NBC 7’s Derek Togerson offers a look at what the rest of the Chargers season might look like in this commentary
One of the main plot points in Christopher Nolan’s wildly successful Batman trilogy is the rise and fall of Harvey Dent. People thought he would be the man to clean up Gotham City. They believed in Harvey Dent. Turns out adversity made him something less than the savior they had hoped for.
When Mike McCoy was hired as the Chargers head coach and took the team to the AFC Divisional Playoff round, almost upsetting the Broncos in January, I really thought he would be the guy to lead the Bolts through an era of sustained excellence. I believed in Mike McCoy.
It pains me to say this but ... boy was I wrong. Now in to his third year we’re seeing what McCoy is really capable of. It became crystal clear in Monday Night’s 24-20 come-from-ahead-loss to the Steelers.
Slide right to left to see a comparison.
When Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin decided to go for it from the 1-yard-line with five seconds to play instead of kicking a game-tying field goal to force overtime it showed a brashness, a determination and a belief that only a very few NFL head coaches possess. Tomlin was asked why he gambled on Le’Veon Bell’s ability to score instead of playing it safe.
“We’re just trying to win,” he said. “We’re trying to win the game. I’m not going to overanalyze the call. I’ll leave that to you guys.”
After the game I was asked if McCoy would have done the same thing in that situation. The answer is a resounding NO. Nah. Nope. Nay. Niet.
McCoy’s philosophy on game management seems to be, “Just don’t mess it up.” Just go back to Week 2 in Cincinnati when he decided not to use his time outs to give Philip Rivers a chance to score, instead allowing the Bengals’ punt unit to sit on the field until the clock his triple-zero. That’s a recent example but certainly not the only one.
Go back to last December on NBC’s Sunday Night Football when McCoy decided to punt on 4th and 4 in the 4th quarter while trailing by nine with 6:28 to play. Or the end of the game at Tennessee in September of 2013 when McCoy had a slim lead and called a series of running plays to instead of letting Rivers throw his way to a win.
The point is … this is a pattern of behavior and barring some kind of Jerry Maguire-esque epiphany it’s not going to change any time soon. In an interview with Mighty 1090’s Darren Smith during training camp McCoy was asked about his reputation as a fairly conservative coach.
“We’re trying to win football games,” said McCoy, “you can say yes and no.” McCoy then said his decisions will depend on lots of factors and change from game-to-game because (and you’ve heard this one before) Mike is doing what he thinks is best for the football team.
The problem is he really thinks his decisions are best for the football team. He believes that not giving a future Hall of Fame QB a shot to get points at the end of a half in Cincinnati is best for the football team. He believes that giving Tom Brady the ball with less than seven minutes to play when behind by two possessions is good for the football team.
You don’t have to have played a single down in the NFL to know that line of thinking is, at best, fallacious and, at worst, terrifying.
On Monday night McCoy gave credit to the Steelers for the win, and rightfully so. Pittsburgh has a good team that did play well (although they should have been buried by the end of the 3rd quarter).
Mike Tomlin is in his 9th year as Pittsburgh’s head coach and has never had a losing season, making five trips to the playoffs. The last time Pittsburgh did have a losing record was 2003.
“The type of football they play, we knew what we were dealing with,” said McCoy.
The type of football the Steelers play is called “winning football” or “win at all costs football.” If Mike McCoy is interested in doing what’s best for the football team he’ll start doing things a little more like Tomlin does things instead of this “play not to lose football” we’ve seen far too much of.
I’m not saying he’s not capable of adapting and letting loose a little bit, although he has not shown that ability yet. I’m just saying if he doesn’t this is going to be another lost NFL season in San Diego.
