By David McDonnell
Ever since a banged-up Justin Herbert came back from his bye in Week 9, his performances have gotten better as he has become healthier by the week.
In the late game last night, he was magnificent and broke the NFL record held by Andrew Luck for the most passing yards by a QB over his first three seasons in the NFL.
Herbert saved his best game for the nationally televised audience and anyone watching would have been in little doubt that they were looking at one of the best players in the league. For the first time all season he started and finished with his two best receivers Mike Williams and Keenan Allen in tow and giving him more options than he has been used to on offence all season.
The Bolts quarterback was simply awesome and showed just how well he moves in the pocket. He needed to as Christian Wilkins was dominating in the trenches, especially throughout the first quarter.
By half-time the former Oregon Duck QB had completed 24 out of 29 pass attempts. In the second quarter he found Mike Williams at the back of the endzone to give the Chargers at 0-10 lead in the contest.
In contrast, Tua Tagovailoa was having a tough night completing only three of 15 pass attempts in the first two quarters. The Chargers defence were well despite being down a host of starters.
Still the Dolphins have the best wide receiver in the league in Tyreek Hill and he scored a barely believable touchdown when he picked up a fumble that squirted out of a melee and ran it all the way down the field untouched for a touchdown.
Herbert responded and before the break led a drive which finished when Austin Ekeler forced his way in the endzone to restore the Bolts 10 point advantage.
Midway through the third quarter, Hill had a second score of the night when Tua found him over the top in man coverage for a 60-yard score.
In the fourth quarter Herbert then turned regularly to Keenan Allen but each side only managed to add a field goal apiece to leave the final scores 17-23 to the Chargers. It puts the LA franchise as seventh seed in the AFC with four games left of the regular season left to play.
It also made us realise what a threat this team would be if they could play with a full deck as they were down three former first-round picks in Rashawn Slater, Joey Bosa, and Derwin James from their starting line-up.
But the night belonged to Justin Herbert and to the victor go the spoils. My favourite throw was his pass across the field to Mike Williams in the third quarter.
Up next for the Chargers is a home fixture against the Tennessee Titans.
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