The Los Angeles Chargers came away with a 30-28 road win over the Cleveland Browns Sunday (despite a swarm of midges), but that wasn’t always assured. In particular, with the Chargers up by two at their own 46 and facing a fourth-and-one with 1:14 left in the game, they chose to go for it. And Justin Herbert’s pass to Mike Williams fell incomplete, creating a turnover on downs and giving the Browns the ball back. That had many questioning that call, including injured Chargers’ receiver Keenan Allen (seen above in a training camp practice in August):
https://twitter.com/keenan13allen/status/1579200031189782531?s=46&t=bt1chXg-ubXA7YZXZp5afQ
Interestingly enough, Allen wasn’t the only one thinking that specific thing. FanSided Chargers‘ blog Bolt Beat tweeted the same thing a minute earlier, minus the question mark:
WTF are we doing
— Bolt Beat (@BB_Chargers) October 9, 2022
It worked out in this case for the Chargers, though. The Browns took over in Los Angeles territory after the incompletion, and picked up one first down on a Jacoby Brissett pass to Amari Cooper that set them up at the Chargers’ 35. But they couldn’t get any further on one additional run (stopped for no gain) and two more passing attempts, both of which fell incomplete. That meant Cade York’s game-winning field goal attempt was from 54 yards out, and he pushed it just right:
Cade York : Missed 2 FG's including the potential game-winning 54-yard FG with 11 seconds left (4/4 on extra points) pic.twitter.com/58YgzqiHHb
— Lee Harvey (@MusikFan4Life) October 9, 2022
After the game, Chargers’ coach Brandon Staley defended his decision to go for it on fourth down:
#BoltUp coach Brandon Staley on his fourth-down decision to pass, not punt, with 1:10 left in 30-28 win at #Browns: “We believe in our process and we believe in our players. We’re willing to live with that decision. There was no way I’m taking our offense off the field.” #NFL pic.twitter.com/KurU00kUd4
— Brian Dulik (@BrianDulik) October 9, 2022
Chargers coach Brandon Staley, on his decision to go for it on fourth down at the end: “I just wanted to finish the game with the ball… but I had a lot of confidence in our defense to go out there and get them stopped" #Browns pic.twitter.com/I9MbkSx5FK
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) October 9, 2022
But there were many other people who agreed with Allen’s criticisms:
Browns K Cade York bailed Brandon Staley out. I still can’t believe that decision.
— Darius Butler (@DariusJButler) October 9, 2022
Brandon Staley seems like a bright guy, so clearly he's too damn stubborn to have learned anything from his coaching blunders last year https://t.co/vvTg8n9TLQ
— Brian Webber (@bwwebber) October 9, 2022
Honestly don’t know if Staley would have survived that.
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) October 9, 2022
As some noted, though, models based on past plays have some support for Staley’s decision to go for it in the hopes of finishing the game, especially with that short of distance to go:
Interesting numbers here on Brandon Staley's decision to go for it late against the Browns. https://t.co/OZUjNmcdLF
— Lindsey Thiry (@LindseyThiry) October 9, 2022
In the end, the decision to go for it didn’t work out for the Chargers, but the end result of the game did. And that seems to be what Allen concluded as well:
So glad he missed that. Cause man man man
— Keenan Allen (@Keenan13Allen) October 9, 2022
Allen has missed four straight games with a hamstring injury, and it’s not clear yet when he’ll return. But it’s still interesting to see a current player blast his head coach’s decision-making this way.
[Photo from Kirby Lee/USA Today Sports]
