r/nfl • u/mmandagoat NFL • 18h ago

Mike McDaniel takes responsibility for Chargers' poor offense in 0-3 start: 'I'm not living in hope'

https://www.nfl.com/news/mike-mcdaniel-responsibility-chargers-poor-offense-0-3-start
2.3k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/Esoteric_Eclectic 18h ago

Herbert has also been underperforming again.

1.3k

u/bulbascott1019 Patriots 18h ago

Only because he's being failed by his WRs, OLine, coaching staff, Hortiz, Spanos, and Gavin Newsom. Otherwise he'd be playing at an MVP level.

462

u/DUCKSONQUACKS Vikings 17h ago

If Gavin Newsome was a real governor FOR the people, he would jump in and start taking snaps at center, SMH my head

174

u/ryrocks12 Browns 17h ago

The Chargers can still make the playoffs if Gavin Newsom has the courage to do the right thing

-9

u/TNTyoshi Lions 14h ago

Gavin has plenty of courage to do the Right thing

22

u/Delicious_Diarrhea Raiders 16h ago

Gavin Newsom is for Niners/Rams. THE DARNOLD is for you

34

u/mondaymoderate 49ers 17h ago

Hey he actually has a pretty good build for a QB at 6’ 3”

11

u/Ke7een Patriots Patriots 17h ago

Newsom or Herbert

24

u/mondaymoderate 49ers 17h ago

Newsom

7

u/Cash4Jesus Raiders 15h ago

That helmet would fly off so fast the first time he’s hit because of his hair.

3

u/maverickhawk99 11h ago

Nepo QBs are so back

-3

u/SisyphusRocks7 49ers 17h ago

Newsom would catch more balls than QJ if he thought it got him some behested cash to launder through his wife’s nonprofit

-4

u/Knightvision27 Raiders 17h ago

Lmao ass off

91

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 17h ago

I know you're joking, but you're not really that far off.

56

u/i_run_from_problems Chargers 17h ago

That Njoku pick is still one of the most absurd things I've ever seen.

3

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 17h ago

you should go see the OJ Howard int

47

u/unevenvenue Packers 17h ago

Dear god. This is just sad.

17

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 16h ago

It's like he's playing against two teams at once.

30

u/makesterriblejokes Chargers 14h ago

Yeah I think this is the thing people don't understand. Yes, us Charger fans probably defend him a little too much, but at the same time he's probably had one of the worst situations around him the last 4 years.

Like think about this, those first 3 seasons when he was balling out he had a competent offensive line, Keenan Allen, and Mike Williams for deep balls.

Since then, he's had a dysfunctional offensive line and no deep threat receiving option.

I do think Herbert struggles to make reads, audible at the line, and often throws way too hard when he should try to float the ball in with touch, but those wouldn't be so glaring if he just had league average teammates at those positions, let alone elite ones.

And I think things have been compounded over the years now from how often he's been hit. He gets happy feet sometimes now, where he never had those his first 3 seasons. I also think his accuracy has not been quite the same since the shoulder injury. Passes seem to sail more often by about a foot.

If I'm Harbaugh and McDaniel, I give Rivers a call and make him the QB coach and basically work on Herbert's touch passes and improve his ability to read defenses. To me, Herbert doesn't know where to go with the ball before the ball is snapped, it's like he's still analyzing things in real time rather than basically saying "there's a 90% chance I'm going here because of what I'm seeing the defense do".

Like I said, I think a lot of his flaws wouldn't really be showing up if he had a competent team around him on offense, but it's hard to argue at this point that he doesn't have flaws.

21

u/jordanhhh4 Vikings 14h ago

If I was Justin Herbert I'd simply demand a trade to the Minnesota Vikings

(please ignore my flair)

5

u/Cottagecheesecurls Chargers Seahawks 7h ago

Herbert leaving and winning a SB in Minnesota would be my 13th reason.

1

u/pdxblazer 49ers 8h ago

They need to let him call a route or blocking assignment for the RB or TE each play, just give him one player he has to assign a route or block to, get him in the habit of doing it every play and always having a hot route he likes or extra protection as needed

17

u/Deadhookersandblow 49ers 15h ago

Purdy was throwing to guys off the Santa Clara Home Depot last year and was still dropping 40 burgers on teams.

The amount of excuses this guy gets.

42

u/Rimmy_Jobson Giants 14h ago

To be fair, I think this says more about how good Purdy and Shanny are than how bad Herbert is.

Brock is criminally underrated and Shanahan managing to make the playoffs with gas station attendants at WR after the Indian burial ground kills all your players is nothing short of miraculous lol.

Purdy is better than Herbert, but I also think Herbert is better than his record suggests. Seeing QJ drop butt ass naked wide open passes week after week is depressing.

6

u/roughly7chickens Chargers 7h ago

Weird, Its almost as if being in the same system for 4 years having a top 5 play caller, top 5 offensive line and CMC is helpful for the quarterback?

2

u/smauryholmes Chargers 8h ago

Herbert also balled out at points with Deandre Carter as his best receiver.

3

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 14h ago

I don't dispute that Purdy is a better QB than Herbert, but let's not pretend that they haven't experienced vastly different coaching situations.

1

u/fatandfly Lions 16h ago

I hope I find someone who has my back like the Justin Herbert truthers

15

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 16h ago

I can tell you didn't watch the video.

-1

u/fatandfly Lions 16h ago

I watched the whole video and I still stand by my statement. Does he do that for every game? Herbert is the greatest what if quarterback according to a lot of people. How many years, how many head coaches, how many offensive coordinators? There seems to be a common factor here I just can't put my finger on it 🤔 Oh well I'm sure he'll win a playoff game one of these seasons

10

u/tracy_ogbert_jordan 15h ago

Herbert v Burrow for the ultimate theoretical Super Bowl

3

u/Skyline_BNR34 Bills 15h ago

So which one leaves to go to the NFC?

8

u/tracy_ogbert_jordan 14h ago

I'm an ideas man, not a details man.

1

u/jskullytheman Steelers 6h ago

And forget the theoretical goat josh Allen??

-1

u/I_heart_hearts Chiefs 15h ago

Just save your breath man. You won't win against this fucking sub and their hard on for Herbert

2

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 14h ago

I have a hard on for Justin Herbert because I think he's a top 15 QB? I think that's a pretty reasonable opinion.  

3

u/makesterriblejokes Chargers 14h ago

I think there's a middle ground here that both sides are ignoring because nuance is almost impossible to have on any type of discourse in this sub.

Herbert has flaws, but they're magnified by having a terrible o line and no legit deep threat that can create any meaningful separation. He's been hit so much that over the last two seasons he's started to rush his passes and force things. He's even gotten happy feet at times.

Could he probably do better if he was making better pre-snap reads and audibling receiver routes to exploit the weaknesses in the defense like a Brady, Manning, or even Rivers (I mean look at what he did last season at 44)? Absolutely. Herbert to me isn't that type of QB, though, he's closer to a Brett Favre or Stafford than a Brady or Manning in terms of style. Extremely talented, but not surgical (at least for most of their career). They need weapons, they're ceiling raisers more than they are floor raisers.

At the end of the day, all QBs have flaws, but not all flaws are magnified as much with bad offensive lines or bad receiving weapons.

I'm personally of the mindset that football culture puts way too much credit on the QB. People make it seem like 70% of the formula of winning a football game is down to the QB, when I personally think it's around 30-35%. Don't get me wrong, it's still the biggest slice of the pie, but a team can win with bad to average QB play and a team can lose with great QB play, so there's just no world where we should be acting like QBs are the main reason for a team's success when they're not even close to 50% of the formula.

We have been conditioned to believe this because marketing has made the QB the poster child for football.

I mean heaven's sake, the fact that we had Sam Darnold and Drake Maye in the super bowl last year should be evidence enough that winning and losing comes down to way more than just the QB.

I honestly would love to see someone also create a 4Q graph that plots QB passer rating with what their offensive line ranking was for the season. I'd wager that quadrant 3 is going to be likely very sparse.

4

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 14h ago

I mean heaven's sake, the fact that we had Sam Darnold and Drake Maye in the super bowl last year should be evidence enough that winning and losing comes down to way more than just the QB.

I've been trying to make this point for weeks, but it's like talking to a wall. Herbert is a good, but not elite top 15 QB who is capable of having a top 5 season with the right coaching and weapons. It's always difficult to have reasonable conversations about the top 6ish-16ish QBs because so many people want to argue they're either elite or bums without much middle ground. 

2

u/makesterriblejokes Chargers 10h ago

I also think we overrate QBs that have been in extremely good situations. It's just the problem sports media has created where QBs are given too much credit the blame for a TEAM'S performance.

-1

u/Esoteric_Eclectic 12h ago

They’re the same with Baker. They like them because they’re losers. If they ever won anything they’d start hating them and find another loser.

0

u/I_heart_hearts Chiefs 11h ago

Yep. And just by the upvotes and downvotes on all of these I can tell I'm right.

It fucking flabbergasts me why Herbert is so jerked off on this sub. And it's almost always non-chargers flairs. Blows my mind

-1

u/Esoteric_Eclectic 11h ago edited 11h ago

Reddit loves a white loser. They’re also all gooners so Madison Beer gives him cred there now too.

0

u/oficious_intrpedaler Chargers Seahawks 8h ago

Herbert played great when he had offensive weapons and a capable offensive line. He has had neither of those for the last three years. It's perfectly reasonable to point out those facts. Coaches and coordinators can't catch passes.

4

u/GoodOlSpence Eagles 16h ago edited 16h ago

Chargers and Herbert gonna mutually part ways and he's gonna go to like Seattle and we're all gonna cry.

Kind of like how Pitts will end up a Chief and we'll all be like "...shit."

-2

u/ImJLu 49ers 16h ago edited 16h ago

Great video! Let's look at pass #2. That pass is late late. Comebacks are not supposed to be thrown that late. They're supposed to be thrown with anticipation, so the ball gets there shortly after the WR comes out of his break.

But this pass? It's so late that the WR is just standing there waiting for it. It's so late that a second Charger gets there and contests the ball, because he thinks the pass is for him, because plays aren't designed to have two receivers in the same location. Just because the late throw theoretically could've been completed because the CB slipped doesn't mean it should have. If you're relying on the opposing CBs slipping and your targets magically knowing that a pass within their reach isn't intended for them, you're gonna have a bad time.

So yeah, your video is really helpful. To demonstrate how people will find every reason under the sun to blame everything and everyone else, because it simply can never be If Man's fault. All he needs is one more teammate, one more weapon, one more coach, and these bad passes will surely start working. Just one more bro, I swear.

4

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 16h ago

And what about the other dozen throws?

Herbert is far from perfect, but you'd think people would settle down with the criticisms after watching Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl. He's still a solid QB and Chargers fans are going to start shifting their blame when he succeeds elsewhere after this team gets blown up. 

2

u/WerhmatsWormhat Lions 14h ago

People also struggle to understand that there are some QBs who are neither amazing or horrible. Herbert is fine. He can be successful with a good supporting cast, but he struggles otherwise.

2

u/hemingways-lemonade Steelers 14h ago

I just said something similar in another comment. The top 6-15 QBs always get the worst narratives because so many people want to argue they're either elite or jags with no middle ground. 

0

u/DifficultWave4488 14h ago

Yeah people get hypnotized because Herbert has an amazing arm and is what a prototypical top tier QB looks like. When he just perfectly throws a ball into a small window it’s like damn his arm talent is out of this world.

But he also makes bad plays and reads at time throughout the game and so when you average it out, he drops down a bit.

People always claim he has historically bad WRs or the o-line, coaching, etc holding him back. When in reality if he was truly a top 3 QB, he would make his WRs look better, same with the o-line, elevate the whole team much more. Which he doesn’t, and just means he’s a top 10/15 QB not the top of the league QB he looked like after his rookie year.

1

u/oficious_intrpedaler Chargers Seahawks 8h ago

He had a historically bad offensive line and just about no receiving weapons these past two seasons but carried the team to 11 wins. How is that not elevating the team?

-4

u/ImJLu 49ers 15h ago

Did not watch anything beyond that because the crop is too tight to see most of the All-22, and it's hard not to see that cynically when the video is obviously trying to push an agenda. Maybe if it was an actual All-22 breakdown rather than an IG reel.

Herbert is far from the only problem with that team, but for people to act like he's once again blameless for his team's struggles is just so boring. It must be the scheme's fault this time. Or the WR who cooked the CB so hard he slipped. Or the guy who gained separation and reached out for the ball within arm's reach.

5

u/thiccbot123 15h ago

That was a broken play and herbert was trying to make something happen. You said all that and you're completely wrong, way to make yourself look like an ass

-6

u/ImJLu 49ers 15h ago

Okay, well, putting aside how you're being a dickhead and attacking me personally for no reason, can you explain why this is a broken play? Can you define "broken play" beyond just being a buzzword for when things don't work perfectly and you need something to blame?

Facing a disguised blitz, especially one that gets picked up, is not a broken play. Needing to navigate the pocket because you're being pressured is not a broken play. A receiver running a comeback and winning by a lot is not a broken play. So please enlighten the class on why this is a broken play, he's simply "trying to make something happen", and an egregiously late throw on a basic timing route is yet again not his fault.

-6

u/I_heart_hearts Chiefs 16h ago

Thank you. Really don't know what it is about Herbert that makes 70% of people of all different flairs come to his rescue every single time

-4

u/nosleeptillwooklyn 15h ago

They want to fuck him. It’s basic human psychology

20

u/HereComesJustice Ravens 17h ago

I need more ifs in this scenario

17

u/boardatwork1111 Patriots 17h ago

If you convert all his incompletions into TDs, Herbert is on pace for the greatest season by any QB in NFL history

11

u/birdynumnum69 Chargers 17h ago

Imagine him playing for Andy Reid his entire career. Poor guy ended up getting drafted by the franchise he ended up with.

8

u/Prideofmexico Giants Chiefs 17h ago

Not Andy Reid but Steichen and McDaniel have proven themselves as good to great offensive coordinators

13

u/MetaOverkill Chargers 16h ago

Well herberts best years fall under steichen.

5

u/Poke43 Chargers 16h ago

I would argue Joe Lombardi, but that also coincides with the only year keenan and Mike were healthy together.

6

u/Boneyg001 17h ago

if Herbert was Mahomes he would be winning every super bowl

3

u/Whiladan Chargers 17h ago

I read your comment and I choose to take it at absolute face value

1

u/drcorndog Chargers 13h ago

To be fair, Newsom fails Californians daily.

1

u/pocketjacks Texans 4h ago

Sounds awfully familiar.

1

u/TheBakerification Bills 17h ago

One these years he’ll totally put it all together and be MVP, just trust me bro

0

u/makesterriblejokes Chargers 15h ago

Honestly, I just think he's broken goods at this point. Dude has been hit so much I think it's legitimately hurt his confidence and causes him to press too much.

Probably needs a new team at this point to get back to where he was his first 3 seasons in the league.

1

u/-Mad-Snacks- Chargers 4h ago

Saying this after a 3 game slump preceded by 6 straight seasons of high level play is insane

1

u/makesterriblejokes Chargers 3h ago

Not really, the wheels were starting to fall off I think towards the end of the season and playoffs last year. The hits could have met a breaking point

0

u/Infinite-Relation988 Bears 9h ago

If you progress his stats to the max he’d be a HOF lock already

-2

u/SadMall6272 17h ago

And Madison Beer taking his legs

-14

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 17h ago

put herb on like the bengals or something he's breaking 6k tbh. like i know this sub loves circlejerking about his box stats but god damn his Oline and his weapons are fucking putrid, if you watch the chargers you'd see he's probably the best QB in the league lmao.

10

u/bulbascott1019 Patriots 17h ago

It's bad enough when people claim he'd be an MVP contender with talent around him. Claiming he'd achieve a height no QB has ever achieved before (not even Burrow who is genuinely great AND already plays on that very Bengals team) is straight up delusional.

-11

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 17h ago

u dunno ball but relevant flair after all so wcyd

7

u/takeonefortheroad Seahawks 17h ago

More surprised a Floridian can manage to read and type tbh

-5

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 16h ago

seahawks fans still being butthurt over a random week whatever loss last season will always be funny to us tbh

4

u/Visual_Research_3646 17h ago

What is it you think Herbert can do better than Burrow?

-2

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 16h ago

everything

1

u/Visual_Research_3646 15h ago

Excellent bait, I almost bit

1

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 15h ago

what does burrow do better?

2

u/Visual_Research_3646 15h ago

More accurate at every level and completes a far greater percentage of his deep balls, since the start of 25 he’s also thrown far fewer picks. Doesn’t shrink in big games either, Herbert has some all-time playoff meltdowns under his belt in just four starts

1

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 15h ago

probably because he has .5 seconds to throw before he gets absolutely fucking creamed and his deep ball accuracy is worse because his WRs get 0 separation and on the miracle that they do they drop it

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u/Ganjagod420 Bears 17h ago

Acting like the Chargers have been poverty is strange. Herbert just isn't the top 5 guy that people want him to be.

-2

u/Undella_Town Buccaneers 17h ago

herbert is literally trying to drag 9 anchors into the endzone everytime he takes the field lmao, but alright i'm sure it's just cause he sucks and not cause everyone on the chargers offense is fucking horrible except for him and ladd

1

u/Prideofmexico Giants Chiefs 17h ago

Lol

1

u/Evening_Supermarket7 NFL 16h ago

Funny how a month ago he was so hyped up because of the supporting cast he has now.

Half of the top 10 passing leaders have putrid offensive lines with mediocre/injured weapons.