Brandon Staley falls on the sword for Justin Herbert after Chargers' loss to Chiefs

The LA Chargers fell to 2-4 on the season with the biggest loss of the season to the Kansas City Chiefs. Los Angeles fell 31-17 in Week 7, which was a bigger differential than the Chargers' previous three losses combined.

The loss was a story of two bad halves on two different sides of the ball. Brandon Staley's defense sputtered in the first half, allowing over 300 yards of offense and 24 points. However, the offense kept the team in the game with 17 points scored.

In script flipped in the second half. The defense buckled down and played well but the offense couldn't take advantage. The Chargers did not score a point in the second half and Justin Herbert was particularly bad in the fourth quarter.

While there was plenty of blame to go around, Staley took the high road in his post-game press conference and fell on the sword. Unlike last week where Staley smugly said that the Chargers had the best third-down defense in the league, the third-year head coach took full responsibility for the Chargers' loss.

"The blame is mine, no one else's. So I just got to do a better job of getting us off to a good start to the game and that is not what happened."

Brandon Staley taking more responsibility for Chargers' loss

This kind of accountability is something that has been lacking in Staley's pressers in the past and it is something that Chargers fans have been waiting to hear. This alone isn't going to win fans over, but at least it shows some urgency out of Staley.

Staley isn't wrong, either. He absolutely could have done a better job getting his team ready defensively as that first half was horrendous. But to give him credit where it is due, fans have to remember how well the defense played in the second half.

And fans also have to remember how poorly the offense played and a big reason why the team struggled was subpar play out of Herbert. We all know that he is an elite quarterback and can play at a high level. The fact of the matter is that he simply hasn't been playing at that level in recent weeks.

But Brandon Staley won't tell you that, and quite frankly, it is a good thing that he isn't.