Free Justin Herbert!

The Los Angeles Chargers’ rookie first-round pick tied Baker Mayfield for the most passing touchdowns by a rookie in NFL history in a 30-24 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in overtime on Thursday Night Football.

Herbert, who attempted just a single pass in the fourth quarter, went 22-of-32 for 314 yards and two scores before punching in the game-winning touchdown on the ground in overtime.

With two games remaining on the schedule, Herbert should have no problem setting a new rookie record.

Based on what we have seen so far from the fifth-overall pick, it’s only the start of something really special.

Here is the Morning Coffee for Friday Dec. 18, 2020.

Herbert Saves Chargers

It certainly wasn’t the prettiest win for a Chargers’ team that has bungled opportunities in several close games this season.

Fortunately, they have a young passer who can bail them out, and they were helped by some mistakes from the other guys on Thursday night.

Whether it’s running the ball consistently on first down when it isn’t working, keeping the ball out of Herbert’s hands in the fourth quarter when it matters the most against an opponent missing several key players in their secondary, icing your own kicker, or repeatedly running your quarterback near the goal line and exposing him to several big hits in a regular-season game after you’ve already been eliminated from playoff contention, there was certainly no shortage of questionable decisions from the Chargers’ coaching staff last night.

In fact, it’s been a constant all season.

For his part, Herbert clearly looks like the best quarterback talent from the 2020 NFL Draft and a true franchise passer.

Herbert has all of the tools to become one of the best in the game at his position – he just needs a little more time to develop and a little more support around him.

Fortunately for yours truly, I escaped the opening night of my fantasy football league semifinal relatively unscathed after Keenan Allen had just one catch for 17 yards for my opponent.

I was dreading that matchup of Allen versus a beat up Raiders secondary all week, but Allen was also less than 100 per cent and only managed to stay on the field long enough for three targets.

Meanwhile, the loss pretty much eliminates any chance Las Vegas had to make the playoffs this season.

The Raiders had just a 20 per cent chance to make a wild-card spot heading into the game, per ESPN’s Football Power Index.

That number dropped to five per cent with the loss.

Next up for the Raiders is the Miami Dolphins in Week 16.

That will be a much more important game for the Dolphins than it will be for Las Vegas for obvious reasons.

Championship Weekend

The road to the NCAA College Football Playoff continues as championship weekend has finally arrived.

While Alabama and Notre Dame have the clearest paths to the CFP, Clemson, Ohio State, USC, Texas A&M, Iowa State, and Florida are all looking to make the case that they belong.

If both the Tigers and the Fighting Irish made the playoffs, it could set up the first time since 1936 that two FBS teams face each other three times in a single season.

My money is on Clemson getting the win and covering as a 10-point favourite in the rematch this weekend.

What does our NCAA football betting guru think?

Check out Michael Simmons’ top plays for this week’s college football action.