The Los Angeles Chargers’ 2021 season was one of the most disappointing years for the franchise. They showed flashes of greatness, but lacked the consistency to win games regularly. Despite that, the team had a chance to make it to the playoffs in the final week of the regular season.

Up against the Las Vegas Raiders, the Chargers had two ways of sneaking into the playoffs: win, or tie. It seemed like we would get a tie in the final minutes of overtime. However, in a tragic turn of events, Los Angeles gave up two big run plays after a timeout to set up a game-winning field goal. It’s a loss that still haunts head coach Brandon Staley to this day. (via ProFootballTalk)

“My regret,” Staley said, “is that in what should’ve been able to get us (Chargers) out of there with a tie. They ended up splitting us on a 10-yard run and that’s what I’ve been thinking about — our execution on that last play. That’s the tough side of things, having to live with that. I didn’t do a good enough job. That’s the tough side of things. That’s what gotten me moving this whole offseason.”

Live and breathe the NFL?

🚨 Get viral NFL graphics, memes, rumors and trending news delivered right to your inbox with the Clutch Newsletter.

Staley has caught a lot of flak from Chargers fans due to his, well, unorthodox decision-making. The rookie head coach almost always went for it on fourth-down whenever possible. Many said that this dogmatic approach to analytics ended their season.

At the end of the day, though, the Chargers lost because of their terrible run defense (which was a huge problem for them all season long). They are hoping that their new pieces on defense in Khalil Mack and J.C Jackson helps mitigate some of the flaws that doomed them last season.