NFL

Coach Killers, Week 14: Anthony Smith to Have Mouth Surgically Sewn Shut

Posted Dec 10, 2007 12:00AM By Ryan Wilson (RSS feed)

Filed Under: 49ers, Jets, Lions, Steelers, Titans

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Every week, NFL FanHouse hits the lowlights from Sunday's action, looking at those players who did the most to move their head coaches that much closer to returning to the Bed and Breakfast business.

Anthony Smith, Steelers
Didn't see that coming, did you? First, let me say that I don't have any real problems with Smith, a second-year safety used primarily as a backup until starter Ryan Clark went on injured reserve earlier this season, smacking his gums during the week. It's football; guys yell and scream and run into each other for a living.

The problem, however, is that Smith single-handedly torpedoed Pittsburgh's already-slim chances with what can kindly be described as "his play." Early in the second quarter with the Pats leading 7-3, Smith bit on a play-action pass that resulted in 63-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss.

And on New England's first drive of the second half, they ran the same play that the Steelers used to break the Bengals' back in the 2005 wild-card game: wide receiver throwback, quarterback hits the deep post. But instead of Antwaan Randle El, Ben Roethlisberger and Cedrick Wilson, it was Moss, Tom Brady, and Jabar Gaffney. The guy responsible for not letting Gaffney get behind the defense? Yep, Mr. Smith.

Photos: NFL Coaches On The Hot Seat


That touchdown totally changed the momentum in the game; all that was left to be decided was by how much the Pats would win. Ended being 21 points.

Jason Hanson, Lions
Hanson is one of the most consistent kickers in the NFL, but the 16-year veteran honked a 35-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter with the Lions leading 27-21. Predictably, Detroit would end up losing by one point, thanks to a last second Tony Romo-to-Jason Witten touchdown pass. And the legend grows...

No, not Romo's ascent into the top-5 NFL quarterbacks conversation, but Matt Millen's ability to keep his job in the face of gross negligence.

It's also worth pointing out that in addition to Hanson's miscue, the Lions had a chance to win it on the Cowboys' last drive. Defensive end Jared DeVries forced a Romo fumble, Detroit had a chance to recover ... only to watch Dallas offensive lineman Kyle Kosier fall on the ball. Seven plays later, Witten scores. And Millen's streak lives.

Titans Defense
Was there a more demoralizing loss this weekend? The Titans were in control of this game for, oh, 59 minutes, and then, out of nowhere, a one-legged Philip Rivers hobbles the San Diego offense down the field before finding tight end Antonio Gates in the end zone to tie the score with 17 seconds on the clock.

Then in overtime, LaDainian Tomlinson took over, scoring on a 16-yard run as Stephen Tullock and Michael Griffin whiffed on tackles. And that was that. Not only did the Titans lose, but they pretty much, ahem, guaranteed they would be sitting at home come playoff time.

By the way, Albert Haynesworth and Kyle Vanden Bosch dominated for most of the day, blowing up the line of scrimmage and harassing Rivers. Unfortunately, when it mattered most, Rivers somehow found a way to get the ball in the end zone. Think about that: Tennessee, one of the league's best defenses, was bested by Norvell Turner. That's going to require some therapy.

49ers Offense
Trent Dilfer's day got off to a crappy start, and then it got worse. On the second play of the game, Dilfer was intercepted by defensive tackle Kevin Williams ... who promptly took it to the house, pick-six. That's called a tone-setter.

At the end of the first half, Dilfer suffered a head injury and didn't come back. Yep, with Alex Smith on the shelf, that meant it was Shaun Hill time. To his credit, Hill did complete 22 of 28 passes, but also tossed a pick to the other Vikings defensive linemen, Pat Williams. That has to be some kind of record.

And while Tarvaris Jackson looks more like Fran Tarkenton -- sans mop top -- every week, and the Vikings' running game is, well, the Vikings running game, the 49ers' offense continues to regress. Obviously, the quarterback situation is partially to blame, but Frank Gore has also had a forgettable season, and we're still waiting on Vernon Davis to do anything.

Eric Mangini, Jets
Jeebus. Mangini is making it really hard to continue to call him Mangenius. The Jets are a three-win team and the head coach channeled his inner Herm Edwards in Sunday's loss to the Browns. I'll defer to FanHouse's Josh Alper for the details:
On fourth and 10 from the Browns 20 with just under two minutes to play ... the score was 17-12 [Browns] and the [Jets] had all of their time outs left when Eric Mangini sent Mike Nugent in to kick a 37-yard field goal. That set up an onside kick, something the Jets had pulled off moments earlier to set up the field goal, but Joe Jurevicius recovered the kick and returned it into Jets territory. When Jamal Lewis scampered 31 yards for a touchdown three plays later the game was over.
Come again? A field goal, down by five with less than two minutes to go? Really? I think I just put my finger on why New York has lost 10 times this season. On the upside, Mangini kicked another field goal with 37 seconds to go and trailing by nine points. I guess he liked his chances of recovering a third consecutive onside attempt. Amazingly, it didn't work out.

Next up: the PatriotGate Payback Game. I'll conservatively set the line at +75 for the Jets.

Tags: albert+haynesworth, AlbertHaynesworth, alex+smith, AlexSmith, anthony+smith, AnthonySmith, antonio+gates, AntonioGates, antwaan+randle+el, AntwaanRandleEl, ben+roethlisberger, BenRoethlisberger, cedrick+wilson, CedrickWilson, CoachKillers, eric+mangini, EricMangini, fran+tarkenton, frank+gore, FrankGore, FranTarkenton, herm+edwards, HermEdwards, jabar+gaffney, JabarGaffney, jared+devries, JaredDevries, jason+hanson, jason+witten, JasonHanson, JasonWitten, kevin+williams, KevinWilliams, kyle+kosier, kyle+vanden+bosch, KyleKosier, KyleVandenBosch, ladainian+tomlinson, LadainianTomlinson, matt+millen, MattMillen, michael+griffin, MichaelGriffin, norv+turner, NorvTurner, pat+williams, PatWilliams, philip+rivers, PhilipRivers, randy+moss, RandyMoss, ryan+clark, RyanClark, shaun+hill, ShaunHill, stephen+tullock, StephenTullock, tarvaris+jackson, TarvarisJackson, tom+brady, TomBrady, tony+romo, TonyRomo, trent+dilfer, TrentDilfer, vernon+davis, VernonDavis

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