’s weaknesses, which is what he did on Sunday afternoon.
The Patriots gave Herbert no room to breathe, pressuring him 26 times, hitting him 11 times and sacking him three times. As a result, the 22-year old completed only 26 of his career-high 53 attempts for just 209 yards and two interceptions.
With how bad the deficit was and how much of a beating Herbert was taking, there was absolutely zero reason for him to stay on the field.
Following the game, coach Anthony Lynn said that he “wanted to be in the game with his teammates.” Herbert told reporters that he didn’t recall having a conversation with Lynn about coming out of the game,
“I can’t really remember the situation on the sideline,” Herbert said. “I just knew I was going to go back in, kind of regardless of what the situation was. I was going to be out there with the team.”