Who Lost The Divisional Playoff?
By Because of some serious F-Train issues on my way to meet a friend before the (excellent) Secret Society gig, I missed almost all of the second half, so I can’t say. But I see that at least one scribe is already blaming the Chargers’ loss on Schottenheimer. What I do notice, however, is that this particular argument is just tendentious bullshit–the writer keeps asserting that Schottenheimer “played not to lose,” but the only major failed strategic decision he talks about was a 4th-down gamble that, while probably ill-advised, was certainly the antithesis of playing not to lose. Rather, the key plays seem to have been a post-interception fumble and a random dumb penalty, which would have little or nothing to do with coaching per se. I can’t say, obviously, but nothing in the highlights or the accounts suggests that this was a game turned on the Chargers being too conservative.
Look, Belichik–while highly dislikable–is an unassailably great coach, and Schottenheimer (while very good) isn’t. But sometimes a cigar etc. You can tell me if something doesn’t show up in the highlights, but by all accounts what happened is that the the Patriots made a couple plays the Chargers didn’t. I don’t think it says anything about the character (or, in this case, even the ability) of the losing coach.
Oh, and the other game was teh suck, but an honorable loss.