Known for consistently going for it on fourth down, Brandon Staley has established himself as someone who isn’t afraid to gamble.
The Chargers entered the game 13-of-21 on fourth downs this season, marking the fourth-highest conversion rate in the league.
However, rolling the dice did not necessarily go in Staley’s favor in the loss to the Chiefs on Thursday night.
“I felt really comfortable with all those decisions,” Staley said. “That’s the way we’re going to play around here. That’s the way we’re going to play.
When we have a quarterback like ours, and we have an offense like ours, that’s the way we’re going to play because that’s how you need to play against Kansas City, for sure. That’s how we’re going to become the team that we’re ultimately capable of being, by playing that way.”
In five attempts on fourth down, the Bolts successfully converted just two. Of the three failed attempts, two came inside the Chiefs’ five-yard, and the other was still within field goal range.
The first came on the opening drive on 4th-and-5 from Kansas City’s five-yard line when Donald Parham injured himself while attempting to come down with a catch in the back of the end zone, which would’ve given the Chargers a very early lead.
The next came four drives later on fourth down from the Chiefs’ one-yard line. Looking to go to Keenan Allen on a quick out, Justin Herbert’s pass was tipped by Daniel Sorensen as time ran out before the half, which would’ve put the Chargers up 21-10.
The last unsuccessful conversion came in the third quarter at Kansas City’s 28-yard line when Herbert and Jared Cook couldn’t connect on a 4th-and-2 pass, which would’ve extended the lead to 17-13 had they gone with a field goal.
Cook was also responsible for a dropped pass on a likely touchdown on the drive before the half.
The argument will be made that Staley should’ve just taken the points after the first two failures. Still, regardless, that’s not his philosophy, and he will choose to trust his Herbert-led offense, roll with the analytics, and be aggressive almost every time.
Remember, the last time the two teams met in Week 3, the Bolts scored 14 points off drives where they decided to go for it on fourth down. They ended up winning by six points.
Despite the offense not converting them, Staley does not regret his decisions, and he will continue to stick to his guns moving forward.
“We felt like it was an advantage situation for us,” Staley explained. “That’s why we did it. If we didn’t feel like that was the case, then we would have kicked a field goal or we would have punted.
That’s the way that we’re going to do things around here. I know that our team embraces that mindset. We’re going to continue to do it every game we play moving forward.”