NFL open thread: Chargered Edition

Congrats to the Jaguars on a historic comeback, and kudos to game MVPs Brandon Staley and Joe Lombardi:

Well, it started late in the first half. The Chargers led 27-0 when they got the ball back at their own 18-yard line with 3:11 left in the second quarter. Quarterback Justin Herbert’s first-down pass was batted at the line. On second down, Herbert responded with a completion to receiver Keenan Allen, who made a diving catch on a well-placed throw. That brought up a third-and-1.

Herbert said after the game that offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi called an interior run with a “kill” built in for this third down. The kill, or audible, was a jet sweep end around. All week, the Chargers had been practicing that jet sweep play with receiver DeAndre Carter as the handoff man, according to Herbert. Carter was already filling in for Mike Williams, who suffered a back fracture in the Chargers’ meaningless Week 18 loss at the Broncos. At this stage of the second quarter, though, Carter was out of the game with an ankle injury, so Michael Bandy, a former undrafted free agent who started the season on the practice squad, was in at Carter’s spot.

Herbert got to the line and saw a Jaguars front aligned to stop an interior run. Based on this look, Herbert killed the initial play, checking to the jet sweep. Herbert took the snap and turned to hand off to Bandy, who was running in motion from right to left. Bandy was not even looking for a handoff. He was not aware of the kill, Herbert said. They fumbled the exchange. Bandy recovered, but the Chargers were forced to punt. And Trevor Lawrence engineered a 53-yard touchdown drive on the ensuing possession to put the Jaguars on the scoreboard heading into the break.

But this was not Herbert’s fault.

The jet sweep handoff call from Lombardi was an asinine decision in the first place, even if Carter had been in the game. The Chargers have run four jet sweeps to Carter this season. He has gained a combined -21 yards — note the negative sign in front of that number — on those four touches.

Beyond that, Bandy playing meaningful snaps in a playoff game is an indictment of this entire organization. Bandy earned his practice squad spot with a fine training camp. And my intention is not to pile on a hard-working player who has made some meaningful contributions this season. But a team trying to win a Super Bowl has to do better. Williams would have been on the field if Staley had just rested his starters in Week 18. And general manager Tom Telesco should have added more receiving talent this past offseason. Perhaps a speed threat who, you know, could thrive in that type of lateral rushing concept.

This was the pivot point in the game. And it unraveled in the second half. The Chargers had a 20-point lead and should have been able to run the clock out offensively. They mustered just 7 rushing yards on seven designed carries over the final two quarters. That is not a typo. Seven.

In addition, the Chargers did not fully take advantage of the short fields created by 5 first half turnovers because Staley — having gotten criticism for some analytically correct decisions that didn’t work out — decided to turtle and settle for FGs on 4th-and-short while his opponent played the odds correctly and pulled off a huge comeback. The Chargers responded by liquidating most of the coaching staff and keeping Staley — Lombardi certainly deserved to go, but I’m pretty dubious about Staley going forward.

Today, I (3-3) will take the Chiefs (-9.5) and the Giants (+8). Rob (0-6) is the same, so this seems like poor judgement on my part. Erik (2-1) has the Jags and Giants.