The Chargers are 7-3 after a 25-10 win over the Steelers on Sunday night.
Here are five takeaways from Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh's Monday press conference.
1. Herbert's health
Justin Herbert showcased his trademark toughness Sunday night against a stout Steelers defense.
Not that Harbaugh has any concern with his his franchise quarterback is feeling.
Harbaugh was asked Monday about Herbert's health after the quarterback was limping a bit at times against Pittsburgh.
His answer came in classic Harbaugh fashion.
"I do have an update on his physical status: He is still a beast," Harbaugh said with a laugh that echoed throughout the room.
Herbert himself was asked about his ankle after Sunday's primetime win.
"I just got rolled up. A little bit of pain but I thought we did a good job of talking about it on the sideline," Herbert said. "I came off and felt like I was safe and comfortable to go back out there."
Herbert, who threw for 220 yards and a touchdown to Ladd McConkey, posted a 90.5 passer rating while getting sacked five times and hit nine times in all.
2. Gadsden sore after knee injury
Harbaugh also provided an update on rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden, who sustained a knee injury Sunday night. He played 38 snaps (52 percent) against Pittsburgh.
Harbaugh said that Gadsden is "working through some soreness" after he "banged knees" in last night's win.
Gadsden has been one of the NFL's best rookies this season as he has 35 catches for 466 yards and two scores.
The 2025 fifth-round pick had three catches for 13 yards against Pittsburgh.
3. Defense shines vs. Steelers
Harbaugh raved about the defense's performance in primetime against Pittsburgh.
"I thought it was probably our best game, most complete game," he said.
The numbers back that up.
According to Pro Football Focus, the Bolts posted a defensive EPA per play of -0.379 on Sunday night, which was their best mark of the 2025 season to date. (The previous best came in Week 8's win against the Vikings at -0.335).
Sunday night's effort saw the Chargers defense allow just 221 yards, 156 of which came before a Steelers garbage-time touchdown drive.
The unit also held Pittsburgh to just 2-of-11 on third downs — including an 0-for-9 start — while tallying three sacks, two takeaways and limiting the Steelers to just 73 rushing yards.
"Most consistent, especially great on third down. The obvious one there we were nine stops in a row to start the game," Harbaugh said. "The takeaways, the rush and coverage was coordinated really well, tight coverage.
"Guys stepping up and making plays. The pressure, those two things were really coordinated well," Harbaugh added. "Then, tackle. Much improved tackling."
Harbaugh lauded the play of Denzel Perryman, Khalil Mack, Da'Shawn Hand and Daiyan Henley — among others — for their strong and physical play against the Steelers.
The Chargers dominant effort in Week 10 continued a bounce back trend after the unit dipped a bit in early October.
According to PFF, the Chargers lead the NFL in defensive EPA per play of -0.333 during their three-game win streak.
"We just pointed out: you get together, you meet, you talk about it," Harbaugh said. "Jesse [Minter] did a great job of noticing that sometimes guys are trying to do their job plus somebody else's job, get out of a gap and it creates a crease.
"I think guys seeing it, realizing it and putting an emphasis on it. They've done a tremendous job of improving," Harbaugh added. "That's just the prerequisite of being better. Better tomorrow than we were today, and I think our guys have attacked that and it's been good for us."
4. Vidal powers Bolts backfield
Kimani Vidal might need an ice bath after his workload Sunday night.
Vidal played a whopping 67 snaps against Pittsburgh, rushing for 95 yards and a score on 25 attempts while also catching a pass for 13 yards.
"I don't know if we've had a running back has played that many plays all season," Harbaugh said. "He had the hot hand and was rolling. Great physical condition, strong."
"Of the 67 plays, 65 were positive. A few things to clean up but that's a pretty high ratio of great and good," Harbaugh added. "Ran the ball extremely hard, great ball security, no turnovers."
Chargers rookie Omarion Hampton played 68 total snaps in Week 3 against Denver, but that was on a day when the Chargers offense was on the field for 86 snaps. Hampton's snap percentage that game was 79 percent.
Vidal's 67 snaps on Sunday night came when the Bolts offense had 73 total snaps, meaning the second-year back was on the field for 93 percent of the action.
And Vidal seemed to get better as the game went along, too, as 62 of his 95 rushing yards came after contact. He also ran for nine first downs, the second-most in Week 10 ahead of Monday Night Football.
"A lot of credit to Kimani because he had the ball quite a bit," Harbaugh said.
5. O-line hangs tough
Harbaugh was also asked about the play of the Chargers offensive line at Monday's press conference.
The starting group Sunday night consisted of, from left to right, Austin Deculus, Zion Johnson, Bradley Bozeman, Mekhi Becton and Trey Pipkins III.
"Offensively, [and] the offensive line, [it was] four quarters of doing what we had to do to win the game," Harbaugh said. "Zion Johnson, standout performance. Standout performance from Brad Bozeman.
"And then I thought Austin Deculus, Trey Pipkins and Mekhi Becton played the kind of game that executed the game plan," Harbaugh said. "Really good in the run game and didn't allow any free runners against some really good pass rushers. Held up and gave our quarterback time to throw the ball."
According to PFF, Herbert had an average time to throw of 2.33 seconds on Sunday night.
