With 2:44 left in Sunday’s game between a pair of AFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers trailed the Denver Broncos at home by a score of 20-13.
What happened next is one of the more improbable touchdowns you might ever see, and a play that will enter the annals of Justin Herbert lore.
Facing 2nd and 6 at the Broncos’ 20-yard line, the Chargers dropped Herbert to throw. But just as Herbert finished his drop, pressure off the right edge in the form of pass rusher Jonathon Cooper forced the quarterback into survival mode.
Herbert stepped up to avoid Cooper, but he was not out of the woods yet, not by a long shot. Zach Allen — all 6’4 285 pounds of him — was bearing down on the Chargers quarterback from the left side. Herbert managed to shrug off a sack from Allen, then rolled to his left. With linebacker Nik Bonitto bearing down on him, Herbert contorted his body and unleashed a throw to Keenan Allen in the end zone.
Just how improbable was this connection to tie the game? According to Next Gen Stats, it was Herbert’s most improbable completion since Week 8 of last season, with a completion probability of just 16.7%:
The job was not done, however, as the game was only tied with under three minutes remaining. The Chargers defense forced a quick three-and-out from the Broncos — with only 54 seconds coming off the clock — and Herbert came back onto the field with 1:43 left in the game, starting at the Chargers’ own 32-yard line.
It did not take long for him to deliver another strike:
Herbert finds rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden on a slant route, between a pair of defenders, to open the drive. Two more short completions, one to Gadsden and another to Allen, moved the Chargers into Broncos’ territory.
That second completion to Gadsden on the drive came late in the play, one a secondary read from Herbert, and with a defender draped around his legs:
Herbert’s final completion of the game, to Ladd McConkey on another slant route, put the Chargers in range for Cameron Dicker’s attempt at a game-winning field goal:
After Herbert plunged forward for two yards on the next play, Dicker came on and split the uprights to give the Chargers a 23-20 win, moving Los Angeles to 3-0 for the first time since I was in law school and Drew Brees was their starting quarterback.
Yes, the Chargers are 3-0 for the first time since 2002.
Not only that, but all three wins came in the division, giving the Chargers a huge advantage in the AFC West. This is just the third time since the NFL’s realignment in 2002 that a team has won three division games to open a season.
“I don’t think I have the vocabulary to really express how great I feel with this win. Just the admiration for our team, for our players and coaches and just everybody,” head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the win. “Three wins in three games. It’s taken everybody.”
Sunday’s win did take everyone, beyond Herbert. The defense stepped up to force that final three-and-out, to give Herbert and the offense a chance to win. Dicker’s kick came when the Chargers needed it most. As for Herbert, an interception in the first half came with Los Angeles on the cusp of the red zone, potentially taking points off the board.
“Not all games are going to be easy. I think we stuck through it and understood the situation of we’re losing at the current moment, but there’s time and downs and opportunity for us to get back out there. The offense took the field, and we knew we had one job. It’s to go move the ball and go score. And that’s exactly what we did,” Herbert said postgame. “Defense got the ball back. They came up with some huge stops all day, and special teams closed it out.”