Chargers' Keenan Allen puzzled by bizarre 4th down call: 'WTF are we doing?'
Staley defended the call, saying the Chargers wanted to finish the game 'on our terms'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Los Angeles Chargers walked away with a win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday despite questionable play calling late in the game, but not everyone on the team was confident with head coach Brandon Staley’s seemingly risky behavior.
Veteran wideout Keenan Allen missed his fourth straight game with a hamstring injury but he took to Twitter to call out Staley’s decision not to punt on fourth down with just a little over a minute left and a two-point lead on the Chargers’ own 46.
Head coach Brandon Staley of the Los Angeles Chargers walks the sideline during the Browns game at FirstEnergy Stadium on Oct. 9, 2022, in Cleveland, Ohio. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)
"WTF are we doing?" he said in a tweet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CHARGERS BOLT CLEVELAND WITH TWO-POINT VICTORY OVER BROWNS
Justin Herbert’s incomplete pass to Mike Williams gave the ball back to the Browns but rookie kicker Cade York missed what could’ve been a game-winning 54-yard field goal with 11 seconds left.
Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Michael Davis celebrates as Browns kicker Cade York misses a 54-yard field goal with 0:16 seconds left in the game on Oct. 9, 2022, at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. (Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"So glad he missed that. Cause man man man," Allen said in a follow up tweet.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Staley defended his decision after the game, saying they wanted to finish "on our terms."
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"I just wanted to finish the game with the ball. I felt like we liked the play, liked the matchup, knew what coverage they were going to be in and we wanted to finish the game on our terms on third down… they defended it well," he explained. "Then on fourth down, just really felt like the slant to Mike was going to be the play call there, and it just didn’t go down for us, but I had a lot of confidence in our defense to go out there and get them stopped."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Chargers head coach Brandon Staley celebrates with the team after Los Angeles scored a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/David Richard)
He continued: "I love the way our team finished that game because obviously the storybook would’ve been just to finish it right there and to walk to victory lane, but that’s not how it went. We had to go play defense. We had to go defend and our defense ended up winning us the game with that take away and that stop at the end of the game."
Herbert echoed that sentiment, saying Staley’s decision to trust the offense "says a lot."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It says a lot that he believes in us as a head coach to get the job done," he said. "It didn’t go our way, but we’re riding that play and we’re riding with our guys every time."
The Chargers improved to 3-2 as the Browns dropped to 2-3.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.