Following a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, Los Angeles Chargers’ head coach Brandon Staley was clearly agitated when a reporter brought up last year’s playoff collapse against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
In January, the Chargers blew a 27-0 lead to the Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round, falling 31-30 on a last-second field goal by Riley Patterson. When the reporter asked Staley if that loss was still weighing on the locker room, Staley quickly shot the notion down.
“I’m not worried about the Jacksonville loss. The Jacksonville loss hasn’t carried on to the season whatsoever. Our team is connected…and we’ve lost two tough games. It has nothing to do with the Jacksonville game…It’s a convenient storyline for you, and for everybody else, but it’s not the truth.”
Staley remained testy on a follow-up question.
“We just lost a game in overtime, Jeff,” Staley said. “So how do you think the mood is? How do you think the mood is? How do you think it is?”
The Chargers have a long and painful history of losing games that they firmly had in control, hence the “Chargers gonna Charger” and “Classic Chargers” phrases. They had their fair share of opportunities to put the Titans away on Sunday, but the team once again couldn’t finish when it mattered most.
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The 0-2 start is no doubt concerning, but recent history can serve as an inspiration to Staley’s Bolts. They dropped two of their first three games last year, but the club wound up finishing 10-7 to end a four-year postseason drought.
Last year’s Cincinnati Bengals also started out 0-2 before finishing 12-4 en route to an AFC Championship Game appearance. Sure enough, Joe Burrow and company are 0-2 again after falling to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
Los Angeles will visit the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday before coming back home for a Week 4 tilt against the AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders.
