initially ruled a fumble that led to a Titans touchdown, but it was later overturned by video replay and ruled an incomplete pass.
Herbert also rushed for 32 yards on nine carries, weaving his way through traffic on his touchdown run and on several other runs, too.
“Man, Justin was doing some (expletive) I’ve never seen,” Mack said. “He pumped (and faked out) the DB. I didn’t know he had that in the arsenal. I know Justin is looking at all the film. Special player. You see him laying his body on the line today. It speaks volumes when you have a leader like that.”
Again, the Chargers’ victory was far from one-dimensional.
The Chargers sacked Levis seven times, including two each by Tuli Tuipulotu and Bud Dupree. Joey Bosa also had a sack, the 70th of his career, moving him into second place on the team’s’ all-time list. Bosa has been slowed by hand and hip injuries since the start of training camp back in late July.
Mack played only a handful of snaps because of a groin injury.
“I think that shows the unity we have, the kind of team defense we have,” said Chargers linebacker Daiyan Henley, who had a team-leading 13 tackles. “It’s not solely reliant on one person. It shows K-Mack is such a guy, who he is, a future Hall of Famer, we know we have to pick up the slack if he’s missing.”
Herbert rallied the Chargers into the lead, 13-7, with a 4-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 play from the 4 with 1:55 left in the half, his first rushing touchdown of the season. Cameron Dicker kicked field goals of 21 and 37 yards in the first half and was successful on the extra point after Herbert’s run.
Tennessee scored on its first possession, the first time a Chargers opponent had scored on its first drive. Levis threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Calvin Ridley, who got a step on Chargers’ defensive back Ja’Sir Taylor and sprinted the final steps into the end zone for a 7-3 lead with 4:25 left in the first quarter.
Levis also connected with Ridley on a 15-yard touchdown pass late in the game.
Herbert threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Johnston for a 20-10 lead with 3;24 left in the third quarter, after Nick Folk capped the Titans’ first drive of the second half with a 27-yard field goal. Derius Davis set up Herbert’s TD pass with a 56-yard kickoff return to the Titans’ 43-yard line.
“He’s incredible,” Coach Jim Harbaugh said of Herbert, who became the fifth quarterback in NFL history to pass for more than 19,000 yards in the first five seasons of his career. “You run out of adjectives. Guardian of victory for our football team. In awe, really, most of the time.”