Crazy Mike McDaniel stat from Chargers’ Justin Herbert TD will lead to plenty of Tua Tagovailoa slander

The Mike McDaniel-Justin Herbert partnership in Los Angeles is highly anticipated for a lot of reasons. McDaniel’s offense in Miami was regarded as one of the best schemes in the league. With Tua Tagovailoa under center, the Dolphins’ offense reached heights never before seen. Now with the Los Angeles Chargers, Herbert is expected to supercharge that crazy offensive scheme to be even better.

We saw an example of just how far Herbert’s talent can elevate the McDaniel scheme in their final game of the preseason. After a play-action fake, Herbert launched a deep ball to a streaking Quentin Johnston down the field for a touchdown. It was a beauty of a play call from McDaniel and a hell of a throw from Herbert.

Justin Herbet LAUNCHES it to Quentin Johnston for a 65-yard TD

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— NFL (@NFL) August 28, 2026

This throw, in particular highlights the biggest issue McDaniel had in Miami, and why he’ll never experience that same issue in Los Angeles. According to Dante Koplowitz-Fleming, the Chargers quarterback’s touchdown pass traveled 48 yards in the air. That’s longer than any pass thrown by a quarterback under McDaniels in both Miami and San Francisco (where he started off as their offensive coordinator).

At his best, Tagovailoa was an excellent game manager with elite accuracy and good processing in the pocket. However, he had a limited arm and couldn’t throw deep ball consistently, even when he was still relatively healthy. Jimmy Garoppolo, who he coached in 2021 in San Francisco when he was their offensive coordinator, had similar issues throwing the deep ball. In contrast, Herbert is an offensive coordinator’s dream quarterback: the Chargers star has the arm talent to make any throw the offense needs.

Herbert’s consistency has been put into question multiple times over the course of his career. There have been some compounding issues, yes: injuries to the offensive line limited his time in the pocket, while he also suffered injuries of his own. However, Herbert is yet to prove that he’s a quarterback capable of leading his team to a deep postseason run. Now, with one of the best play-callers in his ear, the Chargers are hoping that Herbert takes that much-anticipated next step and lead his team to the postseason.

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