Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley has been at the forefront of analytics in the sport. Several of his biggest decisions each week come down to the numbers. And that was also the case in Week 5.
During the Chargers Week 5 win over the Cleveland Browns, Staley and the offense found themselves in a potential game-defining position. Quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense, on their own 46-yard line, faced a fourth and one with just 1:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. At this point, they had just a two-point lead, with the score being 30-28.
Staley elected to keep the Chargers offense on the field. According to ESPN, by converting on fourth down, the team had a winning percentage of 84.1%. If they had punted, it would have gone down to 78.9%.
Unfortunately, the Chargers offense failed to convert. This put the ball back into the Browns hands, with just 46-yards to go. And it nearly cost them the game.
The Browns pushed the ball down the field ten yards. Rookie kicker Cade York had the opportunity to win the game on a 54-yard field goal, but ultimately he missed.
Brandon Staley’s decision to go for it, while not shocking, still caught many people off guard. Chargers wide receiver Keenan Allen took to Twitter to express his shock. In a now-deleted tweet, he stated, “WTF are we doing”. Allen has been out since Week 2 due to a hamstring injury but was still clearly locked into what his team was doing.
On Monday, Staley was asked about Allen’s tweet. His response made it clear that there are no issues between him and his veteran wide receiver.
According to ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry, Staley stated, “Since I've become the head coach we've grown extremely close. We met this morning. Anyone that's been a part of competition knows that when you're not a part of it, you can feel some type of way. Keenan's heart is with me, with us. I'm understanding of where he was in that moment because he's not with his team or in the fire, that's a money down that he's used to being out there… We're going to become closer because of it. We already became closer this morning.”
Staley went on to also break down the decision behind his choice to go for it. He stated, “There's going to be some decision that some majority are going to disagree with. You just have to have conviction in what you believe in and also be transparent with your process, not feel defensive or insecure about it.”
Since taking over as the Chargers head coach, Staley has gone for it on fourth down early and often. The offense has gone for it 45 times over the past two seasons. This is the most in the NFL.
Chargers running back Austin Ekeler also acknowledged the decision made by his head coach. Ekeler said, “This is no surprise. I mean, it's still Brandon Staley that we're talking about here and we saw everything last year that we were doing and so it showed up in this moment where he believed in us. He said we're having some pretty good success and he gave us an opportunity to go get one yard and we came up short.”
The decision made by Staley could have ended up leading the Chargers to a loss. But ultimately, it did not. If it had led to a loss, this could have led to an even bigger conversation. But luckily for this unit, everything worked out.
Follow Us
Subscribe