Justin Herbert heaved his MVP moment into the stratosphere in the first half of Sunday's 37-21 beatdown of the New York Giants.
In a 10-point game with 25 seconds remaining in the first half, on third-and-11 from their own 41, Herbert avoided pressure and uncorked a massive bomb down the seam to a streaking Jalen Guyton for a 59-yard TD. And the rout was on.
"When you see something special, normally it looks easy," Staley said of the TD pass, via Gilbert Manzano of the L.A. Daily News. "That's what he does. He makes the really, really challenging stuff look easy. And that's a pretty good indicator that you're witnessing something rare."
According to Next Gen Stats, Herbert's pass traveled 63.8 air yards, the second-longest completion in the NFL this season. It was the 10th of his career to travel 55-plus yards in the air, most in the NFL since 2020.
Please go back and read that previous sentence again. In 28 career games played, Herbert has 10 passes of more than 55 air yards. That is insane. He's also thrown an NFL-high seven 50-plus yard TDs.
"What you're witnessing is something special," Staley said of the QB's play.
On Sunday, Herbert diced up the Giants' defense without No. 1 receiver Keenan Allen. Guyton (3/87/1) and rookie Josh Palmer (5/66/1) led the way for the Chargers' offense as Herbert spread the wealth, hitting nine different targets with at least one pass.
When offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi allows Herbert to toss bombs, the second-year QB rarely misfires, making seemingly impossible throws look routine.
Against New York, he threw for 275 yards, three TDs and a 133.1 passer rating. It marked the third time in the last four games Herbert had three-plus pass TDs. The prolific outing made Herbert the first QB in NFL history to throw for at least 30 TDs in each of his first two seasons.
The Chargers sit as the AFC's No. 5 seed heading into Week 15 but are just one win ahead of the No. 10-seeded Broncos.
Thursday is a massive game for L.A. as it hosts the division-leading Chiefs.
If Herbert has another huge game against his rivals, in prime time, in a pivotal AFC West race, his MVP stock will shoot through the roof.
Not that the young QB is focused on accolades.
"It's one week at a time for us," Herbert said. "Coach (Staley) did a great job of emphasizing that all weekend. I feel like the guys were focused. They were dialed in this week and took care of business, and now we move on to the next one. We're facing a really good Chiefs team on Thursday."
