After the worst loss in Chargers history to the Patriots in Week 13, coach Anthony Lynn’s seat was burning hot. But since then, the team has won their last three games, giving a reason to believe that Lynn should be retained.
Despite the outcome of the contests, the ongoing game management and play-calling blunders still haven’t been fixed, as seen in Week 16 against the Broncos.
On a drive where Los Angeles, converted on 4th-and-7, Lynn elected to kick a field goal on a fourth-and-goal from Denver’s two-yard line. Instead, Lynn settled on extending the lead from 13-3 to 16-3, rather than going up by three scores.
Another instance happened with a little less than two minutes remaining in the first half. On first down, a draw play was called. Lynn did not use one of his timeouts and let half of a minute run off the clock. Herbert completed back-to-back passes to move the Chargers close to midfield.
On the next play, he was sacked and fumbled for a loss of 20 yards. Lynn decided to let the final 36 seconds run out instead of using a timeout to attempt another play. Rather than regrouping and running another play to try to tally more points on the scoreboard, he was content with going into the locker room 13-0, which eventually was met by the Broncos later in the game.
But wait, there’s more. In the fourth quarter, Lynn punted on a 4th-and-1 from his 40-yard line when the Bolts had the lead, 16-6. After showing that he was bold enough to go for it on 4th-and-7 earlier on, it’s head-scratching to know that he wouldn’t attempt to go for what would have likely been the game-ensuing score in that situation.
Sure, the Chargers have won their last three games. But they have all been too close for comfort, as they have all been by at least three points, rather than being in a situation where it hasn’t had to come down to the final moments.
Even if Los Angeles beats the Chiefs in the season finale, this has happened far too often and many fans find it hard to believe that his poor handling and discipline in critical situations will be resolved beyond this season.