Jim Harbaugh: We didn’t put Justin Herbert in a position to succeed against the Texans

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh praised quarterback Justin Herbert throughout the regular season and that doesn’t change following the team’s playoff loss to the Texans .

Herbert threw four interceptions in the 32-12 loss after throwing three interceptions all season and the loss dropped him to 0-2 in the playoffs in his career. This has led to some criticism of his performance in the biggest games on the schedule, but Harbaugh doesn’t think it’s warranted.

“Completely unfair,” Harbaugh said at a news conference. “I wouldn’t spend another second thinking about what happened in that match. It didn’t go well, and it’s my fault, it’s my responsibility, it’s my responsibility. I really felt like going into this tournament that we were as good as the best teams in the playoffs. Not as good as any team, but as good as the best playoff teams. We weren’t the best team that day. It’s my responsibility. We didn’t play complementary football well enough. My responsibility. We weren’t at our best when we needed to be. . . . We didn’t do him any favors and put him in the positions he needed to be successful enough, but he played like a beast.

General manager Joe Hortiz pointed out that Peyton Manning started his career 0-3 in the playoffs, while calling it “absurd” to spin a story around Herbert’s neck after two playoff appearances. Others would be less forgiving and it will be some time before other data points are entered into the conversation.