There were a lot of people in the world last night rooting for a tie in the Sunday Night Football game between the Chargers and Raiders. I wasn't one of those people until I realized that one of these teams losing meant we would be subjected to seeing the Pittsburgh Steelers and their terrible offense play in the playoffs. There are some people who would have loved that for a chance to see Big Ben get one last crack at a Super Bowl, even if his chances of winning are miniscule at best. It seemed like everything was lining up perfectly for a tie, but Brandon Staley just couldn't help himself.
So first, let me be clear: I am not calling for Staley to be fired. He's a first year Head Coach, he had a shot to make the playoffs and playing on the road against a Division rival is never easy. At the same time, this guy just can't seem to help himself. If there is a "Going For It Anonymous," Brandon Staley is the leader of the LA chapter.
The man cost his team a game in week 15 by going for it on seemingly every 4th down when the Chargers had the option to kick field goals from pretty reasonable distances. Being a WFT fan, I can understand having trust issues with your kicker Dustin Hopkins, but that doesn't excuse you from passing on literally every chance to you have to put points on the board, especially when I have you +3 and you had a chance to win outright.
Then, last night, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, Staley decides to go for it on 4th and 1 from his own 18. Appropriately, the Chargers didn't get it because they tried to run undersized Austin Ekeler right up the middle like he was Jerome Bettis. Vegas rattles off a few scoring drives after, and it takes a miracle (and disgusting) 2 minute drive for the Chargers to send the game to overtime. After a couple of field goals, the Raiders have the ball with 38 seconds, seemingly content to just run the clock out until Staley let's out the loudest brain fart I've ever heard by calling a timeout.
Conspiracy theory: Brandon Staley called the timeout so people wouldn't spend all night talking about how he went for it on fourth-and-1 from his own 18.
— Mitch Goldich 🐙 (@mitchgoldich) January 10, 2022
Derek Carr admitted that the timeout changed the Raiders mindset to running the clock out to going for the win. As everyone at this point knows, Daniel Carlson has been money in Allegiant Stadium, he hits the game winning field goal, game over. Raiders win. Steelers in the playoffs. Chargers season over.
I wanted Justin Herbert in the playoffs, but instead I got a run-down old version of Big Ben. And for that reason, I hate Brandon Staley and you should too.
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