Justin Herbert Reminded The Dolphins, Yet Again, That They Made The Wrong Pick

Not that there was even a debate anymore but holy shit. 

Lets look at the background of this matchup. The Chargers came into this matchup as probably the 1A 1B most injured team in the league next ot he 49ers(now firmly #2 with the loss of Fred Warner). Their starting LT, RT, RT2 and LT2 were all out. In their place was Austin Deculus, who gave up 3 sacks and 5 pressures in his first start last week, and Bobby Hart, who was signed off the street and hadn't started an NFL game in FOUR YEARS. Their RB1 and RB2 are both on the IR. In their place was Hassan Haskins, a special teamer/blocker, and Kimani Vidal, who was elevated from the practice squad. And to tie it all in a nice bow, Their WR1 and FB were both out as well. 

They LIMPED into this game and nobody was more banged up than Herbert. Since this offensive line has collapsed in week 3, Herbert has been pressured more than any quarterback in the league. He's been hit a million times, and I mean HIT. So, even against a bad team like Miami, it's going to be hard to stay competitive when your offensive line is pure dogshit. How does Herbert respond? Like he always does. Stands tall in the pocket during the second half going 17/22 with 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Including this last, game-winning drive where he gets obliterated on back-to-back possessions, escapes a sack and slings the pass they needed. This drive, by the way, now leaves him in 2nd place for most game-winning drives in the NFL since he entered the league in 2020. 

How does Tua respond? Another interception to end the game and another bad quote for the media. 

"It starts with leadership". Brother, that's YOU! You're the QB, the highest paid player on the team, the captain! Shifting everything onto McDaniels with the hopes that all the disappointment will be carried off with him when he is inevitably fired is lame. Shifting it onto other players is lame. You take your lumps, eat it and say its your fault. Even when it isn't. This is one of the times that, even though I wish he would show more personality sometimes, I am happy Herbert is an absolute robot when he hits the podium. Just a lifeless automaton that says "We just gotta execute" on repeat. 

So we come back to the title of the blog. There are still holdovers, like the Japanese soldiers that held out on the islands 30 years after the war ended, that think there is competition between these two. There isn't. Here is how it looks from 2020-2024. 

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There are two guys out-performing everyone. Tua, and then Hurts. And, in Hurts defense, he is not asked to do as much since his team is all-world. And before anyone goes "But the Dolphins suck!!!". Once again, you can run the numbers. 

Again, Herbert and Burrow are getting shafted while the Hurts and, to a lesser degree, Tua, have coasted. 

Never forget: