The Los Angeles Chargers entered Sunday night with a simple mission: Win or tie against the Las Vegas Raiders and make the NFL playoffs. Neither of those outcomes happened, as the Raiders kicked a game-winning field goal in overtime as time expired to end the Chargers season. The Raiders are in, instead.

I had never been rooting for a tie more in my life, Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert said in his press conference after the game. Thats the unfortunate part of being so close.

The Chargers trailed by 15 points in the fourth quarter before bolting back (pun intended) with two touchdown passes from Herbert, including one from the former Oregon Ducks star to wide receiver Mike Williams as time expired in regulation, to tie the game and force overtime.

Each team hit field goals in overtime. The Raiders had the option to play for a tie or go for the win. A tie would have sent both teams to the playoffs and left the Pittsburgh Steelers out.

But after a 7-yard run from running back Josh Jacobs, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley called a timeout with 38 seconds left in overtime. The timeout from the first-year head coach sparked a whirlwind of discussion on social media. Staley said after the game he called it to get the right grouping in on defense to stop the run.

The Raiders responded with a 10-yard run from Jacobs after the timeout, which set up the game-winning 47-yard field goal from kicker Daniel Carlson.

NBC cameras caught Herbert mentioning a tie on the sideline in the middle of the chaos. In the video below, you can see him say, Ive never wanted a tie so bad right after the timeout.

In the end, the timeout didnt burn the Chargers. They couldnt stop the run and it hurt them Sunday. Jacobs finished the game with 132 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries.

-- Aron Yohannes

ayohannes@oregonian.com; @aronyohannes

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Justin Herbert after OT loss to Las Vegas Raiders: I had never been rooting for a tie more in my life - OregonLive