Justin Herbert was all the craze during the Chargers’ beatdown of the Giants on Sunday, tossing for 275 yards and three touchdowns to go along with his highlight-reel heave of 63.8 yards for an unbelievable touchdown in the closing seconds of the first half.
Herbert’s dynamite performance led a Los Angeles offense that torched Big Blue for 423 yards of offense on 11 drives, averaging six yards per play.
“Those guys made a lot of plays on us and extended a lot of drives,” Giants head coach Joe Judge said after the 37-21 loss. “There were some times in the first half where they capitalized and made big plays down the field…it’s a good team that makes plays, but I expect our guys to come out there and make plays as well.”
The big playmaker was of course Herbert, who became the first player in NFL history to record two straight 30-touchdown seasons to begin his career. He now has 30 passing touchdowns on the year after recording 31 as a rookie.
“This guy's a talented player, man,” Judge said. “He's a very, very talented player. He's gonna be one of the top quarterbacks in the league for a long time to play. He’s big, he’s athletic, he’s got a strong arm to make all of those throws.”
Seeing Herbert’s otherworldly ability has to be particular souring for the Giants, who expressed a desire to draft him in 2019 before Herbert eventually decided to return to Oregon for his senior season. The Giants instead drafted Daniel Jones sixth overall, and a year later, took offensive tackle Andrew Thomas with the fourth overall pick. Two picks later, the Chargers grabbed Herbert and found themselves the established franchise star that New York still seeks.
Jones, still widely considered an unknown in regards to his future potential, watched from the sidelines in street clothes as he continues to nurse a neck strain while Herbert dazzled for Los Angeles, including his ridiculous throw that traveled nearly 64 yards through the air.
The rest of the Giants could only marvel at what might have been.
“We’ve already seen it on tape a thousand times,” Judge said. “This isn’t the first time the guy has made that throw, and it won’t be the last time…there are good teams on every team in this league. They’re gonna make plays. We have to make sure we go out there…and understand within the flow of it that there’s gonna be ups and downs, and we have to keep on playing through the adversity of the game.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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