"Don't know if Jim Harbaugh is psyched" - NFL analyst reads into Justin Herbert's playoff failures after Chargers' Wild Card exit 

Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers' promising season finished on a whimper as they suffered a 32-12 loss to the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, ending their season.

The offense delivered one of its most underwhelming performances of the season in their team's biggest game of the campaign, a massive letdown for coach Jim Harbaugh, who led the roster to an 11-6 record in the regular season in his first season back in the NFL.

While some believe the Chargers should write off the loss as the learning curve in a largely positive year, comedian Sal Iacono, better known as "Cousin Sal", believes it was a reality check for the head coach about how talented his quarterback is.

He said on "The Bill Simmons Podcast":

"I'll say this about Herbert because I don't want to bury him completely yet. I don't know that Harbaugh is psyched as he was a year ago. We could stop the comparisons to Joe Burrow for sure.

"Fine, keep comparing them to Tua [Tagovailoa]. That's good. If you're Harbaugh, what's your thought process now? It's like, 'Oh s**t. This is gonna take a lot more work than I thought.' Right?, he added.

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Justin Herbert's Playoff Stats and Record: An underwhelming resume

Five years into his NFL career, Justin Herbert has never tasted success in the postseason. The loss against the Texans was the second playoff game of the quarterback's career. The first was a duel against Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who mounted a 27-point comeback against the Chargers in the 2022 playoffs.

Herbert did not fare too poorly in that game. He finished with 273 passing yards, one touchdown, and 12 rushing yards. However, the same can't be said about his performance against Houston.

The 26-year-old completed only 43.8% of his pass attempts for 242 passing yards and one touchdown. He also tossed four interceptions – including a pick-6 – and did not register a single rushing yard for only the fourth time this season.

Herbert is undoubtedly among the more talented quarterbacks in the league. However, his playoff performances should be a cause for concern for coach Jim Harbaugh.