The Los Angeles Chargers notched a 30-28 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon.
While winning usual absolves coaches of any hot-seat talk, today’s Week 5 victory didn’t do many favors for Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.
The 39-year-old head coach, who’s notorious for taking big-time risks, made another gutsy (or stupid) play call late in this afternoon’s game. Up three points, Staley elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 from his team’s own 45-yard line. The attempt failed, giving the Browns some excellent field position.
While the Chargers ultimately held on to win the game, fans and analysts are still puzzled by this decision. CBS Sports analyst Amy Trask had a particularly strong take on the matter.
“I know the @chargers won – but if I worked for the team you would have to restrain me from firing the head coach before we boarded the plane – up by less than 3 points and you go for that on 4th down – coaching malpractice – my brain would have done this – idiotic,” Trask wrote on Twitter.
The Chargers are 3-2 to start Staley’s second season as a head coach in the NFL.