Brandon Staley Is Holding the Los Angeles Chargers Back
Image via Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports
Los Angeles, California (PSF) - The Los Angeles Chargers plain and simply have to fire Brandon Staley. After another disappointing season which once again fell short of expectations, the decision of whether to fire Brandon Staley or not should be a clear one to General Manager Tom Telesco.
After making the playoffs for the first time since 2019, the pressure was already on Staley to get his first playoff win as a head coach in only his second season on the job.
Going into the playoff game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chargers were 2.5 point road favorites. However, the outcome resulted in the Chargers blowing a 27 point lead, the third largest blown lead in NFL playoff history. On top of this, the Chargers also became the first team to lose a playoff game with a turnover differential of +5 or better.
These results should have been the final straw in Brandon Staley’s tenure as Head Coach of the Chargers. Instead, General Manager Tom Telesco has elected to keep the defensive minded Sean McVay disciple for at least another season in LA.
Image via Ben Liebenberg / Associated Press
Say what you want about Staley, but one thing is for certain. He is not the right man for the job. It is easy for the folks who defend Brandon Staley, if there are still even any Staley defenders out there after the playoff loss to say, “Mike Williams didn’t play which was the reason why we lost the game,” or “Our defense was one of, if not the best unit in the league heading into the playoffs based on according to multiple statistics and metrics.” Whatever it may be, it still all falls on Staley. Most folks are pointing to the fact that star wide receiver Mike Williams was not able to play due to a back fracture as the reason of why the Chargers did not win. However, if it was not for Staley starting Williams in a meaningless Week 18 game vs the Denver Broncos, the issue of whether Williams would be active or not for their playoff game against Jacksonville would not have been an issue in the first place.
In today’s modern and pass happy NFL, the name of the game is offense. For reference, all eight of the remaining Head Coaches in the divisional round of the playoffs are all offensive minded besides Buffalo Bills Head Coach Sean McDermott who has one of the games top quarterbacks in Josh Allen and like Staley, is defensive minded. It also does not help when the Chargers decided to pass on hiring Brian Daboll to be their Head Coach before hiring Staley, who is doing wonders for the Giants and has them in the divisional round.
What may be most frustrating about Staley’s tenure as Los Angeles’s Head Coach so far is how he has not been able to get the most out of his superstar quarterback Justin Herbert. Herbert, who is already one of the best signal callers in the league at only 24 years old, still has not reached the divisional round in his three-year career thus far, which is shocking because of how good he has been. As a result, he has had to settle for his now fired Offensive Coordinator Joe Lombardi, who called plays that limited his arm strength and all the other eye-popping abilities he has as a passer. The Chargers finished behind the Kansas City Chiefs as AFC West division champions for the last three seasons.
Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Instead of firing Staley after one of the worst playoff collapses in NFL history, the Chargers instead decided to fire Lombardi as noted above which was the correct decision. Although, this still does not solve the problem of the Chargers not deciding to unleash Herbert unless they hire the right Offensive Coordinator.
Either way, if the Chargers ever want to return to glory while getting the most out of their young superstar franchise quarterback who is still on his rookie deal, they must fire Brandon Staley or else he will keep holding Herbert, and the franchise back.
