Herbert heating up for the Chargers in Cincinnati

The Los Angeles Chargers are rolling in the vertical passing game and Justin Herbert is catching passes from Keenan Allen.

In recent weeks, Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi has faced some heat for how the passing game has looked in the capable hands of second-year passer Justin Herbert.

In the early going in Cincinnati, Herbert and the Chargers are lighting up the Bengals, and the passing game is firing on all cylinders. The Chargers have a 24-0 lead and Herbert has hit on 11 of 15 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns.

The Chargers’ first touchdown came on a fourth-down play in the red zone, with Herbert working through his reads and finally targeting Keenan Allen for six:

A lot of the angst over Lombardi’s offense was how it seemed to focus on the short-area of the field, neutralizing perhaps Herbert’s best trait as a passer, which is his ability to push the ball downfield. Today in Cincinnati, the vertical passing game seems to be a big part of the game script, as highlighted by this deep shot from Herbert to Mike Williams:

That deep connection set up Allen’s second touchdown of the day, which also came near the goal line:

Early in the second quarter the vertical passing game was again on display, with Herbert rolling to his right before throwing back to his left:

When you have a quarterback who can roll outside the numbers and then hit this throw, you want to structure the offense around the deep ball as much as possible.

But the most shocking play of the game so far? This two-point conversion that saw Herbert not as the passer, but the receiver:

Herbert takes the snap and hands off to running back Austin Ekeler, who heads to the left side. But Ekeler quickly pitches the football to Allen, who then flips to a wide-open Herbert in the end zone for the two-point conversion.

As our own Doug Farrar pointed out, perhaps this is a sign that Lombardi has broken out of his offensive shell:

We will see how Herbert and the Chargers look the rest of the day and down the stretch. But if this is any indication of how Los Angeles will look offensively as the playoff stretch winds up, the rest of the AFC might want to pay attention.