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

[oldman]

While I wouldn't agree with Staley's decisions last night, I believe it's the AFC (or NFL's) version of "because Chiefs". After seeing that ass-whomping on the hated Raiders last Sunday, he knew it was going to take every possible point to win against our squad.

[Rainbarrel]

Going for it may be his version of the Gruden growl. He just practices in a mirror on skates

[staylor26]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think we were pretty sure about Andy after 13 games.

Yea umm Andy wasn’t a first time HC…

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think we were pretty sure about Andy after 13 games.

After 13 games in Philly?

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by DaFace

I think we were pretty sure about Andy after 13 games.

LOL - you can't be serious with that

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

After 13 games in Philly?

LOL, yeah, Andy was 3-10 after his first 13 games in Philly.

[staylor26]

This guy is a defensive minded HC and the Chargers defense has been ass all year.

He got a HCing job because he coordinated a defense with Donald and Ramsey for a year, and they still weren’t even that great.

I do agree with DJ that he’s probably the Chargers best HC since Marty, but that’s really not saying all that much.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Wallcrawler

Not if he's an all or nothing coach that limits his football team's ability to score points.

Imagine a team being penalized somehow with a rule that says you can not kick field goals for a certain period of time.

It would be outrageous.

But this dude willingly does it to himself. I hope he's their coach forever.

I'll just say the same thing I said in the gamethread.

Had he taken every FG available to him on 4th down (and all of them were good) he'd have scored 15 points. As it stood, he scored 7. So a net loss of 8. That said, one of those 'net losses' was actually a conversion and then his idiot RB tried to extend from the 4 and lost a fumble at the 1. I have a hard time putting that one on him. Another required that Parnham scramble his eggs and lose a football that he had caught.

So even WITH the other two stops included, Staley could've/should've been at 21 points vs. 15.

It didn't work out - shit happens and the other guys get paid to play as well. But the logic behind it was extremely strong, IMO. Those are plays that his guys usually make. Tonight they didn't.

I hope he takes every FG he can if we face them again in the post-season and deep down I think the rest of you guys do as well. The last thing I want is a coach that is treating 3rd down like 2nd down every time he gets on our half of the field. The pressure that puts on the defense is immense and over time they WILL crack. Hell, last night ours DID. We just won the coin toss.

[scho63]

Live by gambling, die by gambling.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by staylor26

This guy is a defensive minded HC and the Chargers defense has been ass all year.

He got a HCing job because he coordinated a defense with Donald and Ramsey for a year, and they still weren’t even that great.

I do agree with DJ that he’s probably the Chargers best HC since Marty, but that’s really not saying all that much.

Don't you be shitting on Norv.

[O.city]

Think of these things this way.


As you were sitting there watching your team play against it, what did you want the Chargers to do? I know I was saying "please kick the ****ing fg and don't go for it".

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by O.city

Think of these things this way.


As you were sitting there watching your team play against it, what did you want the Chargers to do? I know I was saying "please kick the ****ing fg and don't go for it".

I know people keep saying this "you know you were hoping, blah, blah, blah", but no, I was happy as hell that they kept going for it.

Points are hard AF to get in the NFL. When another team willingly rolls the dice in those situations, I'll gladly take the chance for 0 points, when a FG is a damn near sure thing at that distance.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

That seems a bit much for a guy who is 13 games into his HC'ing career, don't you think?

Well I wouldn't bet my house on it, no.

It's a message board - you're getting my best guess. From what I see this guy's a damn intelligent, forward thinking coach who has a great deal of respect from his players. He has a history on the defensive side of the ball but a very 'modern' outlook on offense.

There appears to be a lot of Harbaugh in the guy. Do I think he'll go down as an all-time great, but I think he'll be a very good coach in the same mold as Harbaugh where his teams will be sound, well coached squads who can do a lot of damage with the right QB (or the wrong QB getting white hot in the playoffs for some weird-ass reason...Joe Flacco: "Elite Quarterback"....what a joke).

It's so rare to find a coach with a defensive mindset (there's a sort of tenacity and assertiveness that I don't see as often with offensive minded coaches) who also embrace offensive innovation. And when you do, you've found one hell of a balance.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

I know people keep saying this "you know you were hoping, blah, blah, blah", but no, I was happy as hell that they kept going for it.

Points are hard AF to get in the NFL. When another team willingly rolls the dice in those situations, I'll gladly take the chance for 0 points, when a FG is a damn near sure thing at that distance.

When the game was 14-10 with 2 seconds left in the half and they had a chance to go up two scores, you were REALLY happy they trotted the offense back out there?

Man, I wouldn't have given a single wet fart had they make that a 17-10 game. I'd have considered it a small mercy given the cluster**** of that 2nd half.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

When the game was 14-10 with 2 seconds left in the half and they had a chance to go up two scores, you were REALLY happy they trotted the offense back out there?

Man, I wouldn't have given a single wet fart had they make that a 17-10 game. I'd have considered it a small mercy given the cluster**** of that 2nd half.

Well, actually, it was 14-13, and yes I was happy they trotted them back out. This isn't the 2019 Chiefs O. This is an O that has struggled mightily at times (see: Qtrs 2 and 3 from last night's game). Take the points.

EDIT: You were correct, it was 14-10 at half. Still doesn't change my opinion