Tavern talk: Worst game managers

Dick Jauron is a pretty bad game manager...at least worse than Reid.

How does a coach keep his job when he doesn't actually prepare for games? Isn't that what the practice is for? Crazy talk I know. "Practice? Your talking to me about practice?"

No one deserves to unseat Marvin Lewis, but I don't know how any mention of Brad Childress couldn't include the unholy violation of game management against the Giants in Week 17 last year. A refresher:
Minnesota, trailing 19-17 in a game they may need to win in order to make the playoffs (thanks to a Bears loss in a game that ended later, the win was ultimately meaningless), faces 3rd and 2 at the Giants 38 with 1:11 on the clock. Minny has just come out of a timeout because, after crossing midfield by the 2 minute warning, the Vikes ran Peterson into the line twice and were forced to burn their 2nd timeout.

The sequence:
3rd and 2 at NYG 38 (1:11) T.Jackson pass short right to V.Shiancoe to NYG 30 for 8 yards (B.Kehl).

After making this 1st down, Minnesota looked as they had absolutely no idea what they wanted to do. They came out of the hurry up and ran a play as though it were the middle of the first quarter. The result was predicatble:

1st and 10 at NYG 30 (:36) A.Peterson up the middle to NYG 32 for -2 yards (T.Thomas).

Having lost 2 yards on a give up run, Jackson stares over at the sideline, only to see a completely befuddled Childress. The clock keeps running, and running, and running. Finally:

Timeout #3 by MIN at 00:09.
Timeout #2 by NYG at 00:09.

It appears as though Minnesota has voluntarily accepted a 50 yard fg attempt with their season on the line. But wait:

2nd and 12 at NYG 32 (:09) T.Jackson pass incomplete short right to B.Wade.

Having left too much time by taking the timeout with 9 seconds left, Childress orders his offense back onto the field and wastes 4 seconds with an intentional (I hope) incompletion.

Timeout #3 by NYG at 00:05.
3rd and 12 at NYG 32 (:05) R.Longwell 50 yard field goal is GOOD, Center-C.Loeffler, Holder-C.Kluwe.

I can't say this was worse than Marvin in 2006, but we're definitely in the same ballpark. I can promise you that if Longwell had missed, Childress would not be coaching the vikings today.

That Marvin recap is classic. Holy crap. Can't imagine having lost money on that. Makes Jake Delhomme's Playoff Int-pa-looza look like a sage wager.

Childress definitely belongs in the top five. I've watched Packer - Viking games where I've hollered at the TV for Childress to call a time out because the situation is so obvious.

I'll give a shout out to ex Packer coach Mike Sherman. Two instances. In one game, the Packers score a touchdown to go up by 11. Sherman signals for a two-point conversion. We're all screaming to kick the PAT to go up by 12, requiring the opponent to score two TDs, just as if the Pack was up by 13. The Packers miss the two-point conversion and the opponent scored a TD to pull within a field goal. Green Bay did win. In the post game, Sherman defended his call by saying that his game chart showed going for two when up by eleven. Neither Mike nor his staff could crunch the numbers at crunch time.

Sherman's biggest blunder came in the infamous Eagle playoff game, the 4th and 26 game. Packers had the best short yardage runner in the game, Ahman Green, who had rushed for 1800 yards that season. The O Line was terrific, the strength of the team. The Packers face a 4th and 1 at the Eagles 40 with 2:00 left and the Eagles with no time outs.

Now, any team in the league can drive 40 to 60 yards in two minutes with no time outs to try a field goal. Scoring a TD is much more difficult. The Packer D had been giving up long end of half, end of game drives all season. Rather than use the team's best unit, the running game, to win the game by converting the first down and running out the clock with the ball, Sherman punts. Ball goes into the end zone, Eagles take over on the 20. Now, the 4th and 26 shouldn't have been converted, but Sherman gave the Eagles the chance. The Eagles were just as likely to drive for a field goal attempt from their 20 as from their 40. That Packer team was a Super Bowl quality team. I'll never forget Sherman playing not to lose, rather than winning that game.

I think Dick Jauron honestly believes left over time outs from the first half can be used in the second half. He routinely screws up the clock in the closing minutes of the first half. Witness last years inability to kick a FG with time running out in the first half against the Patriots.

Thanks Mr. L for my moment of glory. You did a good job of editing my piece, but for those of you who need more background this was the last game of the season and all the Bengals needed to do to make the playoffs was win the game. If I was running the Bengals I would have fired Lewis in the locker room after the game (saving myself two more disastorous years). The complete disarray shown by the entire team and coaching staff was unbelievable. It has to be on youtube somewhere. The spikes, the timeouts, the spikes, the confusion, it's all coming back to me.....Mommy, help!!!!!!!!

Mike Sherman was another classic buffoon, thanks for bringing him up Packer Pete. How about his going for two UP 8 POINTS against the Niners in that 2002 playoff game? Kick the extra point late in the 3rd quarter to go up by two scores? Nah, the chart says to go up by 10 points, so let's go for 2 and not make it, allowing the Niners to tie the game after scoring a TD and getting the 2 point conversion. Sherman got lucky here because this was the game Jeff Garcia underthrew TO by an eyelash, allowing Mike Mackenzie to tip the ball into a teammates hands for the INT, basically saving the game.

Thats what happens when you give the head coaching job to someone who's highest position up to that point was TE's coach. Is he still down at Texas A&M, and if so how much can I bet against him?

Payton and Reid have been hot coaches.
The Saints need to learn some management of game situations to help the defense out, agreed, but you also have to keep in mind that you are allowing Brees to play the game he feels best playing. IMO they have some line issues on offense as well that call for a finesse feel when they actually need power situations, something that also changed dramatically on Deuce's steep decline.

Same for Reid and McNabb. Additionally the Eagles had a variety of other factors(WR core talent, injuries to runners, line chemistry issues when Andrews was not playing) all have dramatic impact on how they could call plays.

It's unfortunate that siding with a great leader for your team at QB can also lead to game management weakness at times. As the teams diversify talent and depth they can control some game factors to greater degrees.

Expect Reid to show more ability to manage items with the boost in line presence on offense. That is paired with some key arrivals at skill positions for depth and upside.

Marv Lewis needs greater help from the front office, his team surrenders key O linemen when their chemistry is crucial to Palmer's output. If you cannot square money away to the extent you can keep the talent you develop, they could have Einstein calling plays and still struggle scoring.

Personally , I love it when Patriots' opponents head coaches pull a " P.U.N.T. L. " .
( Playing Us Not To Lose )

I remember that game between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati...oddly, it was one of my favorite all time Steelers games, considering it was Cowher's last, and it was almost as if the football gods wouldn't allow him to go out on a loss. Santonio's 67 yard catch-and-run in OT was an electrifying way to end a terrible season. Somehow, it felt bigger than it was.

But yes, Coach Lewis...a game manager, he is not. The Bengals have been wrought with this same kind of dysfunction for several years now. Any time anyone mentions the Bengals as a serious threat, it's fair to subtract five points simply because they're the Bengals.

Lovie Smith is a worthy candidate. Besides the playoff game when he called timeout near the end of regulation to allow Seattle a shot at a punt return, Lovie has a habit of burning a timeout so he has time to decide whether to challenge the previous play.

Would also agree about Jauron, who will challenge for no other reason than he didn't like that his offense just turned it over. Jauron also does a good job of keeping every game close and hoping for the best, even when his team is dominating and should be up 3 scores.

Shermie was a classic. He also didn't kick what would've been the winning FG at the end of the first half in that 4&26 game.

Mike McCarthy isn't the sharpest knife in the block either when it comes to game coaching. Lomabardi should have some fun with him this year.

My main gripe with Payton has always been his use of challenges - I've felt that he does a good job otherwise, so I'd be curious to hear how his game management should be improved. It's easy to look at those 5 games from afar and make a blanket statement about needing to improve game management, but let's look a little closer at those games:
(1) at Denver - down 2, Grammatica missed a 40 yd FG with 2:00 left that would have given the Saints the lead.
(2) vs Minn - game tied, Grammatica missed a 45 yd FG with 2:04 left. Then the Saints secondary gives up a 50 yds PI penalty, and Longwell makes a chippy FG for the win.
(3) at TB - game tied, Brees throws an INT in NO territory, which Tampa turns into the go-ahead points with a FG at 2:00. Then Brees throws another INT at 1:45 - game over.
(4) at Chic - Brees to Coltson TD at 3:10 puts the Saints up 24-21. Defense lets the Bears drive 70 yds for tying short FG at 0:02, then Bears win OT coin flip. After a 40 yd PI penalty puts the Bears inside the Saints 20, Gould kicks the winning FG.
(5) vs Car - down 30-10, Saints come back and take the lead on Brees-Moore TD with 3:00 left; first play from scrimmage, defense gives up 40 yd pass to S Smith, and Panthers run the clock down to 0:06 for winning Kasay FG.
Perhaps "some" game management could be questioned, but the shoddy secondary play and missed FGs take the lion's share of the blame for those losses IMHO.

He's not coaching this year, but Romeo Crennel was a horrible game manager as well.

Dick Jauron should have this named after him. This guy routinely burns time outs, never wins close games, and always gambles when he should be conservative (Last year in the Meadowlands calls a PA pass on 3rd down with JP losman, and losman fumbles, and the Jets pick it up for a TD!) you can't make it up. Dick Jauron may be the nicest man in football, but he has no friggn clue how to run an NFL offense or manage a game situation

Childress has got to be the worst. That Giant game last year was classic. Thank God we have an All-Pro kicker to bail Chilly's ass out. Don't forget about the Colt game earlier in the season. Gee Whiz .What is really amazing is how many coaches don't seem to relish these end-of-game situations. It's like watching Tiger's foes falling all over themselves to get out his way. So many games are won and or lost in the last five minutes. Viking fans: how good would this team have been the last two years if Cowher had been the coach? Or Jimmy Johnson? I dare say we would have been in at least one NFC Championship game. Don't kill us this year, Chilly. Roll purple.

I can't believe Brad Childress has been mentioned twice here and nobody has yet gone over his masterpiece at the end of the first half of the Vikings-Eagles playoff game from this past year. Here's the play-by-play:

1-10-MIN 13 (1:10) 29-C.Taylor left end to MIN 13 for no gain (57-C.Gocong).
2-10-MIN 13 (:37) 7-T.Jackson pass incomplete short right to 19-B.Wade.
3-10-MIN 13 (:34) 29-C.Taylor left tackle to MIN 16 for 3 yards (24-S.Brown).
Timeout #3 by PHI at 00:29.

The Vikings take over with 1:10 left in the half, and the Eagles possessing one timeout. The Vikings can run into the line three times and end the half, which it appears they will do after first down. But then inexplicably, AND I MEAN INEXPLICABLY, Childress calls for a pass play on 2nd down. And note that it's a short pass to Bobby Wade. What the hell was this going to accomplish?

The pass of course goes incomplete, giving the Eagles a free timeout. The Vikings run on 3rd down, Eagles use their final timeout, and the Eagles get the ball back with 18 seconds left at midfield. Only a shoestring tackle by Chad Greenway on Brian Westbrook trying to get out of bounds stops the Eagles from attempting a long field goal at the end of the half.

I'll agree that Marvin Lewis' butchering of the end of regulation against the Steelers that was mentioned earlier was the worst. I can't imagine anything worse than that display. But this has got to be #2. Childress literally gave the Eagles a free timeout attempting to complete a short pass that would have gained as many yards as a run up the middle would have. At least a long pass to Berrian, while also incredibly stupid, would have at least attempted to accomplish something.

This has got to be one of the best articles I have ever read. Marvin Lewis' complete lack of game management skills is legendary in Cincinnati. The example given was but one of a littany of inexplicable decisions by Coach Lewis, who only has his job because he is employed by the only man in football with less of a clue about game and team management than Marvin has, Bengals owner Mike Brown. It's sad that I end up screaming "What are they doing?!?" at more games than I cheer for a TD. At one game last year, the entire stadium actually erupted just because the Bengals got a first down... of course it was in the third quarter, and their first of the game.

I remember that Pittsburgh game vividly since it ruined New Year's Eve for me that year. We went out to attempt to celebrate the holiday after the game, and the waiter at the restaurant, in Cincinnati mind you, was wearing a Steelers jersey. I literally had to keep my friends from mauling him, when they should have been hunting down Marvin. Interestingly enough, the idiocy in that game was not the only screw-up that kept the Bungles out of the playoffs that year since they also lost the game before to Denver by 1 point due to a botched PAT. Serenity now!

Sig, I feel you pain. I am an eagles fan. Last years game against your bengals left me feeling the same way you felt after the steelers game. Bengals, send Sig some free game tickets. Eagles, I'll take a couple as well.

Hi Rich,

I was reading this article, and thought you may enjoy it.

Hope all is well,

Rudy

Romeo Crennel definitely would have been #1 if he was still around.

Mike Holmgren was horrible his last two years in Seattle. He actually allowed the crowd's booing to affect his play-calling, which was hoooooooorible.

Contrary to what Mr. Lombardi wrote on this page, ESPN Radio has recently posted a podcast between himself and Bill Simmons. For those interested:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index

Andy Reid 107 wins compared to 69 losses. Yeah he's a terrible "game manager".

Lombardi and the rest of his critics career wins....... 0.

Enough said.

sjgmoney, why are you still betting money on the Bengals? Mike is no Paul Brown, and his problem with loyalty over results has cost him plenty. When he hires a real GM is when things will start turning around. Actually the best thing he can do is sell the team.

The probate court trial over the estate of Austin Knowlton revealed that over $50 million was paid out of Bengals coffers to Brown family members. Yes, read that again: Brown family members.

Don't forget the Carl Pickens clause which effectively shuts the players up and prevent any honest criticism of management. Hence no spotlight, and thereby no incentive to improve.

So, sjgmoney, if you're going to continue to bet on games, you're going to get those wildly unpredictable game results. The sad thing is that you and the rest of Cincinnati wants to believe them the byproduct of game mismanagement whereas the reality is that they are the byproduct of business mismanagement!

I've got you all beat. I actually AM a Chiefs fan. I actually had to take the Bataan Death March that was the 3 years of Herm's Hellish Follies where God forsaketh all the lands.

Lane Kiffin's play calling in the Raiders v. Bills game last season was terrible and cost the Raiders the game when he didn't use his 2 remaing time-outs to stop the clock at the end of the game. Other suspect play calling at the end of the game too, invovling running plays.

At the press conference when Al Davis fired Kiffin 2 weeks later Al even mentioned Kiffin's play calling during that game saying that he (Al Davis) went up to Kiffin in the Buffalo airport after the game and asked Kiffin if he still had those two time-outs in his pocket!?

@Shaun Harper:

OMG I remember listening to that game on the radio. The end of the 2d half was an unbelievable case of game mismanagement. Here's the play by play from the 2 minute warning. Keep in mind the Bills had already burned one timeout:

2:00 2nd Buf 2nd & 10 at Buf31 Two-Minute Warning
2:00 2nd Buf 2nd & 10 at Buf31 Fred Jackson up the Middle to NE37 for 32 yards
1:51 2nd Buf 1st & 10 at NE37 Fred Jackson Off Left Tackle to NE35 for 2 yards
1:15 2nd Buf 2nd & 8 at NE35 Trent Edwards Pass to Josh Reed to NE30 for 5 yards
1:09 2nd Buf 3rd & 3 at NE30 Buffalo Bills timeout.

Ok, 1 minute to go in the half, and you're on the 30, in terrible weather. No way you can kick from here, so you need to get in closer:

1:09 2nd Buf 3rd & 3 at NE30 Fred Jackson Off Right Guard to NE17 for 13 yards
0:35 2nd Buf 1st & 10 at NE17 Fred Jackson up the Middle to NE15 for 2 yards

Ok, pretty good stuff. You run the ball twice, get 15 yards closer, and now on the NE 15 yard line you have a reasonable chance to kick. Here's where it gets strange. Jauron has the Bills take their last timeout at 28 seconds, after burning 7 seconds:

0:28 2nd Buf 2nd & 8 at NE15 Buffalo Bills timeout.

Ok, now you have no timeouts, but it's ok. You have time for maybe a short pass play, either to the sidelines o even o for the end zone. They throw a short pass, and get to the 12:

0:28 2nd Buf 2nd & 8 at NE15 Trent Edwards Pass to Derek Schouman to NE12 for 3 yards

Ok. You've got 25 seconds left, no timeouts, on the NE 12, what do you do? I KNOW, LET'S RUN IT UP THE GUT!

0:22 2nd Buf 3rd & 5 at NE12 Fred Jackson up the Middle to NE9 for 3 yards

Awesome. Now you can have your center and TE get in a shoving match, have the FG team run around and not get set, and time expires. AWESOME BABY, AWESOME.

@PAtspsycho, I'm not a Bengals fan, I'm a Pats fan. My firends and I just happened to have a season long wager on the Bengals that year, we took over 8.5 wins on the year. Mr. L left off the first part of my email where I explained that. The Bengals entered that game 8-7 and we needed one more win to hit the over. We of course had no faith in them, so we hedged ourselves by taking the Steelers getting 6.5 points. Which meant if they hadn't screwed up the end of that game we would have hit the over AND won on our Steelers wager, the perfect scenario. That's why I'll go to my grave remembering this game.

MARVIN LEWIS:
I was born near Pittsburgh, live in Cincinnati, and I was at that game... It was New Years Eve and when Graham trotted onto the field after that brain dead drive, we were taking a beating from the crowd around us. Graham shanked it - his first miss ALL YEAR inside 35 yards or something like that.

Death Blow #2 - Holmes caught the winning TD - an awesome play and a dagger through the hearts of many Buckeye-Bengal fans, including my buddy who moments earlier was beating on me whole heartedly.

Death Blow #3 - The Bengals entered that game needing the planets to align and to come out with a win to make the playoffs. All three teams ahead of them in the playoff hunt lost that weekend, so had the Bungles won that fateful day, they would have made the playoffs... oh well - such is life in Cincinnati. The Steelers had no chance at the playoffs, but played like they did - the Bengals? they just show up...

Sweet irony - that was Cower's last game, he went out with a win. Marvin probably won't

MARVIN LEWIS:
I was born near Pittsburgh, live in Cincinnati, and I was at that game... It was New Years Eve and when Graham trotted onto the field after that brain dead drive, we were taking a beating from the crowd around us. Graham shanked it - his first miss ALL YEAR inside 35 yards or something like that.

Death Blow #2 - Holmes caught the winning TD - an awesome play and a dagger through the hearts of many Buckeye-Bengal fans, including my buddy who moments earlier was beating on me whole heartedly.

Death Blow #3 - The Bengals entered that game needing the planets to align and to come out with a win to make the playoffs. All three teams ahead of them in the playoff hunt lost that weekend, so had the Bungles won that fateful day, they would have made the playoffs... oh well - such is life in Cincinnati. The Steelers had no chance at the playoffs, but played like they did - the Bengals? they just show up...

Sweet irony - that was Cower's last game, he went out with a win. Marvin probably won't

I have no idea if this is a stat that the NFL keeps or not, but I guarantee Marvin Lewis has lost more red flag challenges than any head coach since he has taken helm of the Bengals

He continues to call timeouts at the wrong time(as if he has no clue when/how the playclock works), loses coaches challenges repeatedly and lets not forget the ultimate blown call winning the coin toss for OT in Buffalo and picking to go with the wind instead of choosing to receive the ball...wonderful decision, took the Bills all of 7 plays to score and win

2, at least the bengals qb knew there would be no 2nd overtime period in the tie against philly (mcnabb openly admitted he had no clue, thought they would just keep playing) even though he quarterbacked a game that ended in a tie already 1 time in his career

3, whoever was in charge of the vikings draft when they missed their window and got skipped, how do you let something like that happen

I'm sticking with Mike Sherman here by virtue of the 4th and 26th playoff against the Eagles. The big boner was the call at the end of the first half. Packers are up 14-7 and have the ball 4th and goal at the Eagles one. They kick the field goal and they go into halftime up by 10 points. They get the TD and they're up by 14 points. Either way, it's a 2-score game, and with a full half to go, lots of football left to play. They go for it and miss and it's 7-point game with Philly getting the ball with momentum to start the second half. The book says that with the Packers on the road, you kick the field goal. Of course, Sherman didn't seem to read the book, nor did he read it later when he had a fourth and 1 in Eagle territory, with one of the worst directional punters in the league and facing a team with no timeouts. If they convert, the game is iced. If they miss, the Eagles have to move at least 30 yards with no timeouts (and lousy receivers). Of course, they punt, the ball goes straight down the middle into the end zone and the Packers have a net gain of 20 yards from the punt.

While I'm thinking of it, there is one common link that ties the 4th and 26th play from this game with the equally painful Young-to-Owens TD pass that ended the Packer-49er playoff game in 1998 - Darren Sharper, five yards too deep in coverage.

In that GB/PHI game (4th & 26), Sherman went for another 4th & 1 (or 2) earlier in the game and didn't get the 1st, that's probably why he punted later on. I'm not saying that was the right thing to because that was Ahman Green's best year and the O Line was just mashing over D Lines most of the year. They used an extra RT in the formation and they rarely losed yards that year. Sherman should've had more faith in the O Line and Green, I think every RB GB had that year avg. at least 5.0 yds. per carry. It was fun to watch. There was no way Ahman would've been stopped twice in that game.

http://www.packers.com/team/stats/?year=2003

Ahman Green's stength that year was picking up 8 or 9 yards out of the U71 formation on first down, occasionally breaking off a longer one. He was not a short-yardage back. Davenport was their short-yardage guy, and he got stuffed on first down.

One fact not mentioned in the above Marvin Lewis story is that had the Bengals won that game they would have made the playoffs in 2006. The loss knocked them out.

I agree but Herm Edwards and Dick Curl could have easily won #1. I went to every Chiefs home game last year and i must say these two clowns did things that made you scratch your head and wonder how they call themselves professionals.
Hoping to rebound from their loss to the Titans, the Chiefs flew to The Meadowlands for a Week 8 duel with the New York Jets. Due to the season-ending injuries to QB's Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, Tyler Thigpen made his second career start. Thigpen became the starting quarterback by default.

In the first quarter, Kansas City trailed early as Jets QB Brett Favre completed an 18-yard TD pass to RB Leon Washington. In the second quarter, the Chiefs tied the game as Thigpen completed a 19-yard TD pass to TE Tony Gonzalez. New York responded with Washington getting a 60-yard TD run, yet Kansas City closed out the half with Thigpen completed an 11-yard TD pass to WR Mark Bradley.

In the third quarter, the Chiefs took the lead as rookie kicker Connor Barth nailed a 30-yard field goal, yet the Jets regained the lead with RB Thomas Jones getting a 1-yard TD run. In the fourth quarter, Kansas City took the lead again as rookie CB Brandon Flowers returned an interception 91 yards for a touchdown. However, New York got the last laugh as Favre completed a 15-yard TD pass to WR Laveranues Coles.

With the loss, the Chiefs fell to 1-6.


The game started well for the Chiefs who jumped out to a 24-3 lead, which included a "trick" touchdown pass from Mark Bradley (wide receiver) to Tyler Thigpen (quarterback). The momentum started to change when the Buccaneers ran a punt return for a touchdown and added a late field goal to cut the deficit to a 24-13 margin. In the fourth quarter, Tampa Bay picked up a late touchdown on a fumble to bring the game to a 27-25 deficit. They converted the two-point conversion to tie the game at 27-27. In overtime, the Buccaneers systematically ran the ball to the 30-yard line and then kicked the winning field goal to capture a 30-27 victory. It was the biggest margin they have overcome in their history. The loss was the Chiefs' 16th in the past 17 games.

With their 4th-staight loss, Kansas City fell to 1-7.


The Chiefs took an early lead on a 30 yard pass from Tyler Thigpen to Mark Bradley. The Chiefs defense continued to show improvement in the red zone, limiting the Chargers to two field goals instead of two touch downs. At the end of the first half, Thigpen threw a pass to 34 yard touchdown pass to Tony Gonzalez. However, the extra point snap was botched and an attempt at a quick pass failed.

The Chargers controlled the second half better than the first, scoring two touchdowns and leading the Chiefs by 7 at the end of the fourth quarter. The Chiefs' final drive ended with a 3 yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez. A 1-point PAT would tie the game. However, Herm Edwards told Thigpen to go for two, explaining in a post-game interview that the defense was too beat up for overtime play. The resulting two-point conversion ended in an incomplete pass. The Chiefs lost by one point.

With the loss, Kansas City fell to 1-8.
This is the worst:
The Chiefs hosted the 5-8 Chargers on December 14, hoping to end their slim playoff chances. Temperatures which hovered in the low 60s when early-arriving fans first showed up plunged into the 20s by the end of the game. The Chiefs dominated the game early, leading 14-3 at halftime. Chiefs quarterback Tyler Thigpen threw for one touchdown and ran for another for the Chiefs and was 19-for-28 for 171 yards.

The Chargers had three turnovers and, perhaps more embarrassing, gave up three sacks to the NFL's worst pass rush. Tamba Hali had two sacks and caused two fumbles for a Chiefs defense that hadn't gotten a sack since playing San Diego four games ago. The three sacks pushed Kansas City's season total to a league-low nine, and the Chiefs need five in their last two games to avoid tying the NFL record for fewest in a season. Five of the sacks from the season have come against San Diego.

Leading into the fourth quarter, Kansas City led 21-10, but allowed 11 points in the final 79 seconds of the game to lose 22-21. The Chiefs, despite having an 18 point lead, used up all three time-outs. The victory sealed a season sweep for San Diego over Kansas City, with both victories ending in a one-point margin.
The day after the Chiefs' loss to San Diego, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt announced the resignation of Carl Peterson from all positions held (general manager, vice president, and chief executive officer) effective at the end of the season.

The official press release stated that Peterson resigned, but Hunt had said the conversation had been on-going throughout the season. Hunt said his decision to relieve Peterson of duties was not based on what happened the previous day, when the Chiefs lost an 11-point lead in the final 73 seconds and were beaten 22-21 by San Diego, dropping their record to 2-12. Hunt also said that the fate of head coach Herman Edwards would be settled after the season. Hunt said he would split the duties previously held by Peterson and have someone in charge of the business side and someone else in charge of football for the franchise. Hunt said he plans on hiring someone from outside the organization.

Sorry but Herm and Dick are the worst!

jsrand, Ahman Green was the top short yardage back in the league that season. Coming into the Eagles playoff game, he was 13 of 14 for converting 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1. I thought it was a good risk to take control in the first half by going for the TD in lieu of the field goal. Sherman should have tried again in the fourth to win the game, but he got knockkneed.

Certainly do remember Sharper letting Mitchell catch the 4th and 26 and Owens catch the playoff game winner for the Niners, the only game Favre ever lost against the Niners, right after he marched the team for the lead score with less than 2 minutes left. Two of the biggest moments of Sharper's Packer career, and he came up woefully short both times. Wasn't brokenhearted to see him goe based on the amount of money he wanted to resign.

Wasn't aware of Green's success rate, but I would have expected to see Davenport in that situation. Green had a big day rushing against the Eagles in the regular season, but he also fumbled twice that day.