Blunderer of the Week, Brad Childress

NFL head coaches generally live in pressure cookers, and their game-management skills are really tested on Sundays. But just as the players are expected to perform on game day, so are the coaches. So when one of them really goofs up a game plan or mismanages the clock in crunch time, it deserves just as much press as a wide receiver dropping a sure game-winning touchdown pass.

Having said that, we have to ask, what the heck was Minnesota Vikings Head Coach Brad Childress thinking Sunday when he punted the ball away with roughly two minutes left in his team's loss to the Tenneesee Titans? At the time, he had no time outs on the board, and was trailing by 13 points. Was he not aware that all the Titans had to do to burn the clock was to kneel down a couple times? I mean, simple mathematical calculations should have told him that the Titans wouldn't have to run a single play at that juncture.

Granted, the likelihood that his offense would score two touchdowns in two minutes -- or convert on fourth down, for that matter -- was probably a longshot at best. But if he was aware of the circumstances and still punted the ball away, he might as well have waved a little white flag and pulled his team off the field. However, if he gave the ball up so late in the game not realizing there was no way his team would get it back, that's unforgiveable. Either way it's inexcusable, in my view.

That in itself would be bad enough, but Childress, during his Monday press conference, made matters worse when he addressed questions as to why he punted on fourth-and-13 from his own 18-yard line when faced with a 13-point deficit.

“Based on the way we were playing defense, I thought we’d have a chance to get it back,” Childress told reporters.

Yes, that's right. With a day to review the situation, Childress still seemed unaware that with no timeouts, there was no way he was going to get the ball back. That smacks of incompetence if you ask me. How can a guy rise to the level of NFL coach and not know that there's not enough time in that particular situation to get the ball back, let alone to score? Twice!

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