12/21/24
December 14, 2002
Maybe punting on first down wasn't a good idea....: Well, they're not as bad as that, but they're the ten biggest coaching blunders in history. I'm surprised that Marv Levy's allowing Thurman Thomas to literally sulk on the sideline for most of the second half of Super Bowl XXVIII didn't make the cut.
I'm glad that Dennis Green's decision in the NFC Championship Game was listed...I still don't understand why they didn't try for a score, instead of resign to OT. The others on the list are pretty good too, after the fact. Beforehand, sure, some might have looked like good ideas. But, then, hindsight is 20/20.
posted by bcb2k2 at 01:03 PM on December 14, 2002
Ah, I remember #7 all too well. Steele's quote: "I have an explanation, but it doesn't hold water" probably just reinforces the rumors that he was just trying to beat the spread. Good riddance, Kevin.
posted by Ufez Jones at 11:22 PM on December 14, 2002
Vikings fan. the most painful things about that Falcons game, in no particular order: - we never should have let them back in the game in the first place. - Green's bad call at the end from this article - the Falcons getting shellacked by the Broncos to prove they didn't belong there in the first place.
posted by Sean Meade at 03:27 PM on December 16, 2002
I like #3 the best. I don't know how you could not want the ball first in OT. It's not like you will get the ball first in the second half or anything. Any coach that decides to give the ball to the other team in OT might as well join a circus.
posted by Niche at 10:42 PM on December 16, 2002
#4 and #7 are by far the most obvious stupid blunders. All they have to do is kneel down and they win the game. Doing ANYTHING else is just moronic. But they did do something else and therefore lost. There is no excuse for what happened. Playing the wrong players (Buckner, Best, Russell, Branca) and making the wrong decision about overtime (Green, Mornhinweg) aren't really "blunders" because they could have easily gone the other way and no one would have said anything about it. Switzer and Tikhonov were just taking a gamble that didn't pay off correctly. A stupid gamble in Tikhonov's case... If I had to add one, it would be Brenly bringing in Byung-Hyun Kim in Game 5 of the 2001 World Series after throwing 2 2/3IP the night before and coughing up 2HR. Of course, he gives up the tying HR AGAIN with 2-out in the 9th inning. Sadly, people will forget about Brenly's bonehead decision because his team won the World Series in the end. But if they had lost, he'd be on this list for sure.