Brandon Staley’s disastrous decisions against Broncos just cost his team

The Chargers had nothing to play for in Week 18 against the Broncos.

That didn’t stop their head coach Brandon Staley from making some really questionable decisions.

Locked into the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs before kickoff in Denver, Staley played his starters deep into the second half of a completely meaningless game. Rather than focus on beating the Jaguars six days later, by most importantly staying healthy, Staley rolled the dice.

It backfired in a massive way, and the Chargers still lost 31-28 to the Broncos. On Friday morning, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Lindsey Thiry broke the news that not only will star WR Mike Williams miss the Jacksonville game, his season is probably over. Williams hurt his back early in Denver, again with no reason to be on the field.

Chargers’ WR Mike Williams suffered a fracture in his back last Sunday that is expected to sideline him the next two to three weeks, meaning that, barring an LA Super-Bowl run, his season is over, per @LindseyThiry.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 13, 2023

Williams was carted off at Empower Field at Mile High, so clearly it was something serious. He didn’t practice this entire week before being listed as “questionable” on the final injury report released on Thursday. The Chargers realized he wasn’t going to be able to play, and ruled him out Friday morning.

And Williams wasn’t the only key player to get hurt. Star edge-rusher Joey Bosa tweaked something, and also had to leave the game. Los Angeles is listing him with a groin injury, but he practiced and will play against the Jaguars. Still, Staley was playing with fire, and it’s unclear as to why.

Again, his postseason position was completely locked in. Did Staley really want to beat Broncos interim head coach Jerry Rosburg that badly? He made a comment to the CBS broadcast crew that reps for his guys mattered, but did they matter enough to lose Williams? And with the Chargers playing just six days later, rest would’ve been valuable, right?

There are a lot of questions Staley needs to answer. And you can bet he’ll be asked them after the game on Saturday night. Frankly, Staley better win, or his puzzling decisions in Denver might cost him his job.

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