In the Minnesota Vikings’ 28-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, they did everything they could to get pressure on quarterback Justin Herbert. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.
The Vikings blitzed Herbert on 40 of his 50 dropbacks. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, that was the second-highest blitz rate in the NGS era, which dates back to 2018.
Buy Vikings TicketsThe Vikings blitzed Justin Herbert on 40 of his 50 dropbacks, the 2nd-highest blitz rate (82.0%) in a game in the NGS era.
Herbert averaged 2.26 seconds time to throw, his first game under 2.40 seconds in his career, and had a career-high +16.0% CPOE.#LACvsMIN #BoltUp pic.twitter.com/r9DmneTPHr
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 24, 2023
Dropping Herbert’s time to throw down to 2.26 seconds is objectively great, but he did a lot of damage when the Chargers picked up the blitzes.
The really impressive thing was Herbert’s CPOE (completion percentage over expected): +16.0%, which is an astounding and incredibly impressive number.
That’s what happens sometimes when you blitz a great quarterback. Just like the Vikings did last year by playing conservative zones, you are willing to live and die by how aggressive you are.
Despite all of this, the Vikings had a chance to win the game. Not all hope is lost for the Vikings, especially because a performance like Herbert’s won’t happen every week.
