49ers continue to look more and more like Brandon Staley's Chargers

The Brandon Staley era for the LA Chargers ended with just as many headlines as when it began. Staley, who was touted as a defensive wizard, re-wrote what it meant to be aggressive and go for it on fourth down, going 4-1 in his first four games and taking the NFL world by storm.

By the time his tenure was coming to a close, Staley had a team that not only struggled to defend but outwardly gave up on the head coach. Less than three years after his 4-1 start, Staley's last game as a head coach for the Chargers was a 63-21 walloping.

Staley now finds himself as the assistant head coach on the San Francisco 49ers' defensive staff. While he does not have nearly as much say in San Francisco as he did in Los Angeles, the 49ers have already adopted some frustrating bad habits the Chargers had with Staley.

Not only are the 49ers mirroring Staley's Chargers from a schematic standpoint, but the team is also starting to show some of the same cracks. It obviously cannot be pinned on Staley like it was in Los Angeles, but it nonetheless is interesting to see the commonalities between previous Chargers teams and this year's 49ers team.

49ers are showcasing alarming Brandon Staley trends Chargers fans are used to

The 49ers dropped to 2-3 on the season (the same record the Chargers had in Staley's last year) with a loss to the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. It was not just any loss, though, as the 49ers squandered away a 23-10 halftime lead in the process. Arizona scored 14 unanswered points in the second half, 11 of which came in the fourth quarter thanks to the 49ers' defense.

This is not the first time the 49ers defense has struggled to make plays in key spots.

Prior to beating the lifeless New England Patriots a week ago, the 49ers were upset by a Los Angeles Rams team in Staley's old stomping grounds at SoFi Stadium. At one point the 49ers led 21-7 in the third quarter and had a 24-14 lead with less than 12 minutes in the game. The Rams scored on their final three drives, scoring 20 second-half points to win 27-24.

San Francisco's defense is starting to crumble in the second half of games, which was certainly a trend when Staley was the head coach of the Chargers. The 49ers rank 27th in second-half points allowed per game this season at 13.2. Last year, pre-Staley, the 49ers ranked seventh with 8.9 points allowed per second half.

Meanwhile, the Chargers rank fifth in second-half points allowed per game with 7.3. Last season, at the time of Staley's firing, the Chargers ranked 21st in the NFL with 11.1 points allowed per second half. Los Angeles actually climbed after firing Staley, allowing 5.3 points per second half in the final three games of the season.

Does all of this fall on Staley? No. There are a lot of problems with this 49ers team that go far above the assistant head coach. However, it cannot be a total coincidence Staley's new team has many of the same issues as his old team.