Tom Brady was on the call for Sunday’s Los Angeles Chargers–Buffalo Bills game on FOX. He was likely expecting an elite quarterback battle between Justin Herbert and Josh Allen.
Instead, he saw an ugly display by both quarterbacks that resulted in a 24-16 Bills victory. Allen’s two rushing touchdowns made up for his two interceptions in a game where the Chargers forced five turnovers.
Herbert, meanwhile, did not make up for anything and finished with 226 yards for a touchdown and an interception. The interception drew a lot of national attention due to Brady’s description of the throw.
Tom Brady Correctly Explains Justin Herbert’s Play
The Chargers led 13-10 and were driving early in the fourth quarter. Herbert proceeded to throw a pass into traffic, right to a Bills defender for an interception. The pass was a wobbler and went right to the waiting safety, baffling Brady.
“Poor awareness, poor decision, throws him a meatball sub,” Brady said.
For those unaware, calling a pass a “meatball sub” is slang that relates to throwing a “meatball” pitch in baseball. Basically, it’s a pass served fresh right to a defender. Hence the sub reference.
Herbert could have played it safe and his team could have kicked a field goal to go up 16-10. Instead, he lacked simple awareness and was roasted by arguably the greatest quarterback of all time in the process.
Chargers in Midst of Nightmare 0-3 Start
The Chargers offense is in a state of disaster and it’s hard to figure out the true culprit. Yet Herbert’s “meatball sub” pass seems to point the blame toward him, as opposed to someone like new offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel. McDaniel calls the plays, but he expects Herbert to avoid passes thrown right to waiting defenders.
This is a quarterback who was a Pro Bowler in 2025 after throwing for 3,727 yards and 26 touchdowns. Yet everything fell apart in the playoffs against Brady’s former team in New England. The Chargers fell to the Patriots by a 16-3 final and Herbert played so bad the team moved on from offensive coordinator Greg Roman. McDaniel may soon face the same fate if things don’t begin to turn around and do so soon.
Herbert has a $46.3 million cap hit this season that goes up to $58.3 million next season and way up to $71.1 million in 2028. That type of salary could be crippling for the team if he continues to play at this current level that began last postseason and has not been fixed through three games this season.
Now he will hope to avoid serving up any more fresh meatball subs the rest of the season.
Tom Brady’s ‘Meatball Sub’ Take Sums Up Justin Herbert’s Awful Day