Chargers send message to Brandon Staley with commendable loss to Bills

The LA Chargers played their first game post-Brandon Staley's firing and the team's first game with an interim head coach since 1998. Many were expecting a blowout as the Chargers were 12,5-point underdogs — the biggest underdog the team has been since 2000.

A playoff-hungry Buffalo Bills team should have routed the Chargers... on paper. Football is not played on paper, though, and the Chargers nearly pulled off the shock of the season. When the dust ultimately settled, the Bills emerged with a 24-22 victory over a hungry Chargers team.

While the Chargers did not win the game, there was a notable difference in the team that showed up on Saturday night vs the team that showed up in recent weeks. Saturday's Chargers were a hungry team that was very obviously trying to shake the Staley stink off the organization.

Post-Brandon Staley era starts promising despite Chargers loss

Granted, the Chargers did get some help in the game thanks to the Bills. A fumbled punt return and two turnovers on offense gave the Chargers ample chances and kept the Bills from running up the score. When Buffalo wasn't turning the ball over, it was shooting itself in the foot with penalties and dropped passes.

This is probably the closest this game ever could have been and if it was played 10 times, the Bills probably cover in seven of the games. Regardless, it was a promising showing from a Chargers team that showed absolutely no life just 10 days ago.

The season might be over, and at this point, it actually helps the Chargers if they lose games, but the team obviously had a dark cloud hovering over it in its old head coach. With that dark cloud out of the picture, an energetic Chargers team showed up and put together a respectable showing against a team that could be playing in the Super Bowl in two months.

With this foundation in place, Chargers fans can now feel much more confident in the team next season as long as the front office makes the right hire. Saturday was a promising step in the right direction.