PITTSBURGH -- As kicker Chris Boswell's leg evened the Pittsburgh Steelers with the Los Angeles Chargers midway through the third quarter Sunday, quarterback Justin Herbert prepared to respond with a scoring drive of his own. It took only two plays for Steelers linebacker Nick Herbig to derail those plans.
Playing in place of starter Alex Highsmith, who was ruled out for the second half with a groin injury and is likely to miss several weeks, Herbig made quick work of Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater, speed rushing around him to bring down Herbert. In the midst of his throwing motion at the time of contact, Herbert fumbled. And though Slater recovered the loose football, the Chargers lost 5 yards and failed to convert the ensuing third-and-long.
That was just the start of the Steelers' stifling second-half defense in a 20-10 win -- and just a glimpse of what Herbig brings to a unit already chock-full of playmakers.
"Herbig's a great player," safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said. "If he was anywhere else, he'd probably be starting and playing at a high level, but obviously he has two great All-Pro Pass rushers in front of him. He does a great job when he comes in, plays at a high level, and Alex got hurt, next man up, and he went out there and did what he did."
Playing 19 snaps, Herbig finished with two sacks and four quarterback pressures in eight blitzes. With Highsmith sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Steelers will continue to turn to the second-year edge rusher for big plays in a stretch that includes elusive and big-armed Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson and veteran Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
"He's hardworking and humble and I really think that tees up performance for him," coach Mike Tomlin said. "But he also has ridiculous belief in self and that's attractive to coaches, that's attractive to older players. He is not a guy that's ever scared."
Somewhat undersized for the position at 6-foot-2, 240 pounds, Herbig's confidence carried him from high school football in Hawaii to college football at Wisconsin, where he led the country with a sack per game in 2022, to being selected by the Steelers in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL draft. But others believed in him along the way, too, starting with older brother Nate.
An offensive lineman playing for the Eagles at the time, Nate was plenty familiar with NFL pass rushers, and he could tell his brother had the goods when he visited home during Nick's senior year in high school.
"He would just be doing some things that just weren't normal for players at his age," Nate said. "I've gone against some of the best players in the world personally, and his skillset I just thought was on a different level. I don't know if I was being biased, but then the more I worked with him, I just realized that he's just really, really good at football."
It didn't take long for Broderick Jones to have that realization, too. Selected by the Steelers three rounds before they picked Herbig, the offensive tackle was paired with Herbig beginning in rookie minicamp.
"I'm not going to lie, when we first got here, Nick was working me," Jones said shaking his head, "because honestly, I've never seen nobody like him, so fast off the ball and stuff. It was different, but it's something that I had to get used to."
Jones learned to adapt to Herbig's speed, but opposing tackles facing Herbig aren't so lucky. Herbig led the Steelers with a get-off speed of .73 seconds against the Chargers, and on the season, his average get-off speed is 0.77, significantly faster than the league average of 0.96. Though he has just two sacks this season, Herbig topped the league with three preseason sacks for minus-27 yards.
In Jones' experience, Herbig's speed coupled with his size makes blocking him an impossible assignment.
"He's not a big target, so once he dips and rips and gets around the edge, it is kind of hard to get your hands on him," Jones said. "And he's so quick, and everybody thinks he's so small, but he's really strong."
After arriving in Pittsburgh, Herbig endeared himself to former defensive player of the year T.J. Watt. Big brother Nate said Nick has the same type of Watt-like work ethic, and though Nick is brimming with self-belief, it doesn't keep him from taking advantage of all-world resources such as Watt.
"That kid has supreme confidence in himself," Watt said after the game, chuckling. "You can't tell him anything, and I respect the heck out of it, and he's going to do everything that he possibly can to perform. He's going to ask every question, he's going to turn over every stone and just bust his tail. And I respect the heck out of Nick, and I'm glad that he had the day that he did today."
A quarter after sacking Herbert, Herbig reached into his bag of tricks again. This time, he shoved Trey Pipkins III, playing in place of an injured Slater, aside to sack quarterback Taylor Heinicke for a loss of 10 yards. It was the Chargers' first play after the Steelers took a 20-10 lead on Calvin Austin III's 55-yard touchdown.
"He's somebody that'll turn the corner very fast on you, and he's not like a guy that's going to power you to death, but then just when you think that, he will power you," Steelers offensive lineman Spencer Anderson said. "He'll power you in the sense that he'll have your feet together or because you're thinking he's going to beat up the field so fast. He has a great array of moves.
"I saw that tackle go down, and I saw he had another guy out there, Pipkins at left tackle. As Coach T would say, I think Herbig smelled blood in the water."