FOXBORO, Mass. — Surrounded by the piercing silence of yet another losing postseason locker room, Derwin James Jr. searched for the words.
How could he describe this feeling? Another first-round exit. Another opportunity the Los Angeles Chargers let slip away. Another offseason that will begin too early, that will be full of more questions than answers.
James looked to the ceiling, rubbed his face and settled on an analogy.
“It’s like drawing in the sand,” he said, “and then the waves just coming and knocking that s— out the way. It just hurts, bro.”
The goals the Chargers set in April were washed away on one cold January night at Gillette Stadium. They battled like hell this season, through injury after injury, to give themselves a chance. It was there for the taking, and it all ended abruptly. There is no fighting the current. The waves come, and they retreat, and they leave no trace of the hopes and dreams once etched into the sand.
The Chargers lost to the New England Patriots, 16-3, and any dissection of this performance must start with that point total.
Three points. That is unacceptable for any team with Super Bowl aspirations, and hard questions must be asked.
Is offensive coordinator Greg Roman the right man to be calling the plays for this team?
When asked that specifically in his postgame news conference, coach Jim Harbaugh said, “We’re going to look at that, and everything.”
Roman did well to shepherd the Chargers through all the offensive line injuries this season. But he did not bring the necessary game plan to Sunday night’s playoff game. The Chargers should have been able to run the ball on this Patriots defense. Roman, instead, shied away from his bread and butter. Most notably, in the first quarter, the Chargers took over at the New England 10-yard line after an interception from linebacker Daiyan Henley. Roman called four plays. None of them were handoffs to his running backs. The Chargers turned the ball over on downs.
The Chargers running backs finished with 30 yards on 12 carries. Rookie Omarion Hampton was active after missing Week 18 with an ankle injury. He carried one time for minus-1 yard.
“We win as a team, we lose as a team, and that’s my responsibility to have that team in a better position,” Harbaugh said.
Why is quarterback Justin Herbert failing to find his best in the biggest moments?
He played one of the worst games of his career in last year’s playoff loss to the Houston Texans.
He played one of the worst games of his career in Sunday’s playoff loss to the Patriots.
Herbert looked uncomfortable in the pocket. He was missing makable throws. One prime example came on the first drive of the third quarter. Receiver Ladd McConkey was wide open down the left sideline, creating separation on an out-and-up route. Herbert drifted to his left away from pressure. He did not put enough on the throw, and it was broken up, forcing a punt.
Herbert has shown, time after time after time, what he is capable of doing — even in some of the worst circumstances imaginable. So when he does not reach that standard, it is obvious.
Sunday night, it was obvious. Herbert did not have his best when his best was needed.
Three playoff appearances. Three playoff losses.
The pass protection was good enough Sunday for Herbert to lead his team to more than 3 points.
How is he going to approach another offseason without a playoff win to his name?
“I don’t know,” Herbert said. “I haven’t figured it out yet.”
Even on the plays in which there wasn’t pressure, Chargers QB Justin Herbert never seemed comfortable Sunday night. (Adam Glanzman / Getty Images)
Roman came up so woefully short in this game that his position should no longer be secure.
The Chargers need to ask themselves how they can get more out of their franchise quarterback in the playoffs.
Herbert needs to ask himself how he can provide more for his organization in the playoffs.
Those are hard questions that will not be easy to answer.
Herbert completed 19 of 32 passes for 159 yards. He added 57 rushing yards on 11 carries.
The only stat that matters, though, is the 3 points.
“We have to do better than 3 points,” Herbert said, “and as an offense, it’s not good enough, and the quarterback play wasn’t good enough.”
Two things can be true.
The Chargers would not have been in this position without Herbert’s heroic play this season. He took 129 hits in the regular season, the most in the NFL. He faced an ungodly amount of pressure. He withstood it all and made the plays the Chargers needed to win 11 games and clinch an improbable playoff berth.
Herbert also did not play well enough to give the Chargers a chance Sunday night. Even though he faced pressure. Even though he was hit another 11 times. Even though he fractured his hand and had surgery a little over a month ago.
He has set the standard through his performance. And that standard is the expectation.
“I feel bad for him,” James said of Herbert. “He’s out there fighting for his life, bro. There’s guys coming from the left, the right. He trying to see if his guys are open, but it’s tough. I ain’t going to lie. He’s getting hit every time. Just for him to get back up, bro, I just got so much respect for him, honestly, because he’s not going to say anything. But I just feel like he gave us every chance he could, just knowing what he’s dealing with. We just need to be better.”
Similar support came from elsewhere in the locker room.
“He is what makes our offense and he is a f—ing beast,” right tackle Trey Pipkins III said. “So anybody who has anything bad to say about him is not watching the film.”
“If anything, he’s the reason we’re in this position,” said receiver Keenan Allen, who had three catches for 23 yards.
“We understand who 10 is,” edge rusher Khalil Mack said. “It’s levels to the game of football, and you sit back and look at what he’s capable of doing, you know he’s right there with the best of the best.”
All true about what happened in the regular season.
Herbert got closer to the truth of what happened Sunday night. “We let the defense down today,” he said.
That brings us to another difficult question.
Did the Chargers miss out on their window with Jesse Minter dialing up the plays on defense?
Minter, the defensive coordinator, could be gone in the coming weeks. He is going to interview for multiple head-coaching vacancies, and is deserving of any open job.
Minter engineered another beauty against the Patriots. He held the best passing offense in football out of the end zone until 9 minutes, 45 seconds remained in the game.
There was a play here and a play there. The Chargers let Patriots quarterback Drake Maye loose on a 37-yard scramble late in the first half. They allowed a checkdown to running back Rhamondre Stevenson to turn into a 48-yard catch-and-run. They gave up a 42-yard completion to receiver Kayshon Boutte in the fourth quarter down the left sideline on which cornerback Tarheeb Still was in position, but mistimed his jump at the ball. The Patriots scored their lone touchdown of the game later on that drive when Maye found Hunter Henry from 28 yards out.
Still, the Chargers played good situational defense. They were opportunistic. The Patriots finished 4-for-11 on third down and 0-for-3 in the red zone. The Chargers forced two turnovers — Henley’s interception and a sack-fumble from edge rusher Odafe Oweh in the third quarter. The rush plan produced pressure, and the Chargers sacked Maye five times. Oweh had three of those sacks.
“We played good,” Henley said. “It just wasn’t enough.”
Will the Chargers be this consistently good without Minter calling plays?
Is Roman going to be calling plays next season?
Do the Chargers need an offensive coordinator who can draw more out of Herbert in the playoffs?
Is Herbert built to succeed in the postseason?
The questions are always most difficult, most layered, in the wake of defeat.
After the waves wash ashore and leave nothing but a blank canvas of sand glistening under the moonlight.
“I really don’t have the answers,” Harbaugh said. “I wish I did. If I did, there would have been a different result.”
