Justin Herbert’s Madison Beer Romance Becomes a Talking Point, but Can It Explain the Chargers’ Problems? (Image via Getty: Justin Herbert and Madison Beer)
The Chargers fell to 0-5 with a 23-17 home loss to Denver on October 11, their worst start since 2003. Herbert threw for 121 yards and an interception, then took a sack as time ran out. Four rookies started on the offensive line, Herbert has been sacked 17 times in five games, and his head coach admits one bad call helped sink the afternoon. Justin Herbert and Madison Beer announced their engagement on July 28, right before training camp.
Justin Herbert has not won a game this season, and some fans have decided Madison Beer is the reason.
Herbert said the proposal made him more nervous than his first NFL start, and in May he skipped part of the voluntary offseason program to support Beer on tour. “I truly blame Madison Beer for this loss,” one fan wrote on X after an earlier defeat. The game film points elsewhere. None of that has anything to do with his fiancée. The theory is easy to mock. At Seattle, a fan heckled him about her. That kind of noise follows any high-profile couple. But nothing in the results suggests a quarterback who stopped working. The Denver game shows what actually happened.
Los Angeles led 17-10 entering the fourth quarter, and its defense held Denver to 224 total yards and 1 of 12 on third down. Then Harbaugh called a quarterback sneak on fourth-and-one from his own 41, and it failed. His 14-of-24 line was ugly.
“It was the wrong decision,” Harbaugh said afterward. “It’s tough,” Herbert said. He took full responsibility for the call. Herbert later threw an interception that set up a Denver field goal, and the game ended on another sack before he could get a Hail Mary off. The collapse belonged to more people than him. Ladd McConkey, his most reliable target, missed the game with a foot injury.