The 2023 season has not been kind to Brandon Staley and the LA Chargers. A year after making the playoffs with a 10-7 record, the Chargers have fallen to two games below .500 for the second time this season.
Questions about Brandon Staley's future are starting to arise as Staley legitimately appears to be disconnected from his locker room. The results already are not in Staley's favor and if he is losing the locker room then it could be the final straw.
The noise around Staley and the Chargers has certainly grown louder as the season has gone along. It has extended past Chargers fans as well, as NFL legends are now weighing in on the issue. Legendary cornerback Richard Sherman, who knows a thing or two about what it takes to be a successful defense, absolutely buried Staley and his defense on a recent episode of his podcast.
"He's taking sugar, water, lemons and making feces"
— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) October 24, 2023
—@RSherman_25 doesn't understand what Brandon Staley is doing with the talented Chargers defense pic.twitter.com/iqTrK4dYdM
Richard Sherman destroys Brandon Staley, calls Chargers' defense "feces"
I mean, Sherman isn't wrong. As brutal as his comments were about Staley and the Chargers they are certainly deserved. The Chargers have been one of the worst defensive teams in the league since Staley took over, which is a bad look for a "defensive head coach".
The Chargers have allowed the fifth-most points and seventh-most total yards. Several teams ahead of the Chargers have played one extra game in that span as well (since the Chargers have already had their bye). In that span, the Chargers have allowed 168 plays of 20 or more yards, which is the second most in the NFL. The Chargers also rank fourth in 20+-yard touchdowns in that span with 28 allowed.
It has been a defensive disaster for the Chargers ever since Staley got the job. In year one there were excuses that he didn't have "his guys". In year two there were excuses that the team wasn't healthy. In year three it became obvious that all of those excuses were nonsense, as the defense is once again struggling.
The worst part is that the Chargers don't even need to have an elite defense to win games! They do not need the 2020 Rams defense to be a playoff contender. All they need is for the defense to be average. Instead, it is among the worst in the entire league.