Is Justin Herbert Now NFL Ready?
One man who benefited from injuries is Chargers rookie quarterback Justin Herbert. The sixth overall pick in this year’s draft was seen by many as not quite ready for the NFL, which was further magnified thanks to the HBO ‘Hard Knocks’ series which featured both the Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams.
Tyrod Taylor started week 1 against the Cincinnati Bengals and was expected to start for most of the season. However, a team doctor punctured Taylor’s lung after an injection and Herbert was brought in. Herbert said in a post game interview that he only found out he was starting moments before kick off.
Against the Super Bowl Champions, Herbert would have had a reasonable excuse if his NFL debut didn’t go to plan, particularly with no expectation to start on the morning of the game.
However, Herbert was quite the opposite. He excelled on his debut and took the game to overtime before Harrison Butker’s field goal won the game. Whilst he didn’t get the win, Herbert certainly left many people wondering if he should actually start from now on.
There is a similarity to the situation Taylor found himself in during the 2018 season where Taylor went off injured for the Cleveland Browns in week 3 against the New York Jets. The Browns were 14-0 down before number one draft pick Baker Mayfield came on for his NFL debut to replace Taylor and guided Cleveland to their first win since December 24th 2016.
Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn has said that Tyrod Taylor will be the starter when healthy but for how long will that be the case if the NFL veteran struggles?
Elsewhere In The League
The Dallas Cowboys pulled off a shock comeback On Sunday at home to the Atlanta Falcons. In front of 21,708 fans at the AT&T Stadium, the Cowboys were down 39-24 midway through the fourth quarter but would go on to score 16 unanswered points.
This was largely thanks to a crazy onside kick. With just under two minutes left, Dak Prescott’s quarterback sneak made the score 39-37. Former Los Angeles Rams kicker Greg Zuerlein went for the onside kick and it worked, before he went on to score the winning field goal.
As much as Dallas did well to win that game, with Amari Cooper’s outstanding one handed catch standing out, Atlanta certainly played a part in the loss with an almighty collapse. Head coach Dan Quinn was under pressure before the season started and this will do him no favours. The Falcons and Quinn have never truly recovered from losing Super Bowl 51 after being 28-3 up, and this may be one of the final nails in the coffin.
Number one overall pick Joe Burrow showed how special he can be on Thursday Night Football as the Cincinnati Bengals lost 35-30 to the Cleveland Browns in the ‘Battle Of Ohio’.
Burrow was poorly protected by his offensive line but still managed to throw for three touchdowns, 316 passing yards and most impressively 0 interceptions. The Bengals have a future star on their hands and need to do all they can to protect Burrow, not only for Burrow’s NFL career but also for the future of the franchise.
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