The only one that isn’t in Los Angeles tonight is Larry, because the Moe and Curly of coaching decisions this year are in the house.
It would be fun to reiterate the baffling decisions Nathaniel Hackett has burdened his team with during his baptism as a National Football League head coach. Suffice it to say that even Russell Wilson hasn’t always been able to compensate for his mistakes.
Just when Hackett seemed to have the jewel of ineptness from the sidelines for this season, Los Angeles Chargers Head Coach Brandon Staley contributed a bewildering decision last week in the final seconds of his game against the Cleveland Browns. Fifth graders at a church picnic in LA were screaming at the television for the Chargers to punt on a fourth and short from mid-field with just over a minute left on the clock and leading by two points.
Staley went for the first down; didn’t get it.
The play opened the door for the Browns to use the final minute to get within field goal range with a 10-yard drive. That done, the 54-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right and the Chargers didn’t pay for a huge coaching mistake. As with Hackett in Denver, Staley is making it tough for their teams to win.
So, we’ve got a choice between Moe and Curly here, and the question comes down to what team has the best chance of overcoming their coach?
Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert is billed as having the best chance to unseat Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen as number one, but he has never led the Chargers to the postseason. Now in his third campaign, this is a prime time for his skills to blend with experience to best benefit from his attributes.
Which are many.
He is as tough as they come with an arm we haven’t seen since the John Elway days. The Chargers should be in the conversation with the Bills and Chiefs for top billing in the AFC, but they are not.
For good reason.
Coaching can’t always win games, but it can always lose one.
I don’t want to bet on either of these coaches, but that opens the door when they go up against each other. I think it will come down to a game decided by the quarterbacks, and tonight we are either going to see the emergence of Herbert to be rightfully mentioned with the best, or the continuance of Wilson pulling magic?
With Denver, I get the better defense and the experience of Wilson, which I’ll take when we get a generous proposition of more than a field goal on the point spread.
Qoxhi Picks: Denver Broncos (+4) over Los Angeles Chargers