LAS VEGAS — After losing to the Denver Broncos last Sunday, Chargers coach Brandon Staley said the bright side moving forward was that they could turn the page to the Las Vegas Raiders in a short week. The Chargers did, but that page featured one of the most embarrassing losses in franchise history to a team that hadn't scored a touchdown since Week 12.
After the Chargers' 63-21 loss to the Raiders on Thursday night, the most points the Chargers had allowed in franchise history and the most the Raiders had ever scored, Staley said he was confident his players still believed in him and that he deserved to continue as head coach.
«I know what I've done here for three years, and I know what I've put into this, and I know where we're capable of going,» Staley said. «I know the type of coach I am. I believe in myself.»
The 42-point loss was the Chargers' (5-9) third-worst loss in franchise history, and their 42-0 deficit at halftime was the most lopsided half in the NFL since 2014. But Staley pointed to those struggles as the challenges of playing in the NFL.
«Games like this happen in the NFL,» he said. «To every coach that's ever coached in this league. You can look at any great coach that's ever coached in the league. Sometimes games like this happen, and I don't need to retrace history, but it's just, it's part of sports.»
When a reporter pointed out to Staley that blowouts like Thursday's aren't normal in the NFL, Staley backtracked that point.
«Tonight was not a normal occurrence, everything that could have gone wrong in all three phases went wrong,» he said.
Staley said that he will speak with Chargers ownership on Friday, as he always does the day after a game, and was expecting it to «be nothing new.»
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