Charger Report

Chargers News: No Love Lost For Brandon Staley After Dallas Defeat

Same story, different week.

Martand Bhagavatula

In this story:

Your Los Angeles Chargers have dropped to a middling 2-3 record and 3rd place in the AFC West after a 20-17 home defeat to the Dallas Cowboys. 

This was a slugfest from the get go, as the stellar Chargers offense was held to just 272 yards from scrimmage.

While the typically poor Bolts defense was quite good, holding Dallas to just 20 points (their second lowest output of the season), the offense failed to step up in the final two minutes of the contest, with Quarterback Justin Herbert throwing a game-losing interception to Stephon Gilmore on a pass intended for Joshua Palmer. 

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This game was a mess at every level when it comes to breaking down why the Chargers lost, as it's easy to blame the situational defense (on 3rd & 19 on the Cowboys' final drive), the offensive line for failing to protect Herbert across the night, or Offensive Coordinator Kellen Moore for putting together a poor offensive gameplan, leading to one of the Chargers' worst offensive outputs in the Justin Herbert era.

But, as per usual, the Chargers' scapegoat is none other than Head Coach Brandon Staley. 

It's easy to blame him for the defensive lapses towards the end of the game, but to be frank, there's a good chance this was one of his better coached games. Holding a Cowboys offense with a terrific offensive line and two great playmakers in CeeDee Lamb and Tony Pollard to just 20 points throughout the night is good output considering how bad the offense peformed. 

Despite that, here's a look at Twitter right now: 

Staley has been on the hot seat for quite some time, tracing back to points throughout the 2022 regular season and into the posteason, as the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to Jacksonville in the Wild Card game and ended their season on a 31-30 loss. 

This game is unlikely to tip the scales, but it's absolutely possible (and probably likely) that a loss later this season does (or at least we hope). 

Don't forget to join our community at LA Sports Report, where we celebrate all things Chargers!

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Martand Bhagavatula
MARTAND BHAGAVATULA

Martand is currently a student at the University of Southern California, and has prior experience in the NIL space, sports financial advisory, and publishing in sports analytics. As a Lakers, Chargers, and Angels fan, he often finds himself disappointed.

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