Justin Herbert nearly gave Chiefs fans some Mahomes-like magic

Watching Justin Herbert in Week 2, Kansas City Chiefs fans likely got some sense of what it must be like for others to watch Patrick Mahomes.

The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 2-0 on Thursday night after a narrow, hard-fought win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs were far from their best, but they managed to find a way to eventually get over the line, in spite of the best efforts from one Charger in particular: Justin Herbert.

Herbert was sensational for L.A., throwing for 334 yards and 3 touchdowns in an incredible and, at the end, heroic performance. The young Chargers quarterback was fantastic, making big throw after big throw. And even after he was hit and very clearly injured, he stayed in the game and almost managed to lead L.A. to a remarkable comeback win.

Thankfully, the Chiefs held on. While watching Herbert, however, a thought crossed my mind: is this how fans of other teams feel watching Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs?

We all know how good Mahomes is. He makes insane, out-of-this-world throws, exactly like the sensational side-armed touchdown pass we saw in the first quarter.

Mahomes creates these impossible moments time and time again, and his ability to do so must frustrate opponents to no end. How on earth could they possibly stop this guy?

Watching the game last night, that is exactly how I felt about Herbert.

While the Chiefs’ offense looked stagnant at times, the Chargers and Herbert were moving the ball up and down the field for most of the game, despite being without top wide receiver Keenan Allen. Herbert was almost unstoppable. He made great pass after great pass, with his one error—a 99-yard pick-six that wasn’t all on him—his only blemish on the night.

But even after that, Herbert showcased just how good he is. He was banged up after a big hit by Mike Danna, clearly suffering some sort of rib injury that saw him come out of the game. The injury seemed to get worse after Herbert suffered even more hits at the hand of the Kansas City defense, but with the game on the line, he persevered.

Despite clearly being in pain and at one point not even being able to run three yards for a wide-open first down, Herbert’s best moments were still to come. On the very next play, after looking like he could barely even move, Herbert delivered this absolute strike DeAndre Carter.

A few plays later, he found Joshua Palmer in the end zone for a touchdown that gave LA a shot to win the game.

Herbert was just so, so good for LA. Even though his pick-six would ultimately prove to be the difference between the two sides, L.A. was only in a position to win because of him in the first place. It seemed like the Chiefs could almost do nothing to stop him, he was just on a whole other level, something Chiefs fans are used to seeing with Mahomes. Only this time, the Chiefs were on the receiving end of some incredible, almost unbelievable quarterback play.

Mahomes sure had his stellar moments too, but at least for one game, Chiefs Kingdom got a sense of what it must be like to come up against a quarterback who almost conjured some similar magic.