Brandon Staley Gives Bizarre Explanation for Fourth Down Decisions

The Los Angeles Chargers came up short against the rival Kansas City Chiefs in the Week 2 Thursday Night Football matchup, losing 27-24. While the final score was close, Chargers fans feel like their team could have won things had head coach Brandon Staley been more aggressive on fourth downs.

When asked about why his team punted it twice on fourth-and-2 in the Chiefs' territory, Staley's explanation can only be described as bizarre. The Chargers bench boss simply said that he "wanted to give our defense a chance to compete."

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Even though the Chargers' defense is solid, not going for it on fourth-and-2 when you're on the opponent's side and Justin Herbert is your quarterback is inexcusable. Staley further added that he thought that his defense could've pinned the Chiefs back in their own zone.

"I just felt like, with who is over there and the way our defense is playing, I felt like the field position would be a big edge for our defense to be able to put them back there."

- Brandon Staley

During the 2021 season, the Chargers were one of the more aggressive teams on fourth down. They attempted 34 fourth-down conversions (No. 4), succeeding on a league-high 22 of those attempts.

While the Chargers were 4-of-4 on fourth-down attempts on Thursday, Staley's decision to punt twice ended up being the difference-maker. They were getting close to field-goal range and considering how they only lost by three points, one more made kick from Dustin Hopkins could've changed the outcome of the game.

Nevertheless, Staley is one of the better head coaches in the league. Hopefully, he learns from his mistakes and plays to his team's strengths next week. The Chargers have a great opportunity to turn things around in Week 3 when they host the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Sept. 25.

Devon Platana is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Devon Platana also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username PepeSilvia0. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.