It has never been a worse time to be a Justin Herbert truther. The big-armed quarterback has perpetually played better on film than his stats, traditional or advanced, suggest. But after six seasons, a $262.5 million contract extension and zero playoff wins, the spotlight was shining on him brighter than ever in 2026.
He's been the opposite of a sunflower when presented the opportunity to bloom. A moon...rock? You get the picture. He's been underwhelming, is what I'm trying to say, and the Chargers could see the wheels come all the way off in the face of a brutal early schedule.
That schedule wasn't supposed to be that difficult, but Los Angeles opened with losses to two teams who had six wins between them in 2025. Instead of Mike McDaniel and
an upgraded offensive line/run game creating new avenues for him, the big-armed passer has regressed. A 17-game schedule and 14-team playoff field means no one is out of it after two games, but holy moly it does not look good moving forward even if Herbert finds his rhythm.
In Week 1, he had time to maneuver against a weak Arizona Cardinals pass rush but still had five bad throws in 27 attempts, leading to just 207 yards in a game where he had three drives to erase a nine-point deficit and gained 51 total yards between them. That interception, turnover on downs, turnover on downs sequence came against 2025's 26th-ranked passing defense.
Gross! But everyone has bad games. Let's take a look at what went wrong this week against the Raiders.
In fairness to Herbert, his first interception of the game was only very slightly on him. He can't hit David Njoku in stride, so as the veteran tight slows up to get back to the ball he bobbles a shoulda-been catch and plants it directly in the hands of the Raiders.
ALERT THE MASSES!!!! #LVvsLAC | 📺 Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/PvKgGM6bnl
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 20, 2026
His second pick is a bit tougher to understand. This is a desperation drive, trailing by double digits in the final three minutes. It also means it's one where the Chargers will be using all four downs. There's no need to throw into into triple coverage here! You can take a checkdown and see if things improve the next play!
Picked up where he left off 🙂↕️#LVvsLAC | 📺 Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/cSrQHPwttQ
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 20, 2026
As a result, in a game the Chargers trailed throughout, Herbert completed only four of 13 passes to travel more than 10 yards downfield while tossing a pair of interceptions. He was also undone by the standard Chargers cursed-ness. There are more realistic ways to explain whatever the hell this was besides "the football gods hate them," but that's the least scientific, most fun and, considering LA's history, at least modestly feasible take.
Justin Herbert can't even convert a 3rd-and-inches, the nerds are down bad
— Scott Spratt (@scottspratt.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:15:08.012Z
Herbert had five drives after an Oronde Gadsden II touchdown put the Chargers briefly ahead before falling back into the ether. Here's what he did on third and fourth down in that comeback effort.
- 3rd-and-1 fumble on a botched snap (not his fault, see above)
- 3rd-and-12 completion to Ladd McConkey for 12 yards (drive stalls after Omarion Hampton is stuffed on 3rd-and-2 three plays later)
- 3rd-and-7 strip sack, recovered by Tre Harris for six yards (defensive offsides leads to a first down, Hampton fumbles soon after)
- 3rd-and-11 interception (seen above)
Yes, Herbert is playing on hard mode when his offensive line can't stop the Raiders pass rush (54.8 percent pressure rate), his jet sweeps are turning into botched snaps and his run game posts a 30 percent success rate while failing in multiple critical moments. I don't even know what to call this, aside from one of the most Chargers plays of all time.
Oronde Gadsden had a really nice PBU on that 3rd down Justin Herbert throw
— Scott Spratt (@scottspratt.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T20:17:49.463Z
At what point is Herbert's lackluster performance no longer a symptom of the poor execution around him but a cause? How much more grace does he deserve when he can't take a roster of players that looks solid on paper and find a way to beat two teams who had top three draft picks last season? When do the Chargers have to do something drastic?
The vibes around the rest of the team? They're pretty aggressively not great!
It's week 2
— JP Acosta (@acosta32jp.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T00:52:19.197Z
There's still time to turn this around, but the prognosis is grim. Herbert is too talented to go anywhere barring a sweetheart deal, and has been frustrating enough that the team acquiring him may see its fan base go into active revolt if it deals three first round picks for him. The pressure is on Jim Harbaugh to fix this. Considering how J.J. McCarthy has turned out in the NFL and the length of time since he was last a playoff game-winning pro head coach, that might not happen in 2026.
Let's take a look at the rest of Week 2.
Best: Ja'Marr Chase, restoring balance to the most balanced Bengals team in years?
Chase took a backseat to Mike Gesicki (!) in Joe Burrow's passing offense in Week 1's win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In Week 2, he ceded targets early on as Tee Higgins emerged as Burrow's go-to. But he quickly reminded us all why he belongs in any argument over who the NFL's top wide receiver is.
Find 1️⃣ get six.#CINatHOU September 20 at 1:00 PM on CBS/Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/Y2f4qCb8EA
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 20, 2026
One week after he and Higgins were limited to 10 targets, five catches and 71 yards against the Buccaneers, Chase nearly eclipsed those numbers on his own. The all-star pairing finished Week 2 with a dozen catches and 170 yards — with Chase putting an exclamation point on the game with his second touchdown to effectively put the Houston Texans and their star-filled defense away.
RUN IT BACK. 9 ➡️ 1.#CINatHOU September 20 at 1:00 PM on CBS/Paramount+ pic.twitter.com/lsJHwpwL1b
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) September 20, 2026
It was a vital return to form from an offense that won without its top weapons in the season opener. Higgins was the more effective player — he had the Bengals' top marks in terms of both total yards and expected points added (EPA). Chase was the gotta-have-it threat, capable of turning bad situations into beautiful ones.
Thus, Cincinnati's offense remains a capital-p Problem for the AFC North. The defense, however, is taking strides to match that unit. The Bengals spent big to overhaul an ineffective group following Trey Hendrickson's departure. On Sunday, that meant holding Houston to -0.24 EPA per play. For reference, the Las Vegas Raiders were 2025's worst offense at -0.192 EPA/play.
Making a 12-win team look worse than the Geno Smith Raiders is a big deal! Cincinnati now has multiple ways to beat you, along with the pitch-and-catch wizardry that got the Bengals to a Super Bowl four-plus years ago. Good luck, rest of the AFC North.
Worst: The Packers are a sandcastle built on a beach made of slop
The least encouraging win of the week belongs to the Green Bay Packers, who overcame a 10-point second half deficit in New York, but also looked generally terrible doing so. It was a miserable situation in miserable weather for Jordan Love and company. After being used sparingly in Week 1, Jayden Reed got his number called early with a screen pass on the second play of the game. He had to be carted off with a neck injury in the aftermath.
One play later, Zach Bako-Bewele, arguably the team's top blocker, brought the cart back onto the turf thanks to a knee injury. Neither returned, and suddenly it seemed like the New England Patriots wouldn't be the only team to regret dealing away a homegrown wideout this offseason. With Dontayvion Wicks in Philadelphia and Romeo Doubs, coincidentally, a Patriot, Jordan Love had to rely heavily on Christian Watson and Matthew Golden on a day where he was pressured consistently.
His 2.3 seconds from snap to throw were the second-shortest of the early slate. Golden and Watson turned 17 targets into only eight catches. No one else on the team had more than three passes thrown their way. Love, generally one of league's most efficient quarterbacks, needed 29 pass attempts to throw for only 145 yards. When the Packers couldn't get open, bad things predictably followed.
the stupid fumbles will continue until morale improves
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T19:02:16.730Z
The Packers' crapulence cannot be explained away by injury, however. With two minutes to play in the first quarter they'd had as many penalties drawn as yards gained (six). They put Love further behind the eight ball with a litany of holding penalties and gave up 133 yards via flag, outdone only by the Jets' 156 yards of laundry. This entire game was, and this is important, a very, very bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
But it's a great sign if you're the Dallas Cowboys, who own Green Bay's first round pick next spring thanks to the Micah Parsons trade.
Best: Adonai Mitchell, finally reaching his potential?
Mitchell's tenure as an Indianapolis Colt is best remembered for DeSean Jackson-ing himself at the brink of the goal line after would-be deep ball touchdown. He was mostly a non-factor as the 2025 New York Jets flailed their way to the second overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft. But the former second-rounder, acquired as a throw-in for a trade that sent two first round picks to the Jets in exchange for Sauce Gardner, remained an enigma in both real gridiron and fantasy football.
Geno Smith may be the steady veteran presence that can unlock his talent. Mitchell was Smith's go-to guy Sunday afternoon, earning 12 of Smith's 36 targets on a day where no other Jet had more than seven. With the Packers keyed in on Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, New York eyed its rangy young deep threat in single coverage all afternoon. Officially, that resulted in six catches and 63 yards. But it also included a 34-yard pass interference penalty and a 15-yarder when former college teammate Javon Bullard couldn't help but talk his [expletive].
Even on a rainy day when the Jets spent most of the second half protecting a lead, Mitchell's average target was still a shade under 13 yards downfield. He'll have even more of a chance to shine as the season wears on and Smith is pressed into more deep throws for a team that, despite its early competence, could still wind up trailing often. Mitchell may not blossom into a star, but 2026 could be a breakout regardless.
Worst, but also kinda best: A deluge of truly stupid fumbles
If you were in the rare media market that got both Packers-Jets AND the Pittsburgh Steelers at the New England Patriots, you got two glorious slop fests of football on a rainy afternoon across the northeast. Packers/Jets gave us eight fumbles. Steelers/Patriots added four more and a pair of interceptions. Because I can't do justice to how stupid some of these were, I'll allow the moving pictures to craft thousands and thousands of words.
Steelers-Patriots is perfect football
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T17:59:55.276Z
and:
it's a beautiful day for absolutely wacky fumbles
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T18:17:57.220Z
and:
THE WACKY FUMBLES (well, interception technically) WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T19:45:28.284Z
There were more, but these embeds alone are crashing my browser. In general, it was a terrible day for the Stick'Em brand.
Worst: The anticlimax of Baker Mayfield's Browns revenge
In 2024, Deshaun Watson was the 47th best quarterback in a field of 47 when it came to EPA. His entire tenure in Cleveland has been a disaster on the field and off, where he's carried himself with the entitlement of a man once accused of more than 20 counts of sexual misconduct and what the NFL described as "predatory behavior," who was then rewarded with a completely unprecedented, fully guaranteed $230 million contract. The man he replaced, Baker Mayfield, had led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a pair of NFC South championships and was waiting for his first chance to face his former team in Tampa.
Instead of validation, the Buccaneer defense gave way to arguably Watson's best performance as a Brown. Mayfield, with the game on the line, did this:
[Garafolo] The Browns head back to Cleveland for their home opener at 1-1. A weather-delayed victory for Todd Monken, his first as head coach. twitter.com/MikeGarafolo...
— NFL News Poster (@nflnewsposter.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:20:20.697Z
For one week, and ignoring all the costs associated with trading for, keeping, and eventually absorbing the dead salary cap costs of Deshaun Watson, the Browns came out ahead on the swap. The Browns completed exactly three passes that went more than 10 yards downfield. It didn't matter, because Mayfield threw 16 such passes and only completed six — one of which was to Cleveland cornerback Myles Harden.
THAT'S OURS BABY!#CLEvsTB on CBS pic.twitter.com/YZ2Ep6LcmW
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) September 20, 2026
Mayfield was only sacked three times, but two of those were drive-enders on third down. As a result, he got worked by an offense whose average pass didn't even make it four yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Baker Mayfield's revenge game got derailed by a quarterback whose average pass didn't even go 4 yards downfield
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T23:45:01.557Z
Good for Mayfield. He got $70 million fully guaranteed this offseason before going out and getting outplayed by the league's worst quarterback. It's bad for head coach Todd Bowles, whose job security gets weaker with every loss.
Best: The Vikings' controlled, neverending stream of angry hornets
The Chicago Bears put up 59 points in their season opener and had Ben Johnson hyped up to back his preseason claim of being the highest scoring offense in NFL history. The unstoppable force met an immovable object in Week 2; a Minnesota Vikings defense that constantly attacks with one of the league's highest blitz rates and fields a secondary capable of cleaning up the mess left behind.
On Sunday, the object won.
Ended the half with a bang 💥@UnoErra @AndrewVanGinkel
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 20, 2026
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/vfG8pa95Co
The Vikings earned a 9-3 win in a rock fight, forcing a goal line fumble and blocking a chip shot field goal to limit what looked like an otherworldly offense to a single scoring drive. Caleb Williams averaged only 4.8 yards per dropback before leaving the game late with a hamstring injury. Minnesota sent extra pass rushers in roughly four of every five passing plays, taking the aggression coordinator Brian Flores has carefully cultivated and turning it into a moat to protect a fragile castle whose king is Carson Wentz.
That pressure manifested in a few different ways, but primarily by being just enough to fluster Williams into doing a liiiiiiiittttttle bit too much.
.@byronmurphy takes it!
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) September 20, 2026
📺: @NFLonFOX pic.twitter.com/xSdqP0WlEi
In the season opener, the Bears completed eight passes that traveled at least eight yards downfield. On Sunday afternoon at home, the Vikings limited them to one. Williams had 3.16 seconds from snap to throw against Carolina — one of the five highest marks in the league. Against Minnesota, it was up to 3.71 seconds as he dodged pressure. Despite more time for his targets to get downfield, his average throw distance actually *fell* from 10.8 yards to 4.2.
The end result is a 2-0 start with a guy who came into the preseason as the team's presumptive QB3 at the helm. The Vikings got 127 net passing yards Sunday and still came away with a win. In a league where offenses exploded in Week 1, Minnesota has the power to swim against the current and cause problems for even the best opponents.
Worst: The Bears already slightly weird offense, now without Caleb Williams?
The Bears were already having a slightly weird year. They racked up four touchdown drives each half against the Carolina Panthers in Week 1, but the receiving corps expected to carry the team had a muted impact. Luther Burden III and Rome Odunze had only seven catches between them. Colston Loveland, expected by more than a few people to be one of the most impactful tight ends in the game this year, was held without a reception on only two targets.
After a high scoring game in which his top receiver was Kalif Raymond, head coach Ben Johnson went out and responded with a low-scoring game in which his top receiver was... D'Andre Swift. Through two games, neither of Chicago's dynamic young wideouts have more than 100 receiving yards. Loveland has one catch and three yards. The only wide receiver to find the end zone is Jahdae Walker.
This is all very confusing from both a fantasy and real life standpoint. In Week 1, it was a flex to showcase the diversity of the Bears' attack. In Week 2, it felt like an inability to create room for rising playmakers to thrive and maximize their potential. Now that group will likely have to go from Williams' elite improvisation, running and downfield risk-taking to Tyson Bagent — a perfectly useful backup who probably isn't as great as Chicago would like him to be.
Will that mean spamming runs? Whipping targets to the top wideouts and Loveland until something happens? A third, weirder option that plumbs the depths of Johnson's football mind?
Worst: Rashod Bateman's route discipline
The New Orleans Saints pulled off more late game magic — though it required a little bit of questionable officiating. Tyler Shough's fourth down sneak was ruled a touchdown, giving his team a 24-17 lead in the final two minutes even if replays were inconclusive. But that gave Lamar Jackson a chance to create some myth-building wizardry. Without a timeout, he led the Baltimore Ravens into Saints territory before uncorking a deep ball to Rashod Bateman who...
Julian Blackmon putting a cap on the Saints DUB
— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) September 20, 2026
📺 https://t.co/L0CqP5xclJ pic.twitter.com/5dHDWH8ak0
WHAT? WHY DID YOU STOP RUNNING???
Jackson may have overthrown that ball, but a full-stride Bateman could have at least turned that into an incompletion that would have allowed Baltimore the opportunity to fight again another down. Instead, it became yet another reminder that Bateman, for all his talent, remains incredibly difficult to trust on a weekly basis.
Even worst, this was the capper on an otherwise impressive game from the young veteran. Bateman was promoted to WR1 while Zay Flowers sat out with a hamstring injury. He caught seven of his first eight targets for 88 yards and a touchdown. It made sense that Jackson would turn to him when he needed a big play the most.
Instead, miscommunication led to an easy interception and a Saints win. It's early yet, but the Cincinnati Bengals have stepped into the top spot in the AFC North. That's thanks, in small part, to...
Worst: The concerning disappearance of the Houston Texans run game
David Montgomery looked like a solution in Week 1. The missing piece of C.J. Stroud's offenses in Houston had been a lackluster run attack. But in his Texans debut, the veteran back rushed for only 60 yards on 20 carries, but added a pair of touchdowns on the ground and a third through the air to help diversify his offense.
The Texans needed him in Week 2. A revamped Cincinnati Bengals defense awaited. Nico Collins, All-Pro wide receiver, was ruled out with a hamstring injury. Stroud needed the counterweight of an efficient run game to prevent third-and-long situations in a week where his top wideouts were Kayshon Boutte and Xavier Hutchinson.
Well, about that.
Bengals defense held the Texans offense to just 1 successful RB run today with 6 stuffs, per NGS.
— Nate Tice (@natetice.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T20:20:32.438Z
Houston's running backs combined for 18 yards on 14 carries. The success rate Nate Tice brought up above refers to an offense's ability to stay on schedule — picking up 40 percent of yards on first down, 30 on second down and 100 percent on third or fourth down. Montgomery and Woody Marks did that exactly once. On a related note, Houston converted just five of 17 third downs. Stroud faced third-and-seven or longer a DOZEN times.
The Texans are 0-2. A once dominant defense has cooled, putting pressure on the offense to step up. Without Collins, that's difficult. Without Collins and while averaging 1.3 yards per carry? That's dang near impossible.
Best: Commanders playcalling schadenfreude
The Commanders weren't cooked when Jayden Daniels left Sunday's game at halftime thanks to an elbow injury severe enough to get Tom Brady to cuss. Even the decision to go for it on third-and-goal with two seconds left rather than kicking a field goal made sense in a game destined to be a track meet.
But head coach Dan Quinn appeared to go on tilt when the football gods dealt him a bad hand. Daniels injury turned the ball over to one of the league's top backups. But a should've-been touchdown pass was ruled incomplete:
Marcus Mariota with a short-notice dime, Dyami Brown doing absolute work to get the knee down in bounds
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:16:27.378Z
And a brilliant double pass the next drive saw rookie wideout Antonio Williams unable to connect with Terry McLaurin, wide open in the end zone:
Antonio Williams throws to the wrong shoulder, which would be a bigger concern if he were actually a QB
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:46:09.954Z
One holding penalty later, Quinn looked at his playbook like a bored teenager playing Madden. If one double pass worked, surely the Cowboys wouldn't be expecting another, literally seconds later! Well, ah...
if anyone's wondering how Dan Quinn's day is going, he's called backward pass trick plays on two of his last three snaps.even the Cowboys weren't fooled by the second one
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:48:04.189Z
Washington's second half was defined by attempts to force big moments. Terry McLaurin struggled to get open, even against Dallas' depleted secondary, but kept getting targets at the expense of players like Williams and Stefon Diggs as the Cowboys opened up a three-possession lead.
That is the curse of the Commanders. Losing Daniel Snyder meant generating hope, only to realize his ghost will haunt the team long after he was removed as owner (for the pittance of a $6 billion payout). Washington showcased enough potential to make you believe and the disjointed performance to convince you it will never happen. The offense is capable of pulling off Harlem Globetrotters stuff or running face-first into disaster, often with little warning between visits to each pole.
Ah, yeah, and the defense is a wreck as well.
Worst: The Cowboys' lack of celebration awareness
Ahhhhhh!
Cobie Durant falls victim to some of the most dastardly friendly fire i've ever seen
— Christian D'Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T21:52:17.963Z
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Cobie Durant was ruled out after this due to a hamstring injury. The Cowboys are not a team that can afford to lose defensive backs, let alone ones knocked out of the game because a linebacker stepped squarely on their crotch.
Best: The Broncos' revived bully ball
Denver got pantsed by the Kansas City Chiefs in its season opener. Little reprieve was waiting in Week 2, thanks to a surging Jacksonville Jaguars team. But the Broncos were able to keep Trevor Lawrence from even sniffing the field after punting the ball away trailing 20-13 with 4:41 to play. It was all thanks to a run game that had ranked 26th in EPA just a week earlier.
That week, one of the league's best offensive lines allowed just 1.6 yards before contact per carry — sixth-lowest in the opening slate. Denver's backs ran for only 54 yards, in large part because they were trailing but also because those runs came with just a 27 percent success rate, leaving the offense off schedule and discombobulated.
Week 2 saw rookie Jonah Coleman sub in for an injured RJ Harvey. The effects were significant.
Quinn Meinerz said I am returning you to Mother Earth
— Mike Golic Jr (@mikegolicjr.bsky.social) 2026-09-20T22:59:16.813Z
With the game on the line, Coleman was the man Denver trusted to grind out the clock. He ran the ball six times for 33 yards, eating up clock and giving Bo Nix the latitude to kneel out the game.
After averaging -0.228 EPA per rush against the Chiefs, Coleman and crew recorded -0.10 EPA/rush with a 42 percent success rate. That's still not great, but if you boil it down to those last six carries — the ones the Broncos needed the most — Quinn Meinerz and company cleared the way for 0.05 EPA/carry. That's still not mind-blowing, but it would have been good for seventh place in the NFL last season and, more importantly, came against a defense that absolutely knew these runs were coming but still were left (largely) powerless to stop them.
That's a huge development, and one that should gain traction as Coleman grows into his role and Harvey gets healthy. The Broncos have the defensive talent to drag opponents into the much. They may have the run game to keep them there.
3 unexpected fantasy studs
- QB Drew Lock, Seattle Seahawks (three percent owned in Yahoo! fantasy leagues): 235 passing yards, three touchdowns
- TE Darren Waller, Carolina Panthers (two percent): Three targets, three receptions, 33 yards, two touchdowns
- WR Cody White, Las Vegas Raiders (zero percent): Two targets, two receptions, 24 yards, two touchdowns
3 bewildering fantasy duds
- TE Colston Loveland, Chicago Bears (99 percent): Three targets, one reception, three yards
- TE Tucker Kraft, Green Bay Packers (98 percent): Three targets, two receptions, 15 yards
- RB David Montgomery, Houston Texans (97 percent): Six carries, 10 yards, two targets, two receptions, 14 yards
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The rapid disintegration of Justin Herbert's Chargers and the best, worst of Week 2
