Put the blame for Chiefs? last-minute blunder on Edwards By JASON WHITLOCK The Kansas City Star EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. | If Chan Gailey?s explanation is accurate, it still doesn?t absolve Herm Edwards of blame for an embarrassingly asinine end-game strategy that gave one of the NFL?s all-time closers a final shot at finishing the Chiefs. ?It was me,? explained Gailey, Kansas City?s offensive coordinator, when I questioned him inside the locker room. ?It was my call.? Ahead by three points with 5 minutes, 20 seconds to play, the Chiefs abandoned the shotgun-no-huddle-spread attack that kept them competitive with the New York Jets throughout the afternoon and placed Tyler Thigpen under center and their fate in the hands of running back Kolby Smith. Why? ?That?s what we thought was best to win the game,? Gailey replied. Did Edwards instruct you to do it? ?My call!? Gailey barked. Was there a conversation with Edwards about KC?s approach? ?He could?ve overruled me,? Gailey said. By now, you know what happened. On a day when Smith finished with 15 yards in 11 carries, he did not pick up 10 and a first down on his final three totes. He gained 9 yards, and the Chiefs punted with a little more than 3 minutes left on the clock. Jets quarterback Brett Favre took full advantage of the strategic error, marching New York 46 yards in six plays for the go-ahead touchdown in a 28-24 victory. While it is indeed noble for Gailey to take responsibility for a blunder Chiefs fans are unlikely to forgive or forget, the self-sacrifice in no way provides cover for Edwards. Edwards is inept at managing and assembling a credible coaching staff. And based on his postgame comments, he?s still unaware that KC?s late-game plan flew in direct opposition to common sense. ?We thought we could make a first down,? he said. ?We were backed up, and we felt we could run the ball and take time off the clock.? Again, why? Larry Johnson was at home on punishment, grounded for conduct detrimental to nightclubs. A high-ankle sprain sidelined Jamaal Charles, the only KC runner who had been remotely effective against the Jets. The previous 54 minutes, 40 seconds, the Chiefs had picked up just two first downs on the ground. Besides the three gift interceptions offered up by Favre, the Chiefs were in Sunday?s game because Gailey had freed Thigpen to run the college-style offense he ran at Coastal Carolina. Thigpen moved the Chiefs the way Chase Daniel moves the Missouri Tigers. Operating from the spread, Thigpen completed 25 of 36 passes for 280 yards and two TDs. There was no reason to dump a scheme that carried a horrid football team to within 5 minutes of its second victory. Was it the right thing to do? ?No comment,? Thigpen said. Do you think it was smart to run three straight times? ?I didn?t see it,? linebacker Donnie Edwards said. Why did the Chiefs go away from what was working? ?No comment,? Tony Gonzalez said. I wake up every day determined to support Herm Edwards. He?s an extremely likable football coach. He?s friendly and honest with the news media. He?s generous with his time. But on Sundays he brings out my inner-angry columnist. I can?t defend what his teams don?t, and that means I can?t defend him. He?s miscast as a head football coach. You have to multitask. You have to have a feel for the flow of the game. Standing in the fire along the sideline is just too much for him. He can?t see the big picture from there. (Most head football coaches would be wise to coach from the press box. I?m praying that Joe Paterno never again leaves the press box.) Chan Gailey put together a brilliant game plan. The no-huddle spread simplifies a defense, makes a quarterback?s reads a bit easier. The easy reads lighten the load on the offensive line; it doesn?t have to protect as long. Thigpen looked like an NFL quarterback, and KC?s line appeared competent. With 5 minutes left, the Chiefs were playing with house money. No one expected them to win. They were going to get credit for spooking the Jets. Why not let Thigpen go down winging the football? He earned the right to win and/or lose the football game. Had he tossed a pick-six, no one would?ve blasted Edwards, Gailey or Thigpen. There was only one way to ruin Sunday?s game, and Edwards and Gailey found it. Well, according to the ?official? story, Gailey found the road to ruin, and Edwards wasn?t smart enough to redirect his assistant. I blame Edwards more than Gailey. To reach Jason Whitlock, call 816-234-4869 or send e-mail to jwhitlock@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.
Thanks Herm. 2 1st downs and its over and he runs the ball 3 times. Not even a screen pass. Incredible. We are so lucky!!!
Agreed!! At least they stayed with what was working until the end as opposed to staying with what wasn't working.. Better CS? You judge..
Please folks ignore this we dont need another thread on this. If you need just bump the 1000 other posts
I'd still rather have Mangini over Herm. It's a closer call than I ever thought it would've been though.
We don't so why do people bring up Herm? As long as they do I will indose some reality into the posts.
I thought the offensive play calling by the Jets was bad, but how exactly did Herm out coach the Jets CS? We were -3 in turnovers and won the game. I'd love to see the numbers on how often a team -3 in turnovers wins a game.
Not necessarily, when you look at who was on the field for each team for 60 minutes. Turnovers are part of the game, wouldn't you agree that better coached teams usually win the turnover battle? Thigpen was playing his second game ever, a few less than Favre. They had their 3rd string RB, we had almost everyone healthy and available.
I mentioned this yesterday in another thread. Herm is the worst coach in professional football and he gave the Chiefs no shot by going conservative at the end.
I'm not arguing that we had the better team out there. On paper the Jets should have killed them. When you have a +3 in turnovers you should be able to win the game almost every time though. I'd bet teams with a +3 lose less than 10% of the time. I thought for sure Montana, I mean Thigpen, was going to lead them to a game winning drive at the end though.
Enough already with the Herm stuff. He is gone and he is no longer our coach I am not sure why everybody is so fixated on him. Is there so little going on for this team that we have to spend this much time talking about our former coach? At the end of the day the chiefs were in a game that we should have won handily. It should not have come down to a change in offensive philosophy at the end of the game that gives us a shot at victory. The fact that they played us hard is a testement to Edwards as a coach, or is a indictment of mangini. You decide. I think it is a little of both.
