Not all interceptions are created equal and neither are all interception-ridden playoff performances resembling quarterback meltdowns. So, before we go on about the Los Angeles Chargers’ 32–12 wild-card loss to the Houston Texans, let’s call Justin Herbert’s 14-of-32 performance for 242 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions what it was: one bad interception, one understandable interception that confirmed something we had long suspected about the Los Angeles Chargers, one interception in which a receiver handed the ball to the opponent and one end-of-game interception which occurred at a point when Herbert was simply chucking it (as evidenced by his lack of concern in throwing the ball at Derek Stingley Jr.).
That last one reminded me of Eli Manning during his lean years. While Manning had a reputation as a quarterback who played to the mean with two of the most incredible outlier games in NFL history during a pair of Super Bowl victories, a large portion of his high interception total came when the team was trailing by a significant margin, late in games (93 of his 244 career regular-season picks came when trailing by 15 points or more). While some quarterbacks opt to pack it in and get off the field, there is something to be said about an acceptance of worsening an individual stat line for the very slim possibility of getting back into a game.
