Justin Herbert is one of the NFL's most talented quarterbacks.
Until the playoffs arrive, and then the Los Angeles Chargers are in trouble.
There have been lots of stats circulating that prove Herbert is, at least to this point, a choker in the postseason. They're everywhere after the Chargers' ugly loss to the Patriots on Sunday night.
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A couple of Reddit users may have summed it up as much as anyone.
First, a post shared Herbert's career expected points added per play in the playoffs is -0.184.
That compares to Shedeur Sanders' rookie EPA/play for the Browns, which was -0.186.
Essentially, those stats say that each play for Herbert in the playoffs (and Sanders for the season) actually averaged out to giving the other team a slightly higher chance to win.
Then, user TallGuy0725 wrote, "'Justin Herbert literally becomes Shedeur Sanders in the playoffs' is just about the worst indictment of his performance I can think of."
Sanders has plenty of fans, but the reality from a statistical standpoint is that he was not good at all as a rookie.
Herbert is a well-established NFL quarterback with lots of impressive traits who put together a sterling regular season.
Except somehow, in the playoffs, Herbert isn't good at all.
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There are plenty of possible factors. Clearly, opponents in the postseason are all going to be good. And it isn't a gigantic sample size for Herbert.
But he officially has the label of a guy who can't win in the playoffs. He's not the first to be in that spot. Peyton Manning, for one, had a similar start to Herbert at least as far as wins and losses go in the playoffs, and he eventually broke through.
Chargers fans will just have to hope Herbert eventually looks more like Manning in the postseason and less like Sanders.
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