Los Angeles Chargers coach Brandon Staley made one of the strangers calls of his head-coaching tenure with a four-point lead over Minnesota and 1:51 remaining in the contest, dialing up a fourth-and-1 run by Joshua Kelley from L.A.'s 24-yard line.
The play-call failed. Fortunately for Staley, the Chargers defense did not. The unit held strong for seven plays to absolve its head coach of blame for a loss and deliver the Bolts' first win of the season.
"It was fourth down and less than a yard," Staley said via Bobby Kownack of NFL.com. "They had no timeouts. And I believe in our offense. I believe in our offensive line, our tight ends, our quarterback. I felt like we had a good play for what they would be in, and it didn't go down. We were protecting four points, not three.
"If it was a three-point play it would have been a different decision. I felt like our defense could play the way it did down the stretch. Again, I've got full confidence in our group. It's your job as a head coach to make sure your team knows you have belief in them. We came here to win. It was a tough road game against a team that made the playoffs, so we were trying to go win the game. I make no apologies for that."
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