Herbert elevates a struggling Chargers squad, carrying the offense through injuries. Discover how he's defying expectations and nearing elite MVP status.
Earlier today, I was digging through some stats for fun and found myself comparing the 2025 Los Angeles Chargers team to previous teams from the same franchise. How did they stack up against the famed 14-2 San Diego Chargers of 2004, for instance.
What I found to be the most interesting comparison for the 2025 Chargers is, probably not surprisingly, the 2024 Chargers. They're not-shockingly very similar in terms of personnel, coaching staff and performance.
Except that this year's team is a little bit worse on defense (301 points allowed in both seasons, but there are two games left in 2025) and offense. However, one thing the 2025 Chargers could hold over the 2024 squad would be their winning percentage, assuming they win at least one of their last two games.
That's a strange thing to consider, that the team has gotten a little bit less effective on offense and defense but is headed towards a better record and (potentially) a higher seed in the NFL Playoffs. It's even stranger when you remember that this team lost both of their starting offensive tackles and their starting RB a very long time ago.
So, what's pushing the Chargers to get more from less? In my opinion, it's been Justin Herbert. He has had to do more with less and, at times, seems to be carrying the offense on his back. While his passing numbers aren't quite as efficient as they were in 2024, partially due to a line that can't always hold on long enough to let routes develop downfield, he's almost doubled his rushing output on roughly the same number of carries.
In a normal NFL season, that type of performance in those sorts of circumstances might be enough to put you name amongst the top of the MVP Award odds. In 2025, Herbert is fifth.
- Matthew Stafford -220 (68.8%)
- Drake Maye +185 (35.1%)
- Josh Allen +2500 (3.9%)
- Trevor Lawrence +3500 (2.8%)
- Justin Herbert +8000 (1.2%)
- Caleb Williams +10000 (1%)
- Sam Darnold +10000 (1%)
You know what? I don't really have an issue with this.
As great as Herbert has been, all of these guys have been more efficient than him by a fairly large margin. Now, maybe they would be throwing more interceptions if their offensive line looked more like a cheese grater than a road grader, but we'll never know.
Justin Herbert has been the MVP of the Los Angeles Chargers this year. That's probably going to have to be good enough.