Brandon Staley and the Los Angeles Chargers missed the boat to the playoffs when they lost Sunday night to the Las Vegas Raiders on the road, 35-32.  The Bolts could have made the postseason even without winning the game, which means they only needed at least a tie to extend their season. That improbable scenario looked so close to becoming a reality until the Raiders decided to kick a field goal with only two seconds left in overtime.

But the Raiders probably would not have even called for Daniel Carlson to get on the field and let the clock just run out had Staley did not call for a timeout just before that attempt by Carlson. Las Vegas seemed it was okay with draining the clock after back-to-back rushing plays that got them to the Chargers' 39-yard line, but with Staley's timeout, the Raiders' decision appeared to have been altered.

Well, here's what Staley had to say about the reasoning behind his timeout, per Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times.

“We needed to get in the right grouping,” he said. “We felt like they were going to run the ball. So we wanted to … make that substitution so that we could get a play where we would deepen the field goal.”

Nevertheless, it was a tough loss to swallow for the Chargers. Then again, they wouldn't likely have been in that grueling stomach-churning position had they just fared better down the stretch of the season, as they lost two of their three games prior to Week 18's date with the Raiders.