Chargers lose it all in Vegas; Brandon Staley could be next

Raiders tight end Michael Mayer holds up the ball after his touchdown catch against the Chargers.

Staff Writer

Dec. 14, 2023 8:36 PM PT

LAS VEGAS — The defeat was so profound Thursday night that Brandon Staley had to face the toughest questions immediately in its ugly, embarrassing, one-sided wake.

Does he expect to still be the Chargers’ head coach Friday morning?

“I don’t know that.”

Should he be?

“Yes.”

Why?

“I know what I’ve done here for three years,” Staley explained. “I know what I put into this. … I know the type of coach that I am. I believe in myself. But … this isn’t about me. This is about a group that’s hurting in there.”

Hurting — mentally, physically and in totality.

Chargers quarterback Easton Stick is tackled.

To be sure, the Chargers were smarting after losing to Las Vegas 63-21, the point total the most surrendered in a game in franchise history.

The defeat dropped them to 5-9 and assured the organization of its first losing season since 2020, the final year of Anthony Lynn’s tenure as head coach.

Staley replaced Lynn and now finds himself likely nearing the end of his run in the same position.

He is 24-24 in the regular season — and 0-1 in the playoffs — after his first two teams finished 9-8 and 10-7.

Staley’s firing felt all but inevitable by the end of this outrageous night, the Raiders running trick plays — and scoring on one of them — in the second half to ratchet up the absurdity.

“We just didn’t have it from the beginning to the end,” Staley said. “Just one of those games where nothing went right for us. … All three phases, the worst thing happened to us tonight.”

Both Staley and general manager Tom Telesco, whose teams have won two postseason games in 11 years, are facing uncertain futures with three games remaining in the 2023 season.

The Chargers left Allegiant Stadium looking like an outfit in need of significant top-to-bottom changes.

The possibility of Staley being dismissed before the end of the season was considered unlikely before his team produced this showing in a stand-alone national television window against its most bitter rival.

“Games like this happen in the NFL to every coach that’s ever coached in this league,” Staley said. “You can look at any great coach that’s ever coached in the league ... sometimes games like this happen.

“I don’t need to retrace history, but it’s part of sports. Sometimes there are games where it doesn’t go right — none of it — and you gotta put it behind you and you gotta move on to the next thing.”

Only games such as this don’t actually happen to every coach, Staley eventually conceding, “Tonight was not a normal occurrence.”

The Chargers trailed 21-0 after one quarter and 42-0 at halftime. The difference reached 49-0 early in the third quarter before Staley’s team awakened enough to avoid becoming an all-time NFL punchline.

“This is embarrassing,” edge rusher Khalil Mack said. “This is probably one of the nastiest, ugliest losses of my career.”

Later, the veteran added, “We didn’t do enough to even attempt to try to win this game.”

Las Vegas was coming off being shut out at home by Minnesota and had topped 21 points in a game only once all season. The 63 points marked a Raiders franchise record.

“I don’t think we’ll be able to process it,” Mack said. “It got ugly fast, man. We didn’t do enough at all.”

Eight Raiders scored touchdowns and one of them — Tre Tucker — did it twice. Three of them — Tucker, Zamir White and John Jenkins — never had scored touchdowns before Thursday.

Offensively, Las Vegas produced seven touchdowns in a nine-possession span. Four of those scores came on short fields as the Raiders took advantage of five Chargers turnovers.

“We came in here expecting to win,” left tackle Rashawn Slater said. “I came in here expecting to win. We just got our ass kicked.”

The Chargers played without starting quarterback Justin Herbert and star wide receiver Keenan Allen. Herbert is out for the rest of the season because of a fractured right index finger and Allen missed the game because of a heel injury.

Raiders defensive tackle John Jenkins runs for a touchdown while a teammate is nearby.

Easton Stick replaced Herbert and finished 23 of 32 for 257 yards and three touchdowns. He lost two fumbles, however, and had a pass intercepted that was run back for a touchdown. One of Stick’s fumbles also resulted in a touchdown return.

The 42-0 halftime deficit was another Chargers franchise record. Even worse, no team in NFL history had scored as many as 42 points in the first half after being shut out the previous game.

Worse still, Staley was forced to consent to an interview with Amazon Prime before retreating to the locker room after two quarters. He said his team wasn’t ready to play, as if that wasn’t already obvious to everyone watching.

Afterward, Staley was asked what he could have done better to ensure his team was set to go.

“Everything,” he said. “I didn’t do anything well enough to get us ready to play tonight.”

Whether Staley gets another chance in nine days, when the Chargers face Buffalo at SoFi Stadium, likely will be determined during the next 24 hours.