Tom Krasovic: Call it curvilinear athleticism or just plain clutch, but Chargers QB continues to wow
Justin Herbert’s improbable escape and throw for a touchdown Sunday, when the Chargers needed greatness from their quarterback, stood out more than any other clutch play in Week 3.
We’re accustomed to seeing wow plays from Herbert, but this was a double-wow.
There’s a geeky word for the magic that Herbert summoned to overcome a punishing Broncos defense in a fourth-quarter response that led to a 23-20 win on the Kroenke Dome carpet:
Curvilinear athleticism.
It means moving on a curved path with speed and control.
At 6-foot-6 and 236 pounds, Herbert would seem not built for curvy success.
He’s flexible and twitchy, for sure, but because of his long frame, it’s more challenging for him to corner fast and keep his body together. Compared to other AFC quarterbacks with freakish ability, he’s four inches taller than Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and an inch-plus taller than Josh Allen.
Nevertheless, Herbert evaded two defenders who converged on him. He surged both forward and sideways in a fluid movement while maintaining a gaze downfield. Confronted by another rusher, he twisted his body and winged a strike to a well-covered Keenan Allen in the end zone while absorbing a hit.
Justin Herbert's 20-yard touchdown pass to Keenan Allen had a completion probability of 16.7%, Herbert's most improbable completion since Week 8, 2024.
Herbert's Speed: 12.85 mph
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 21, 2025
If Herbert’s body had gotten stuck for a moment, no touchdown.
Herbert’s been dazzling in the past, too. He has made heaves of some 60 yards while on the move, as he did to deck the Giants five years ago. Contorting his body against the Jets as a rookie, he zinged a scoring strike to Allen’s chest that all but impaled the receiver.
Curvilinear mastery, however, comes in handy. To the eye, Herbert is more fluid in this opening month of his sixth NFL season than he’s ever been.
Physically, he’s having a much better start than a year ago, when plantar fasciitis sidelined him for parts of training camp and a high ankle sprain in Week 2 took a toll.
Maybe this isn’t surprising. Veteran quarterbacks can become more athletic from one season to the next.
Deep into his 30s, Tom Brady improved at plunging forward for rushing yards and touchdowns. Jackson, 28, dropped weight last year and was noticeably quicker. At 27, Herbert seems to still be extracting upgrades. Seeing the game better improves a quarterback’s ability to anticipate, which in turn boosts play speed.
Last year, Herbert looked more comfortable under new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, who played 17 NFL seasons at quarterback.
Now, with the Chiefs not looking physical enough to win the division, Harbaugh and Herbert are set up to lead the club to its first AFC West title since 2009.
The Chiefs (1-2) stand to regain their top two receivers next month, but are mediocre or worse in several facets. Long-term, they might be better off by having a bad season to improve their odds of having a big draft.
As they showed, the Broncos (1-2) can match the Chargers in some areas. But there’s a reason why their second-year coach, Sean Payton, wanted the Chargers head coach job a year before Harbaugh got it.
That reason was Herbert. Though Payton has been proven right that Bo Nix can succeed as an NFL quarterback, the second-year QB can’t make many of the special plays that Herbert, a fellow Oregon alum, pulls off. There’s a reason why Herbert has led the Chargers to a 3-0 record against Nix and the Broncos.
Opening the door further for Herbert and Harbaugh, Bengals star QB Joe Burrow will miss most of this season with a toe injury.
So here’s how it now stands in the AFC. Up top in one group are the Ravens, the Bills — and the Chargers.
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