Aggressive Chargers falter down the stretch to miss playoffs

By JOE REEDY
AP Sports Writer

Brandon Staley vowed to be aggressive after being hired by the Los Angeles Chargers last January. The first-year coach lived up to his word down to the final series. Staley’s fourth-down and timeout decisions got plenty of scrutiny on Monday, a day after a 35-32 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. The result denied the Bolts their first postseason appearance since 2018. The Chargers converted 22 times on fourth downs, the most since the league started keeping track in 1991. But they went 5-7 after a 4-1 start and were inconsistent from week to week.