Sometimes, good coaching and good fortune collide the way a marksman hits a moving target. While the Bears’ Dave Wannstedt watches not one but two running backs break their legs, Minnesota’s Dennis Green watches his team score 10 points in the final 90 seconds to win a playoff game.
“Very rarely can you have a chance to show your stuff,” Green said. “Today, you saw my stuff.”
It was the fourth game this season the Vikings won in the final minute, two of them against the Bears. But what happened at the end of the Vikings’ 23-22 victory over the New York Giants last weekend wasn’t as shocking as what happened a few minutes before. After a field goal put the Vikings down 22-12, they ran five plays and punted without calling a timeout as the clock moved from 7:03 to 3:51. Then they let the Giants run two plays and take 51 more seconds off before finally calling their second timeout with 3 minutes left.
The Vikings got the ball back with 2:06 left, and with help from the 2-minute warning, scored with 1:30 remaining to pull within two. After recovering an onside kick, they ran off seven plays, including an interference penalty, without using their third timeout.
“We knew we would have to make an onside kick to win,” Green said.
Strange strategy to wait that long for a sense of urgency, but it worked, which made Green smarter than some of his playoff coaching counterparts last weekend.
At the end of the third quarter, the Giants started fighting among themselves. First, defensive back Phillippi Sparks argued with nickel back Conrad Hamilton about where to line up. It got so heated that linebacker Jessie Armstead intervened and a timeout was needed. Then defensive coordinator John Fox had to get between linemen Keith Hamilton and Michael Strahan in a sideline quarrel.
“We lost our composure,” coach Jim Fassel said.
“It kind of tore us apart,” Strahan said.
Detroit Lions coach Bobby Ross knew the Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew Barry Sanders was good. Therefore, Ross decided to pass on his first three plays because he thought the Bucs thought he would run.
“You have to love their offensive coordinator. That’s crazy,” Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp said.
Does coaching matter in the playoffs?
You’d better believe it. Lost in last year’s Super Bowl sideshow of Bill Parcells leaving New England was why he insisted on kicking to the Packers’ Desmond Howard or why he had a safety covering Andre Rison in the slot.
It is why Green Bay’s Mike Holmgren goes into this postseason as the big guy on the block. Overlooked during a year of exceptional coach-of-the-year candidates, he will settle for coach of the postseason.
Here’s the handicapping chart for the eight remaining coaches:
– Holmgren has the best postseason record at 7-3 and is the only coach with a Super Bowl ring. His biggest challenge will be choosing the right replacement for kick returner Howard. After a regular season of failed experiments, he will decide Saturday whether Antonio Freeman or Robert Brooks will return punts. Holmgren is not overthinking this one. “If we kick punts to Antonio all week and he drops them, I’m not going to use him,” he said.
On such decisions are champions made.
– Tony Dungy won his first playoff game Sunday and has the Bucs knowing what they need to do to beat the Packers. Again, the approach is simple and sound, much like his offense and his defense. Don’t get excited. Protect the ball. Get turnovers. Dungy beat Fassel, Green, Steve Mariucci and Pete Carroll in the regular season.
– San Francisco’s Mariucci awaits his first playoff game after an exceptional first season of coaching. He lost Jerry Rice and Steve Young in the season opener, but Young said the way Mariucci handled it helped the team win 11 in a row. Maybe he was too stunned to panic.
– Green won his first playoff game after four losses, but doing it with his fifth quarterback is impressive. Green has made five lineup shifts on defense and is playing with a third-string center, and his players swear by him. If he wants to rely on onside kicks, his players believe.
– Pittsburgh’s Bill Cowher is the only other playoff coach with Super Bowl experience. He has a 4-5 playoff record and a fast-growing reputation as the coach who gets the most out of his players.
– Kansas City’s Marty Schottenheimer carries more playoff baggage than any other coach. His 5-10 record with Cleveland and the Chiefs stamps him as a playoff loser who gets too conservative in big games. But this looks like a more aggressive team.
– Denver’s Mike Shanahan is 1-1, splitting two games he was supposed to win against Jacksonville. He also was supposed to win the AFC West, but must play in Kansas City, where he lost 24-22. Losses at Pittsburgh and San Francisco down the stretch raised questions only a victory can answer.
– New England’s Carroll also is 1-0 and still struggling to escape the shadow of Parcells. Last year in Foxboro, Parcells ousted Pittsburgh from the playoffs 28-3, but he had a healthy Curtis Martin. Carroll is in Pittsburgh without Martin, which means he’ll just have to coach better.
