Chargers get the boot after surrendering a late lead to the Bills

INGLEWOOD — The Chargers showed some serious fight in Giff Smith’s debut as their interim coach Saturday night against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. They did not embarrass themselves or their community or the game of football, as they did a little more than one week ago.

They also did not win.

The Chargers seized a late lead, failed to hold it and dropped a 24-22 decision to the Bills, their sixth loss in seven games, a stretch of futility that prompted a coaching change. Tyler Bass kicked the winning 29-yard field goal with 28 seconds left, dropping the Chargers to 5-10 and eliminating them from the AFC playoffs.

The Bills (9-6) won their third in a row after beating the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs in consecutive weeks. Buffalo rallied from a 10-0 deficit to lead 14-10 by halftime. The Chargers stormed in front late in the fourth quarter, but failed to protect a 22-21 lead in the closing minutes.

Smith’s message to the Chargers was simple: Fight.

“Going into the game, we wanted to keep it close and have a chance to win it at the end,” Smith said. “But we wanted every player to fight for each other. If there was ever a guy who wasn’t going to do it, we were going to pull them out. We didn’t have any of that, and they fought. They fought every play.”

The anticipated rout never materialized.

There would be no repeat of the Chargers’ humiliating 63-21 loss Dec. 14 to the Las Vegas Raiders, which led to the firings of Brandon Staley as coach and Tom Telesco as general manager. Smith was then promoted from outside linebackers coach to replace Staley one day later.

Oddsmakers made the Bills 12½ point favorites, the first time the Chargers had been underdogs by 12 points or more since Week 13 of the 1998 season against the Denver Broncos, according to research by The Associated Press. They were 13-point underdogs and lost to the Broncos 31-16.

Quarterback Josh Allen and the Bills snapped to life after a listless first quarter Saturday, erasing the Chargers’ 10-0 lead by the end of the first half. The Bills never took control of the game, though. Cameron Dicker kicked four field goals to keep the Chargers within striking distance.

Dicker’s fifth field goal, from 53 yards, put the Chargers in front 22-21 with 5:26 remaining in the game. Chargers safety Alohi Gilman knocked the ball from the hands of Bills running back James Cook and Nick Williams recovered at Buffalo’s 32-yard line, setting up Dicker’s go-ahead kick.

“I feel like we had all hands on deck,” Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. said. “Every guy who’s number was called, they stepped up and made a play.”

Smith and defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley made subtle tweaks to the Chargers’ defense, including playing James closer to the line of scrimmage as they attempted to thwart the Bills’ running game. The Chargers limited the Bills to 105 yards on 30 carries, an average of 3.5 yards per attempt.

Allen was solid while completing 15 of 21 passes for 237 yards with one touchdown and one interception, a leaping catch by Gilman on a pass intended for Stefon Diggs that set up the second of Dicker’s five field goals. Dicker’s 40-yard kick cut Buffalo’s lead to 14-13 in the third quarter.

Allen also ran for touchdowns of 2 and 1 yards.

“The game plan was tight,” James said. “We just came up a few plays short.”

Easton Stick, starting his second game in place of the injured quarterback Justin Herbert, drove the Chargers 90 yards for Dicker’s 20-yard field goal on their first possession. Stick completed 23 of 33 passes for 210 yards without a touchdown or an interception, and he was sacked five times by game’s end.

Stick’s 1-yard touchdown run after teammate Amen Ogbongbemiga recovered Deonte Harty’s fumble on a punt return at the Bills’ 27-yard line extended the Chargers’ lead to 10-0 with 13:49 remaining in the half. Herbert, standing on the sideline, appeared duly impressed when shown on TV replays.

Herbert is out for the season after undergoing right index finger surgery.

“He was awesome all week,” Stick said of Smith. “That was the plan all week. Let’s get this thing to the fourth quarter and try to find a way to win it, and obviously came up a little short. Just the way he rallied the guys this week, and you saw how hard we played, and that’s a credit to Giff and the guys in the locker room.”