After the LA Chargers’ loss to the Kansas Chiefs on Sunday Night Football, head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked about some of the team's decisions at the podium. First, he was asked about the Chiefs’ last third-down conversion to Travis Kelce and whether they expected the pass:
“We thought it was likely,” Harbaugh said. “Jesse (Minter), we had predicted a couple of those. They were all pass early. It was executed. Wasn’t a surprise of shock.”
Kansas City was 8-15 on third down in the game. In particular, they found several critical conversions late in which the Chargers were unable to get off the field. Before Kelce’s, Xavier Worthy and Patrick Mahomes saved a third-down play that looked dead in the water initially. Some of that is just how good the Chiefs are, but the Chargers played far from perfect situational football in key moments.
Harbaugh was also asked about Cameron Dicker’s penalized kickoff which set up the Chiefs’ final drive. Kansas City started their game-winning drive from their own 40 yard line as a result. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper asked what the plan was:
Harbaugh did reveal that the plan was a kick to keep the Chiefs closer to their goal line to force a return. Dicker not hitting the landing zone was simply an error of execution.
Jim Harbaugh says the final Cameron Dicker kickoff was a team decision to kick the ball to the goal line.
— Alex Insdorf (@alexinsdorf99) December 9, 2024
"He just hit it a little bit high, high on the ball-rare mistake." pic.twitter.com/aNwwZQSCyq
Several of Jim Harbaugh's coaching decisions impacted the Chargers
Harbaugh was not asked about game management at the presser. But Harbaugh did leave points on the board. Instead of attempting a 56-yard field goal early in the game, the Chargers’ head coach elected to punt.
Shortly after, the Chargers punted on another fourth-down situation once they crossed the 50-yard line again. Calls like that early in games are subjective but losing to the Chiefs by one after missing first-half opportunities will have to sit with the team this week.
After the last loss to the Chiefs in Week 4, Harbaugh was left thinking about timeout and challenge usage. In Week 14, the Chargers’ errors in situational football were on display against the one football team you can’t have lapses against.
The Chargers will look to rebound at home next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.