The Chargers wound up with five defenders (rather than the previous four) on the line of scrimmage, but there was just one inside linebacker, Kyzir White, behind it. Except during the timeout, Staley took inside linebacker Kenneth Murray, who had five tackles in the game, off the field. that substitution so we could get a play that would deepen that field goal.” “We felt they were going to run the ball. “We needed to get in the right grouping,” Staley said. The Chargers coach said the timeout was solely about getting the best personnel on the field to stop an expected Vegas run play. So I think they were probably thinking the same thing.”īut then Staley did call timeout, with 38 seconds left, surprising nearly everyone. We ran the ball and they didn’t call timeout.
“Yeah, it was conversation,” Bisaccia said of the tie.
Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia assumed the thought had crossed the Chargers' mind as well when Staley hadn't stopped the clock earlier in the drive. Specifically, if they were stopped on third down (they had to run at least one play), would they risk a lengthy, 56-yard-plus field goal that might, due to the trajectory, get blocked? Or, would they just take the tie and head to the playoffs? Sure, they’d have to play Kansas City, rather than Cincinnati, but a wild card is a wild card. On the Raiders' sideline, a discussion had occurred about how, if the scenario arose, they might let the clock bleed out and take the tie. Vegas had the ball, third-and-4, on the Chargers' 39-yard line. Yet here they were anyway, tied at 32, in the final minute of overtime, with the clock ticking. Josh Jacobs' runs in overtime helped the Raiders push past the Chargers in overtime. “We had jokingly discussed, ‘Oh, man, what if we only need a tie?’” said Raiders kicker Daniel Carlson.Ī tie in football is so rare (there was just one in 272 games this season) that it’s nearly impossible to arrange without both teams committing to a complete farce. Would the Raiders and Chargers agree to tank the game or suffer through a prisoner’s dilemma and try to win?
If it ended in a tie, both teams would get into the playoffs (and thus leave the Pittsburgh Steelers out).Īll week, the NFL buzzed about this possible situation (which required a huge Jacksonville upset of Indianapolis). It was a classic de facto playoff game except there was a twist. No, not really, but, then again, kind of, maybe.Ĭonfused? Yeah, so were a lot of people at the end of what was about as strange of an NFL game – the final contest of the regular season – as you’ll ever see.īoth L.A. Did Los Angeles Chargers head coach Brandon Staley blow his team’s chance at the playoffs when he called an unexpected timeout with 38 seconds remaining in overtime against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday night?
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