3 winners, 2 losers from Chargers-Cardinals: Justin Herbert still has it - Bolts From The Blue

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Justin Herbert threw for a season-high 349 passing yards in the Chargers’ narrow 17-15 loss.

The Chargers dropped a heartbreaker to the Cardinals in primetime on Monday night. Justin Herbert was phenomenal, but that did not lead to touchdowns as they ultimately fell on a last-second field goal 17-15.

Sure, there were some positives and other notable performances outside of Herbert’s big day, but those will likely get a lost a bit in the haze of this game many would argue was the Chargers’ to win by all means.

Alrighty then, let’s go ahead and dive in to this week’s winners and losers.

QB Justin Herbert

This was the type of game we all knew was still inside of Herbert despite the low passing numbers through the first month of the season. However, as nostalgic as the high passing stats were, it also brought with it the usual reason why he was slinging it so much in the first place: The run game was anemic and the team wasn’t able to score enough points to keep them from playing from behind in the fourth quarter.

It was the type of performance that had social media on fire. He made nearly half a dozen throws that only one, two, maybe three other quarterbacks in the league can make. Analysts across a number of publications were in awe of what they were seeing. That’s the type of quarterback the Chargers have and goodness gracious they need to get him the consistency and help he deserves.

TE Will Dissly

Before Monday night, Will Dissly’s best game of his career came against the Cardinals when he was still a member of the Seattle Seahawks. Once again, against the former divisional rival, Dissly rewrote his career highs with eight receptions for 81 yards.

Through six games, Dissly is on track for nearly 600 receiving yards, which would shatter his previous season high of 349. While not the most athletic player at his position, he’s been rock-steady for quality gains each week. No home runs, but the Chargers will take his base hits time-and-time again.

K Cameron Dicker

Despite the loss, this was a spectacular day for Dicker who converted on all five of his field goal attempts, including a franchise record 59-yarder that ties him with Michael Badgley for the longest in Chargers history.

The Chargers are so incredibly lucky to have Dicker on this team. If they didn’t who knows how many of their close games would have potentially went the other way?

Ball Security

The Chargers have been one of the best at not turning the ball over this season. Herbert has thrown only one interception in 2024 and J.K. Dobbins has yet to cough up the rock as a runner. However, the Chargers somehow recorded two lost fumbles despite only having one offensive possession by the time the second turnover was given up.

That’s because the first fumble came immediately after defensive tackle Teair Tart came down with an interception on a tipped pass at the line of scrimmage. Cardinals running back James Connor chased him down from behind before he even got his third step down in the other direction.

When the Chargers finally got the ball on their first possession, Herbert hit newly-signed Jalen Reagor on a deep pass inside the Cardinals 10-yard line. Unfortunately, Reagor had the ball punched out just outside the end zone and the ball was recovered by another Arizona defender in the end zone for a touchback. Turns out, that early swing in points wound up being the difference on Monday night.

EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu

This was arguably Tuli’s worst game as a professional and it only continues a downward trending sophomore campaign for the 2023 second-round pick.

By the end of the night, Tuli had missed four tackles, tied for the team high against Arizona. His 22.8 tackling grade by Pro Football Focus is the lowest I’ve seen from any player this season in any given game 28.2 in run defense was by far the lowest on the defense.

Tuli has been able to mitigate the continued absence of Joey Bosa over the past 22 games, but a performance like this is still a bit shocking. He was one of the best run defenders at his position among all players in 2023. That Tuli is the one the Chargers will need if they hope to continue competing this season.