Justin Herbert accused of facing 'put up or shut up' 2025 season after playoff flop

Justin Herbert will be under immense pressure to succeed with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2025. He did see success this past season, in his first year under head coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers, who went 5-12 in 2023, bounced back with an 11-6 record this season and made the Wild Card.

That's as far as they would go, as the Chargers lost 32-12 against the Houston Texans on Saturday. Fingers will be pointed all offseason, especially towards Herbert. He threw four interceptions to the Texans, with just one touchdown that went to star rookie Ladd McConkey.

Herbert has been a great regular-season quarterback since being drafted; there's no denying that. However, he seriously needs to start performing in the playoffs, as the narrative around his name will be heavily debated this offseason.

I'm not trying to be annoying but Herbert will enter next year with some pretty serious "put up, or shut up" energy.
— Marcus Whitman (@TFG_Football) January 12, 2025

Herbert is undoubtedly the Chargers' franchise quarterback, but playoff success is important. It certainly isn't entirely his fault as to why the Chargers fell to the Texans, but it just wasn't a good showing at all. The Chargers will look to surround Herbert with more help over the offseason to hopefully put an end to their playoff win drought.

McConkey has been stellar, but outside of him, the Chargers don't have another viable weapon. The interior offensive line certainly needs work, as Herbert constantly gets pressured up the middle. It'll be a long, grueling offseason before Herbert can prove his doubters wrong, but he'll need to learn from this experience and perform in 2025.

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