{"id":477024,"date":"2025-12-28T12:20:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T12:20:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477024\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T12:20:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T12:20:21","slug":"chargers-growing-offensive-line-issues-threaten-to-derail-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/477024\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers&#8217; growing offensive line issues threaten to derail season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/chargers\/story\/2025-12-26\/justin-herbert-isnt-letting-his-injured-hand-compromise-chargers-lofty-ambitions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Justin Herbert<\/a> could glimpse at the Chargers\u2019 \u201cSee the lighting, Feel the thunder\u201d branding above the field-level suites as his offensive linemen pulled him up on the SoFi Stadium turf.<\/p>\n<p>Herbert certainly felt the thunder against the Texans. The NFL\u2019s top defense recorded 26 pressures as it swarmed through the Chargers\u2019 offensive line en route to a <a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/chargers\/story\/2025-12-27\/chargers-afc-west-title-hopes-shattered-in-loss-to-texans\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">20-16 win Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>And Herbert saw the lightning, best represented by second-string defensive end Derek Barnett\u2019s back-to-back sacks to halt the Chargers\u2019 first drive of the second half.<\/p>\n<p>The latter of Barnett\u2019s takedowns \u2014 part of the Texans\u2019 five sacks and eight tackles for loss \u2014 came when he spun past Bobby Hart and brought down Herbert for a seven-yard loss.<\/p>\n<p>           <video playsinline=\"playsinline\" loop=\"\" preload=\"none\" title=\"Takeaways from Chargers\u2019 loss to Houston Texans\" data-video-id=\"0000019b-6308-dc07-afdf-6bfde15d0000\">               <\/video>                 <img class=\"image\" alt=\"\"   width=\"473\" height=\"840\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766924419_552_\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>             <\/p>\n<ul data-element=\"action-bar-menu\" class=\"flex gap-2 list-none  absolute w-full h-10 top-0\">\n<li data-element=\"action-bar-share\" class=\"flex  w-full h-10 top-0 lg:items-center lg:justify-center \">\n<p> Share via     Close extra sharing options  <\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"video-enhancement-title\">Sam Farmer breaks down what went wrong for the Chargers in their 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, it\u2019s just football,\u201d Hart said when asked if he was dwelling on Barnett\u2019s pair of sacks or losing a one-on-one against Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter in the first quarter that left Herbert grimacing and favoring his surgically repaired left hand.<\/p>\n<p>Hart added: \u201cPeople make plays \u2014 defenders, guys, catch the ball. Quarterbacks might have some throws that you want back. It\u2019s just a part of the football game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.latimes.com\/sports\/chargers\/story\/2025-09-12\/jim-harbaugh-on-his-time-with-raiders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Coach Jim Harbaugh<\/a> said he pulled Hart in the third quarter because the 31-year-old was \u201chaving trouble getting in the rhythm.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Austin Deculus replaced Hart and Trevor Penning temporarily replaced Mekhi Becton Jr. at right guard for a drive, creating the Chargers\u2019 24th offensive line combination of the season. But in a game previewing the quality of defenses the Chargers could face in the postseason, the offensive line \u2014 hit hard by the losses of Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt to injury \u2014 struggled to adequately protect Herbert.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust too many mistakes,\u201d right tackle Trey Pipkins III said. \u201cWhatever it was \u2014 sacks and untimely situations \u2014 we started really slow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            <img class=\"image\" alt=\"Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert walks on the field during the second half of a 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans.\"   width=\"2000\" height=\"1334\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766924421_477_\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\"\/>         <\/p>\n<p>Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert walks on the field during the second half of a 20-16 loss to the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p>(Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n<p>The Chargers trailed 14-3 at halftime, punting in each of its first four drives. Herbert, who had 236 passing yards along with a touchdown and an interception, capitalized on Houston penalties and standout plays to extend drives.<\/p>\n<p>Late in the third quarter, Texans defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins burst past left guard Zion Johnson, and then swiftly ran by center Bradley Bozeman in help protection and grabbed Herbert by the waist. Instead of falling to the ground for the sack \u2014 a potential sixth overall \u2014 Herbert connected with wide receiver Quentin Johnston for the first down.<\/p>\n<p>Moments later, rookie running back Omarion Hampton scored on a five-yard run to make it a four-point game. Outside of the touchdown run, the Chargers\u2019 run game was close to non-existent. Herbert had a team-leading 37 rushing yards, 28 coming on a single run.<\/p>\n<p>Hampton had just 29 yards on 14 carries for a career-low 2.1 yards per carry. The Texans\u2019 downhill attack gave up just 74 rushing yards, the second fewest Houston has given up  this season. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just shot ourselves in the foot,\u201d said Johnson, who along with Bozeman has appeared in all of the Chargers\u2019 line combinations. \u201cIt starts with us up front. We\u2019ve got to protect [Herbert] better. We got to execute better in the run game. There\u2019s too many missed opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Texans revealed the extent of the Chargers\u2019 offensive line weaknesses. With the wild-card playoffs two weeks away, will they be able to figure out their protection issues?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLearn from it,\u201d Harbaugh said. \u201cSome of the things that happened today, clean up, and use those to be better tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Justin Herbert could glimpse at the Chargers\u2019 \u201cSee the lighting, Feel the thunder\u201d branding above the field-level suites&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":477025,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[216040,216045,216041,1582,276,7151,216043,1318,1910,29334,2961,224,5337,5948,216042,216044,5950,26570,38272,216046],"class_list":{"0":"post-477024","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-back-to-back-sack","9":"tag-barnett","10":"tag-bobby-hart","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-california","13":"tag-chargers","14":"tag-first-drive","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-game","17":"tag-justin-herbert","18":"tag-la","19":"tag-los-angeles","20":"tag-losangeles","21":"tag-loss","22":"tag-offensive-line-issue","23":"tag-passing-yard","24":"tag-season","25":"tag-texans","26":"tag-third-quarter","27":"tag-top-defense"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115797166040439337","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}