Originally posted by Lefty2SLO
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Coach Staley Discussion - Fired
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Defensive players not letting Staley get away with being dishonest about the approach in the first half.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — At the NFL combine in 2022, Brandon Staley was answering a question about the value of playing with two deep safeties when he offered an interesting personal insight on zone coverages.
“If you guys have seen anything the last five years with these quarterbacks, it’s if there’s a bunch of air in the coverage, they’re going to find it,” Staley said then. “You put a bunch of air in the coverage, you’ll wake up and they’ll have 80 percent, 85 percent completion for like 300, 400 (yards). And with their mobility, playing zone is the worst thing to play because you’re not connected, and then they’re going to find it.”
How prescient.
In the first half of Sunday’s 31-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Los Angeles Chargers played predominantly zone against one of the best zone-beating tandems in NFL history, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce. And Staley’s defense put enough air in those coverages to fill up every balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Wake up: Mahomes finished with 424 yards passing on 76 percent completion.
He is the second quarterback this season to throw for more than 400 yards on Staley’s defense. Tua Tagovailoa threw for 466 yards in the Miami Dolphins’ Week 1 win over the Chargers.
The Chargers adjusted in the second half and started playing more man coverage on Kelce, in particular allowing safety Derwin James Jr. to press Kelce at the line of scrimmage. On many of those plays, they double-covered Kelce, with James underneath and safety Dean Marlowe over the top. The defense played much better in the second half as a result, holding the Chiefs to seven points. Mahomes threw for only 103 yards in the second half, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt. Kelce had three catches for 36 yards in the final two quarters after catching all nine of his targets for 143 yards in the first half.
Kelce made a mockery of the Chargers’ zone coverages in the first two quarters, finding open space after open space.
Playing more man worked. Why not play that way the whole game?
When asked that exact question in a postgame news conference, Staley said, “We played plenty of man in the first half, too.”
He added: ”I feel like no matter what scheme we were in in the first half from a coverage standpoint — man, pattern match, zone — (Mahomes) was able to create plays post-snap outside the pocket.”
Staley’s players told a different story in the locker room.
“We played zone,” cornerback Michael Davis said of the first-half game plan. “(Kelce) just goes to the spot and turns around. It has nothing to do with Travis. It’s us. We got to get on their ass. When you come down and you play the Chiefs, you got to come out and play man and get on their ass.”
“We played a little bit too much zone in the first half,” James said. “He was just getting behind our linebackers. He was getting open. In the second half, we switched it up.”
“There’s certain times we do have to play zone and live with that,” said cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor, who mentioned needing to play zone behind certain blitzes and when the Chiefs went into empty sets. “But once we realized he was eating up the zone like he usually does, we just said, ‘We’re going to win or lose with man.’ Whatever coach Staley called first half, I was down to ride and play with it.”
“We ran a little bit more zone the first half, and (Kelce) was able to just find some small, little pockets to extend plays, feel the zone out,” Marlowe said. “He’s probably one of the best tight ends at doing that.
“(In the second half), we had more man. We had more bracket coverages and things like that, and that really kind of helped us moving forward. Sometimes the flow of the game, you try something out, it’s not working and you got to fix it. And we fixed it. But we fell short as a team.”
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Originally posted by DerwinBosa View PostPlaying more man worked. Why not play that way the whole game?
(Oh, and we just traded away one of the best press coverage CB's in the league for a pittance...wow...)
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Originally posted by Topcat View Post
THIS is precisely what I have pounded the table about...press coverage for our team is more effective than that lame zone...HELLO!!!
(Oh, and we just traded away one of the best press coverage CB's in the league for a pittance...wow...)
Oh, and JC was right to throw Staley under the bus before being shipped out.
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Originally posted by DerwinBosa View Post
Yes, the defense was terrible in the first half, but we were down by only seven. With the Chiefs scoring only seven points in the second half, it's not asking too much for the offense to win that game.
Everett and Ekeler getting dinged did not help, for example.Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.
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Originally posted by jaguarmanftype View Post
Some of us have been pounding everything (even our heads against the wall) about this since 2021. Other than the Miami and Rams games in 2022, and partly the Jacksonville game in the postseason for the first half, Staley stubbornly keeps reverting to what doesn't work. Maybe based on his presser today, and the follow-up player commentary, he'll realize his shit does stink too.
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Originally posted by DerwinBosa View Post
The fact that his players wouldn't let Staley off the hook about the first half approach makes me believe his time is running out. For Staley to deny what was obvious to everyone at his post game press conference is an act of desperation I do not expect from a head coach at any level. Then multiple times he goes and says, "The blame is mine. No one else's." Well, if you're going to take the blame, don't deny what's so obvious to everyone as to why it's your fault.
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Originally posted by DerwinBosa View PostDefensive players not letting Staley get away with being dishonest about the approach in the first half.
Kelce made a mockery of the Chargers’ zone coverages in the first two quarters, finding open space after open space.
Playing more man worked. Why not play that way the whole game?
When asked that exact question in a postgame news conference, Staley said, “We played plenty of man in the first half, too.”
He added: ”I feel like no matter what scheme we were in in the first half from a coverage standpoint — man, pattern match, zone — (Mahomes) was able to create plays post-snap outside the pocket.”
Staley’s players told a different story in the locker room.
“We played zone,” cornerback Michael Davis said of the first-half game plan. “(Kelce) just goes to the spot and turns around. It has nothing to do with Travis. It’s us. We got to get on their ass. When you come down and you play the Chiefs, you got to come out and play man and get on their ass.”
“We played a little bit too much zone in the first half,” James said. “He was just getting behind our linebackers. He was getting open. In the second half, we switched it up.”
“There’s certain times we do have to play zone and live with that,” said cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor, who mentioned needing to play zone behind certain blitzes and when the Chiefs went into empty sets. “But once we realized he was eating up the zone like he usually does, we just said, ‘We’re going to win or lose with man.’ Whatever coach Staley called first half, I was down to ride and play with it.”
“We ran a little bit more zone the first half, and (Kelce) was able to just find some small, little pockets to extend plays, feel the zone out,” Marlowe said. “He’s probably one of the best tight ends at doing that.
“(In the second half), we had more man. We had more bracket coverages and things like that, and that really kind of helped us moving forward. Sometimes the flow of the game, you try something out, it’s not working and you got to fix it. And we fixed it. But we fell short as a team.”[/B]
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Originally posted by AFboltfan View Post
I honestly don't think Harbaugh could fix this team, at least not this year with TT as the GM... Harbaugh needs an off season with a totally new front office, even then they'll be tied up by Herbert's contract. Would also depend on who the new OC would be, Herbert needs to be torn down fundamentally and rebuilt, he is a mess right now.
I wouldn't expect Harbaugh to fix this up quickly, or any coach really.
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Originally posted by rensoul View Post
It's not a one year job, more like 2-3 year job. They have no cap room in 2024 and unless they trade some guys there is no extra draft capital to speed up the process.
I wouldn't expect Harbaugh to fix this up quickly, or any coach really.
Whether it's Harbaugh or any other good head coach, he'll get more out of what we have than what Staley is. I think the offensive and defensive lines, in particular, will play a lot better. Coaching is so vital to a young player's development, and recent draft picks like Zion Johnson and Jamaree Salyer will perform much better with a good coaching staff. Those who are already playing well under Staley (Rashawn Slater and Tuli Tuipulotu come to mind) may kick ass to a much higher level.
This would be a potentially very exciting future to think about if we had a good owner willing to prioritize finding the right head coach. Obviously we don't, though.
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Originally posted by Topcat View Post
(Oh, and we just traded away one of the best press coverage CB's in the league for a pittance...wow...)
Originally posted by jaguarmanftype View Post
Oh, and JC was right to throw Staley under the bus before being shipped out.
Originally posted by jamrock View Post
Only ST played well.
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