Skip to main content
Advertising

Chargers Official Site | Los Angeles Chargers - chargers.com

Presented by

5 Takeaways: How Justin Herbert & the Chargers Were Victorious Against Eagles in Primetime

ChargersEaglesHighlights

The Chargers are 9-4 after Monday's night thrilling 22-19 overtime win over the Eagles.

Here are five takeaways from Week 14.

1. The Chargers find a way

Where to begin...

How about with the fact that the Chargers produced perhaps the greatest win in the Jim Harbaugh Era, and that the Chargers Head Coach was so fired up after the game that he said it was one of the best victories he's ever been a part of.

"There have been a lot of teams, and this is definitely maybe the best feeling," Harbaugh said. "Just a wonderful, wonderful feeling of winning and thrill of victory. It's certainly in the discussion – I'd put it in the discussion of the birth of my seven children, my marriage, you know? In the conversation."

The Chargers overtime win Monday night won't be remembered as the prettiest game on the 2025 schedule.

But it had a little bit of everything in primetime as the Bolts went toe-to-toe with the defending Super Bowl champions, eventually delivering the final blow to secure a crucial ninth win for the Chargers.

"That's a great team over there and they're used to winning. But we're trying to win, too," Da'Shawn Hand said. "This was just a great atmosphere for us to get through so we can get ready for big games."

The Chargers raced out to an early lead Monday night and held a 10-6 halftime advantage. That turned into 13-9 lead after three frames, only to see the Eagles score their lone touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

Then the fun really began as the teams traded field goals before eventually going to overtime. The Bolts got the ball first and kicked another field goal before Tony Jefferson came up with the play of the season to date.

Jefferson's game-winning interception was the eighth total turnover of the game and the fifth by the Chargers defense.

Add it all up and the Chargers, somehow, now find themselves at 9-4 with four games left.

"It was just awesome to see the guys battle. It was a great environment out there. It was a lot of fun," Justin Herbert said. "The way the defense just kept on battling and forcing those turnovers.

"And then special teams came through, and to see that, all three phases come together and fight for one another. I thought that was really cool," Herbert added.

The Chargers left SoFi Stadium on Monday night in the same playoff spot as they arrived — the No. 5 seed in the AFC as the first Wild Card.

This win, however, felt different. Like this year's Chargers team can make a playoff run.

Especially since Monday night felt like a postseason game on both sides.

"What kind of team do you want to be in January and February? You have to show it in December," Daiyan Henley said. "Right there what you've seen is a team that's trying to show what time we want to be going into the postseason.

"We got to move forward. Every game is a playoff game," Henley added. "That's one. We got a lot more to go."

The journey continues Sunday in Kansas City as the Bolts try to get to double-digit wins for the second straight season.

"All we worry about is the next game," Derwin James, Jr. said. "We know we're 4-0 in the division and we got a division opponent next week. We have to go out and have a great week of practice and get ready to go to KC."

2. Herbert the hero

Harbaugh said postgame that he barely had the words to describe what he saw Monday night.

But when it came to the Chargers franchise quarterback, Harbaugh couldn't have said it any better.

"Justin Herbert, he's a superhero. He's a competitive maniac," Harbaugh said. "He was even stiff-arming guys with a broken hand, and he had surgery a week ago.

"It felt like we were in a movie where the quarterback's doing these things and you get to a point where you go, 'Okay, this is getting a little unrealistic,' you know? That's what it felt like to me," Harbaugh added. "He refuses to lose [and] he's as tough as they get. He's a superhero quarterback."

Herbert, in case you forgot, suffered a broken bone in his hand in Week 13 against the Raiders but said that night he was hopeful he could play Monday.

He had surgery the following day and was limited all week in practice but admitted Monday night that the plan, as long as it was safe, was for him to start all along.

"Probably Sunday last week. I tried to be as upfront about it as possible," Herbert said when asked when he knew he would play.

"They were really hopeful that it was a procedure that you were going to get done and be good to go by Monday," Herbert added. "The first couple days were kind of tough figuring it out, getting the swelling down and being able to grip and do things like that. I thought the trainers and doctors all worked really well together."

Herbert was under plenty of duress against the Eagles and it didn't help that starting right tackle Trey Pipkins III left the game with an ankle injury and didn't return.

According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Herbert was pressured on 68.3 percent of his dropbacks, the sixth-highest percentage in a game over the last 10 seasons among quarterbacks with at least 20 dropbacks.

Herbert threw a touchdown pass and had 139 passing yards. He was also sacked a career-high seven times, threw an interception and lost a fumble.

Simply put, the Chargers don't win without Herbert, who rushed for a team-high 66 yards, 13 of which came in overtime.

"Knowing a guy like Justin Herbert will go out there seven days after surgery and play," Khalil Mack said. "It's like, 'Who else in the league is doing that?'"

Cam Hart added: "He's a dog. A beast. The best I've ever seen. I have immense respect for Justin."

And yes, there was Herbert in overtime trying to stiff arm an Eagles defenders with his broken left hand.

"I winced," Harbaugh said.

Herbert said he appreciated the support from his teammates and reiterated he'd do anything possible to help the Bolts come away with a win.

"Just because I'm the quarterback I get the talk about that but those guys, they battle," Herbert said. "Theres definitely guys in that locker room that are fighting through so many different injuries and things worse than what I'm going through.

"It's the least that I can do to show up and give my best," Herbert added.

3. Hart delivers late

Hart had been waiting and waiting and waiting for his first career interception.

Finally, he got it in his 26th career game off a tipped pass Monday night and almost couldn't believe it in the postgame locker room.

"Man, man, man, man. Wow," Hart said. "It hasn't even settled in yet. I'm sure when I leave all the noise here and go home then it will settle in."

Turns out, that might not even be his most memorable play of the night.

That could belong to the final play of the game when Hart perfectly read Jalen Hurt's eyes and tipped a red-zone pass up in the air before Tony Jefferson caught it to seal the win.

"I saw the tight end go out and that's my primary," Hart said. "Then I saw the flash of somebody going vertical and I knew he was out there and Tony was by himself. I see Jalen eyeing it so just find the ball and try to make a play."

Hart is 6-foot-2 and 207 pounds and offers a size and physicality that few players around the league do.

Monday night, for example, Hart wanted to go against wide receiver A.J. Brown, who is 6-1 and 226 pounds.

"All week long he wanted the challenge of being on him, wanted to be on A.J. Brown," James said. "He wanted big body on big body."

Hart delivered in perhaps the best game of his career.

"Every single day, it's just the intensity he brings to the job and him chasing getting better," Donte Jackson said. "I was a huge fan on the outside looking in when he was a rookie. To see how much work he puts in, man, it's awesome to see that all come to life on the field."

Get an inside look at the postgame celebration from the Bolts 22-19 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Presented by SoFi!

4. Dicker comes up clutch

The Chargers scored just one touchdown Monday night, meaning 16 of their 22 points came off the right foot of Cameron Dicker.

You know, one of the league's best kickers.

Dicker was his usual clutch self as he made all five of his field goal tries, hitting from 45, 34, 31, 46 and 54 yards.

"They're a really good field goal block unit and they've had quite a bit. It was just trusting the big guys up front and being able to go ball out," Dicker said.

While his first three field goals were needed, none were bigger than his final two kicks.

There was a 46-yarder with only eight seconds left that tied the game at 19 and helped send it to overtime.

And there was a 54-yarder in the extra period that gave the Bolts a lead they would hang onto for the win.

"Just another kick," Dicker said of his mindset. "I had to make the first one to get to that point [in overtime]. If I don't make those then we aren't there [at the end]."

Dicker has now made 31 of 33 field goals on the season, good for a 93.9 success rate. He's also still the most accurate kicker in NFL history at 93.8 percent.

"What a great kicker," Harbaugh said.

Browse through live action photos of the Bolts Week 14 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles at SoFi Stadium!

5. Hampton, Vidal do enough

Omarion Hampton made his long-awaited return Monday night and teamed up to form a solid 1-2 punch with Kimani Vidal.

"It feels amazing to be back out there with the guys," Hampton said. "It's been hard sitting out so it feels good to be back out there."

The duo combined for exactly 100 rushing yards on 27 total carries, with Hampton going for 56 yards on 13 attempts. Vidal chipped in with 44 yards on 12 attempts.

"Omarion and Kimani both I thought really played great," Harbaugh said. "It was great to have them both out there and they made the plays."

Vidal had a 60-yard reception on the Chargers opening possession that set up Hampton's 4-yard touchdown catch.

Harbaugh praised the pair's toughness against a rugged Eagles defense on a night where the Bolts had just 275 yards of offense.

"It was tough," Harbaugh said. "I mean, you can compare it to a heavyweight fight ... what they were going through and what everybody was going through on both sides of the ball.

"There were blows and there were very, very, very tough men out there," Harbaugh added. "You could see it and it was football. The football gods I think would be really pleased about watching that game."

Related Content

Advertising