Your assessment of Brandon Staley

[Deberg_1990]

Says he’s sticking with his 4th down approach……..good for him.



Chargers coach Brandon Staley isn't changing his ways: He says he will continue to go for it on fourth down, even after three out of Los Angeles' five attempts Thursday night failed in a 34-28 overtime defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs.

"I felt really comfortable with all those decisions," Staley said after the loss, which dropped the Chargers two games behind the Chiefs in the AFC West standings with three to play. "That's the way we're going to play around here. That's the way we're going to play. When we have a quarterback like ours, and we have an offense like ours, that's the way we're going to play because that's how you need to play against Kansas City, for sure. That's how we're going to become the team that we're ultimately capable of being, by playing that way."

The Chargers entered the game 13 for 21 on fourth downs this season, giving them the fourth-most conversions in the league. Their conversion percentage (61.9) was tied for eighth best in the NFL.

Two of Los Angeles' failed attempts to convert came inside the Kansas City 5, and another was on the edge of field goal range. The Chargers became the first team to fail twice on fourth-and-goal in a first half since the 1984 Chargers did the same -- also against the Chiefs -- 37 years ago to the day (Dec. 16, 1984).

Quarterback Justin Herbert said he stands by his coach and his decisions on fourth down.

"It's always tough and you'd love to be able to convert those," Herbert said. "I think we need to be better on third downs so that we're not in those situations, but we believe in each other. We believe in the guys in that locker room and that huddle, and we believe in the defense. I think that's a statement of trusting everyone on the field and off the field, as well. We love to be put in those situations. Unfortunately, we didn't convert as many as we would've liked to have today, but we're going to ride with each other and we're going to be right back."

With Patrick Mahomes and Tyreek Hill on the other sideline, Staley and his coaching staff realized no lead would be safe until the clock ran out. That's why they never stopped trying to score in all situations: Only the very last of the Chargers' 10 drives ended in a punt.

"It's life in the NFL, in decision-making like that. ... I know that the quickest way to win a game like that is to score touchdowns, not field goals, especially considering who's on the other side," Staley said. "When you don't feel like it's a gamble, when you feel like this is an advantage for you, then that's going to be our mindset. And I don't think that any decision that we made tonight, that I made tonight, was a gamble. We felt like it was an advantage situation for us, and that's why we did it.''

Herbert and his teammates came agonizingly close to proving Staley correct.

Donald Parham seriously injured himself while coming down just out of bounds with a catch in the back of the end zone on the Chargers' failed fourth down from the Kansas City 5 on the game's opening drive.

Four drives later on the final snap of the first half, Herbert was in the shotgun on fourth down from the Kansas City 1 -- but Daniel Sorensen got his hand on a quick out to Keenan Allen, wiping out a potential TD pass and leaving the Chargers' halftime lead at only 14-10 despite 208 yards of offense on five solid drives.

The Chargers' only drive of the third quarter ended at the Kansas City 28 when Herbert and Jared Cook couldn't connect on a fourth-and-2 pass. Cook also dropped a probable touchdown pass on second down during that final drive before halftime.

After Thursday's game, the Chargers have now gone for it on fourth down 29.9% of the time this season. That's the highest rate for any team since the 2007 Jacksonville Jaguars (30.0%).

"We felt like it was an advantage situation for us," Staley explained. "That's why we did it. If we didn't feel like that was the case, then we would have kicked a field goal or we would have punted. That's the way that we're going to do things around here. I know that our team embraces that mindset. We're going to continue to do it every game we play moving forward."

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...way-going-play

"The quickest way to win a game like that is to score touchdowns not field goals, especially considering who's on the other side."

Chargers coach Brandon Staley on being aggressive on 4th down against the Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/4mskizFo2J

— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) December 17, 2021

[Deberg_1990]

Bolts were 8-5 before they lost to the Chiefs in week 15. The Texans loss after that truly killed them. But true contenders don’t lose to bottom feeders in December.

[Rainbarrel]

He wasted a year of Herbert's rookie contract. That's grounds for dismissal

[Al Bundy]

If I'm the Chargers I am contacting Flores to see what is going on there, oh and firing Staley.

[ThaVirus]

The 4th down call from their own 18 was inexcusable. And I generally like the aggression when Herbert's your QB.

It seems like the guy is alł analytics. Sometimes common sense should overrule.

It's interesting though: the Chargers just went from probably the most old school, conservative coach in the league in Lynn to now the most brash analytics guy in the league in Staley. Narrowly missed the playoffs both seasons.

Let's hope they keep ****ing it up, because a happy medium this year probably nets them an 11-6/12-5ish record.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

The 4th down call from their own 18 was inexcusable. And I generally like the aggression when Herbert's your QB.

It seems like the guy is alł analytics. Sometimes common sense should overrule.

It's interesting though: the Chargers just went from probably the most old school, conservative coach in the league in Lynn to now the most brash analytics guy in the league in Staley. Narrowly missed the playoffs both seasons.

Let's hope they keep ****ing it up, because a happy medium this year probably nets them an 11-6/12-5ish record.

Yea. He seems like a guy who thinks he’s smarter than the game.

Everything should be situational and alway depends on flow of the game, etc. these are real players with real emotions, not numbers. Football is completely different than baseball.

[Reerun_KC]

Had the playoffs in his hand. Raiders we’re gonna run the clock out.

He screwed his team.

[Andoverer]

The guy's a fantastic sideline pacer. Gotta give credit where credit is due

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by suzzer99

I don't. He's a smart coach with a great QB.

That decision might have been marginal because it was really 1.3 yards and they didn't seem to have a good play. But it's still not as big of a mistake as some are making out.

Based on ****ing what exactly?

The guy is a defensive minded coach and his defense ****ing sucks.

He got a HC job because he was the coordinator for a defense with Donald and Ramsey. He hasn’t proven that he’s a “smart coach” by any means.

[tatorhog]

Originally Posted by Reerun_KC

Had the playoffs in his hand. Raiders we’re gonna run the clock out.

He screwed his team.

Yeah, that timeout...that just looked like not knowing what was going on at that moment in the game.

[Wisconsin_Chief]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Football is completely different than baseball.

It amazes me that people can't see this. Analytics in football can be used beneficially to an extent, but to try and use them for situational calls is not a wise approach.

Baseball is literally 54 different 1 on 1 matchups throughout the course of the game. Football is 11 vs 11 every single play, and there's no way a computer is going to predict what 22 individual players are going to do in a single snap. Way too many variables.

Anyone who is trying to use analytics in football the same way they are in baseball is going to fail massively.

[tredadda]

Smart coaches don't go for it on 4th down early on their own 18. Smart coaches don't call a timeout which motivates their opponent who was looking to play for a tie which would have gotten both teams in the playoffs. He has cost his team games this year because he thinks he is smarter than he is and it usually backfires.

[Bearcat]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

The 4th down call from their own 18 was inexcusable. And I generally like the aggression when Herbert's your QB.

It seems like the guy is alł analytics. Sometimes common sense should overrule.

It's interesting though: the Chargers just went from probably the most old school, conservative coach in the league in Lynn to now the most brash analytics guy in the league in Staley. Narrowly missed the playoffs both seasons.

Let's hope they keep ****ing it up, because a happy medium this year probably nets them an 11-6/12-5ish record.

Yeah, their aggressive play calling and the high reward that could come of it is what would make me nervous in a playoff game... make a few 4th downs or being unlike most coaches and actually throwing beyond the sticks on a 3rd and 15, and you get what we had here last night.

[crayzkirk]

I didn't have a problem with the 4th down call. They had two downs to get 1.5 yards and punting would have given the Raiders the ball about 40 yards from the spot. It would have taken more time off of the clock. What I didn't like was that he didn't put the ball into the hands of his best playmaker.

I like the play and wish Reid would do this more often. You either believe in your offense to be able to get a yard or you don't. You either believe that your defense can hold them or you don't.

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

I didn't have a problem with the 4th down call. They had two downs to get 1.5 yards and punting would have given the Raiders the ball about 40 yards from the spot. It would have taken more time off of the clock. What I didn't like was that he didn't put the ball into the hands of his best playmaker.

I like the play and wish Reid would do this more often. You either believe in your offense to be able to get a yard or you don't. You either believe that your defense can hold them or you don't.

[loochy]

Originally Posted by crayzkirk

I didn't have a problem with the 4th down call. They had two downs to get 1.5 yards and punting would have given the Raiders the ball about 40 yards from the spot. It would have taken more time off of the clock. What I didn't like was that he didn't put the ball into the hands of his best playmaker.

I like the play and wish Reid would do this more often. You either believe in your offense to be able to get a yard or you don't. You either believe that your defense can hold them or you don't.

Well they've repeatedly failed on big 4th down conversions....