Chargers’ Greg Roman took some heat for Justin Herbert’s playoff showing, too

Much of the criticism coming out of the ugly playoff loss for the Los Angeles Chargers has been aimed at quarterback Justin Herbert.

Fair, considering Herbert had one of the worst games of his career at the worst possible time. Even with the admission that the front office gutted the offensive depth chart around him before the season amid a rebuild and that his targets were at fault for some of his four interceptions, it wasn’t the usual Herbert-style game.

Yet, offensive coordinator Greg Roman has taken some heat for the showing, too.

Roman’s effectiveness as a play-caller has been called into question at times throughout the season and that’s certainly the case coming out of the playoff game.

ESPN’s Ben Solak, for example, wrote the following: “Bad Herbert game. Opening drive looked nice and then the pass rush started to heat up. I thought they'd do so much more moving him + helping the offensive line, but it's mostly been 4, 5 out in static pockets and Herbert trying to win everything with one throw.”

Some offered concerning trends, too:

Greg Roman offenses in 5 playoff games as Ravens/Chargers OC:

64 points (12.8/game)
11 turnovers (2.2/game)

With Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert as his starting QBs in 4/5 games.
— Paul Hembekides (Hembo) (@PaulHembo) January 12, 2025

The Roman-directed offense wasn’t aggressive, settling for two field goals inside the 30 early. It stuck to the run on early downs throughout the game despite a lack of success and there was little in the way of moving pockets or designs to mitigate the obvious incoming pressure.

While blaming Herbert is flashy, Roman seems to deserve plenty, too—and one has to wonder if these problems will persist in 2025.

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