Justin Herbert: Record against winning teams

Justin Herbert is already in year four of his NFL career after another great season statistically. During the 2022 season he threw for 4739 yards and 25 touchdowns.

As a rookie, Herbert broke several quarterback records after stepping in for an injured Tyrod Taylor. He played so well he was awarded the 2020 NFL Rookie of the Year award. Herbert showed the Chargers that he is their quarterback of the future.

Herbert is a very interesting piece to the quarterback-winning record debate. There is no argument that Herbert is a top talent and one of the young premier quarterbacks in the NFL. Despite being considered elite by many, the Chargers are struggling to take that next step as a team.

Some are even calling him a “social media quarterback” because he makes great throws that are not translating into wins. This has even caused the Chargers’ social media team to start defending him. To be clear, I strongly disagree with that notion but for people who truly believe in quarterback wins, I understand it.

Let’s take a look at how many times the Los Angeles Chargers won games against teams with a winning record with Justin Herbert as their starting quarterback.

The reason for QB wins against winning teams

I started to dive into this stat for every quarterback because the new hot argument is to say that a certain quarterback didn’t beat any good teams. I often see people use this argument to say players like Kirk Cousins and Matthew Stafford are not good and just put up empty stats. At the end of the day, there is much more to the story.

First off and most importantly, quarterback wins are a team statistic. Secondly, very few quarterbacks in the NFL have a winning record against teams who finished the season above .500 in the league.

There are a lot of moving parts involved in football. While winning and losing is the most important stat, it is one that unfairly gets attributed to quarterbacks.

What is Justin Herbert’s record against winning teams?

Justin Herbert is 7-14 (.333) against teams with a winning record during his entire career.

2022 Season – Justin Herbert vs winning teams

In 2022, Justin Herbert was 1-5 (.167) against winning teams as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers.

• Chiefs (loss)
• Jaguars (loss)
• Seahawks (loss)
• 49ers (loss)
• Chiefs (loss)
• Dolphins (win)

2021 Season – Justin Herbert vs winning teams

In 2021, Justin Herbert was 5-4 (.556) against winning teams as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers.

• Cowboys (loss)
• Chiefs (win)
• Raiders (win)
• Patriots (loss)
• Eagles (win)
• Steelers (win)
• Bengals (win)
• Chiefs (loss)
• Raiders (loss)

2020 Season – Justin Herbert vs winning teams

In 2020, Justin Herbert was 1-5 (.166) against winning teams as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Chargers.

• Chiefs (loss)
• Buccaneers (loss)
• Saints (loss)
• Dolphins (loss)
• Bills (loss)
• Chiefs (win)

What quarterbacks have a winning record against winning teams?

As seen on our master QB record vs winning teams chart, there are only a handful of NFL quarterbacks that have a record above .500 against winning teams.

With that being said, you can digest that information on your own. The most important thing I want you to take away from this is that it is extremely rare to have a winning record against teams that finished the season with a winning record.

Conclusion

In summary, only time will tell if Herbert can bring the Chargers to a Super Bowl berth. Herbert proved he wasn’t a one-hit wonder during his second season. The Chargers need to build around Herbert and they need to do it now. Herbert is a top talent and is proof that even in a quarterback league, they still need a lot of help in order to win consistently and against top teams in the NFL.