Justin Herbert is back in the playoffs.
The Chargers quarterback will make his second career playoff start Saturday as the Bolts play the Texans in the Wild Card Round.
Kickoff from NRG Stadium is at 1:30 p.m. (PT).
Herbert led the Bolts to an 11-6 record in 2024 as the Chargers claimed the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs. And it's safe to say he's excited for postseason football.
"I think our whole purpose as this team is to win games," Herbert said. "We got to take it one game at a time. We've got a very good opponent that we're playing on Saturday.
"For us, we have to have our focus, dial in all week and have a great week of preparation," Herbert added. "We really do take it one week at a time and that would mean everything to us."
Herbert is entering the 2024 playoffs on a heater as he led the Chargers to three straight wins to close out the regular season.
As a result, the Chargers offense has exploded for an NFL-best 108 points scored in the past three games.
The 26-year-old saved his best for last in 2024 as he produced an eye-popping stat line of 346 passing yards with two scores and no interceptions in Las Vegas.
"I know I said 'near perfect game' a couple weeks ago," Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said. "That was a perfect game played by the quarterback."
Dig a little deeper and you'll see that Herbert has especially thrived on play-action passes this season.
According to Pro Football Focus, Herbert posted a 96.0 grade on play-action passes this season, easily the highest mark by a quarterback in the NFL.
PFF charted Herbert as having 194 play-action dropbacks in 2024, the second-most in the league. He completed 121 of 162 passes (74.7 percent) for 1,617 yards with eight touchdowns and just two interceptions on such throws.
"We've done a great job of marrying the run and the pass game and making things look similar," Herbert said. "I think that's where Coach Roman has done such a great job of putting the two together.
"Having the threat of being able to run the ball out of a certain set and throw the ball out of the same set, it's tough on defenses," Herbert added. "Especially the guys that we have coming out of the backfield, the offensive line getting up after the D-Line, everyone goes into it … then great routes as well."
Harbaugh has raved about Herbert's performance all season and did so again Tuesday morning, comparing Herbert to Johhny Unitas and Joe Montana while also likening Herbert's footwork in the pocket to "Dancing With The Stars."
"He's an artist. It's artistry," Harbaugh said Tuesday.
Herbert had six games of at least 280 passing yards in the regular season, including each of the final three games of the year.
He finished the 2024 season with 3,870 passing yards with 23 touchdowns and just three interceptions.
Among quarterbacks with at least 15 touchdown passes in a season, Herbert's 23:3 TD-INT ratio (7.67) ranks eighth all-time in NFL history.
Now Herbert, who is 0-1 in his playoff career, will turn his attention to the playoffs as the Bolts look to make a deep postseason run.
"I think adversity is a great teacher. We've seen our fair share of it, having gone through the tight games, the close ones, the tough losses," Herbert said. "We're better because of it. We've watched the film, we've done everything we can to correct those mistakes."
Harbaugh said Tuesday he wouldn't want anyone else leading the Chargers into the playoffs.
"Who wouldn't appreciate him more than his teammates and his coach? I would think probably I'm sure respected and maybe even feared," Harbaugh said. "I know I would. Nobody can appreciate him as much [as us]. But I can't imagine he's not highly respected by all."
