Bills ruin Chargers' valiant spoiler effort with late kick

Chargers quarterback Easton Stick is pressured by Bills defensive tackle Poona Ford, center, and defensive end Leonard Floyd.

Staff Writer

Dec. 23, 2023 8:16 PM PT

On a night when they finally lost the last of their faint and faded playoffs hopes, the Chargers still found something quite notable.

A pulse.

Coming off perhaps the most embarrassing loss in franchise history, they lingered as 12½-point underdogs long enough to make the Buffalo Bills squirm before falling 24-22 at SoFi Stadium.

No one cares about moral victories in the NFL, but the Chargers at least arose from devastating defeat.

“My question … was how would they react the first time Buffalo punches you in the face?” interim coach Giff Smith said. “We go up, and then Buffalo scores [to make it] 14-10. That could be where you crash and burn, [but] they rallied and they fought.”

The Chargers were coming off a 63-21 road loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, a defeat that proved to be the final game for Brandon Staley as head coach and Tom Telesco as general manager. Both were fired the morning after the loss.

So how the Chargers responded against the Bills would be telling. They took a 10-0 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter, fell behind by halftime but came back to go up again 22-21 in the final six minutes.

“Everyone just played with confidence,” safety Alohi Gilman said. “I feel like we should have beat them, for sure.”

The Bills won on a 29-yard field goal by Tyler Bass with 28 seconds left.

Buffalo (9-6) entered needing a victory for postseason purposes; the Chargers (5-10) had nothing to play for except their paychecks and one another.

Chargers defensive tackle Nick Williams (95) celebrates after recovering a fumble against the Buffalo Bills.

Under Staley, who called the defensive signals, the Chargers used a complicated system that routinely relied on making late adjustments as the offense was readying to snap the ball. The result too often was confusion or misalignment that would yield a big play.

The Chargers spent much of this season as the NFL’s worst defense against the pass.

But Saturday, Gilman said coordinator Derrick Ansley dialed back the disguises and rules so the players could lean more on their talents and instincts.

“We used a really simple menu,” Gilman said. “Just keeping it simple, letting us make the adjustments that we thought were best and taking ownership of that. It just allowed us to play fast, not too much scheme.”

The Chargers limited Buffalo to 16 first downs and a 3.5-yard average in 30 rushing attempts while forcing three turnovers.

The Bills produced only two plays — Josh Allen completed passes of 57 and 36 yards to Gabe Davis — that gained more than 20 yards.

“The game plan was tight,” safety Derwin James Jr. said, when asked about the impact of Smith taking over as head coach. “I feel like all week long [in practice] we had fun. … We just came up a few plays short today.”

Another noticeable change was how the Chargers deployed James, a one-time All-Pro safety who played mostly nickel against Buffalo. Smith explained later that the idea was to get James closer to the line of scrimmage.

But for stretches of the fourth quarter, James wasn’t on the field as the Chargers instead went with Essang Bassey, a cornerback they claimed off waivers in October.

“I trust coach Giff, coach Ansley, and I trust what we got going on these last couple weeks of the season,” James said. “… I’m just trying to win no matter what group goes out there. I just want to win.”

He was asked if it was difficult not playing as much late in a tight game.

Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. (3) lines up close to the line of scrimmage against the Bills.

“Definitely,” James said. “I want to be out there [in] the fourth quarter, making plays.”

Then asked if he was OK with not playing as much, James answered softly “for sure” before his voice tailed off.

Despite his time on the bench, James finished with a team-high eight tackles. He has played 100% of the Chargers’ defense snaps in eight games this season and had played at least 95% in six straight.

Gilman set up two of Cameron Dicker’s five field goals with an interception and a forced fumble as he rediscovered his playmaking ways.

“It felt good to get back into that a little more,” Gilman said. “I’m always around the ball. That’s just who I am as a player. … That’s my instincts taking over. That’s who I am. I’ll find the ball somehow.”

The five field goals were a career high for Dicker, who converted from 20, 40, 45, 47 and 53 yards.

Dicker hadn’t attempted more than three field goals in a game for Staley, who was well known for his aggressiveness on fourth down. Smith didn’t go for it on fourth down once in his debut as an interim head coach.

“We were going to play it a little close to the vest,” Smith said. “The team knew that. Get points on the board and give ourselves a chance to win. That’s the way it went. Came up a little short.”

Filling in for the injured Justin Herbert, Easton Stick finished 23 of 33 for 215 yards. He scored the Chargers’ lone touchdown on a one-yard keeper early in the second quarter.

The loss was the Chargers’ sixth in seven games. They fell to 0-6 in games decided by three or fewer points. They ended the night 15th in the AFC, ahead of only three-win New England.

“There are no moral victories in any of this,” Smith said, “but they really achieved fighting for each other and knowing what that feels like.”