The Los Angeles Chargers suffered a devastating blow in the Thursday Night Football game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders who entered Week 15 with three back-to-back losses pulled off an 63-21 win against the Chargers. Right after the game, many NFL pundits including Stephen A. Smith stressed the fact that the Chargers needed to fire their head coach Brandon Staley.
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Stephen’s prediction turned out to be true as the Los Angeles Chargers fired coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco on Friday morning after the team allowed the most points in a game in the franchise’s history. The Chargers who made the playoffs in the last season are struggling with a 5-9 record and have lost five of their last six games.
On Friday morning, Smith talked about the Chargers’ coaching situation following their Thursday night’s loss. Smith, pointing to his watch, stated that it was currently 7:16 West Coast time, and he would be disappointed if the Chargers’ head coach still held his job by 9:30. He strongly advocated for Staley’s immediate firing, and a few hours later, it actually happened.
Following the news about the Chargers’ head coach, NFL fans flooded the clip of ESPN’s comments section, suggesting that Smith predicted the future.
In the clip uploaded by ESPN, Smith backs his statement by recalling the last season’s Wild Card Round game where the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Chargers, 31-30. He expressed his disappointment as in that game the Chargers blew a 27-point lead in the second half which ended their 2022 season.
He pointed out that the playoff game itself reflected poorly on the coach’s leadership quality. Smith thinks Staley lacks the essential qualities to lead an NFL team and suggested an immediate removal from his position.
Pat McAfee on What Went Wrong
On the “Pat McAfee Show,” Pat talked about Brandon Staley’s recent press conference. Staley, the head coach of the Chargers, talked about the team’s close losses and how they face tough opponents. The Charger HC had in the last game said that they are not getting blown out in games despite the close losses, indicating that they’ve been competitive against strong teams in the league.
McAfee stated that when the coach talked about the team’s close losses, the players might have thought it was okay to not win those crucial games. Pat felt the Chargers didn’t show enough fighting spirit on the field. McAfee also mentioned Chargers backup QB Easton Stick and thought maybe he could have stepped up and led the team, but that didn’t happen. Overall, Pat thinks there might be a need for a change in the team’s approach, especially after how they’ve been playing.
