Herman Walker Edwards

I'm not looking to get into an angry political discussion on the day after the Jets won two playoff games in the stretch of a single maddening evening. It was a rousing win, one I hadn't expected, punctuated by some bold play-calling by the (rightfully) besieged little brain Paul Hackett and featuring a strong-armed throw by Chad Pennington, that in one exaggerated motion, might have resurrected this team's confidence and fortunes.

But for the second straight week, and who-knows-how-many times this season, Coach-In-Chief Herman Edwards has proven himself as bungling and hapless as anyone running anything in this country not living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Where to begin? Actually, let's start where it should end. Harry Truman had a plaque on his Oval Office desk proclaiming "The Buck Stops Here." Unlike President Bush, Truman knew that the hallmark of leadership is to accept the blame for anything that happens under his command. A true leader wouldn't blame the generals for inadequate troop strength like Bush did in the second debate. A true leader wouldn't reward incompetent underlings like Bush did when bestowing The Presidential Medal of Freedom on such stellar performers as Tommy Franks, Paul Bremer, and George Tenet (a man recently blamed for pre-9/11 intelligence failures by his peers).

And so the buck should stop with an NFL head coach. When Bill Parcells coached the Jets and the offense sputtered, he took over play-calling from offensive coordinator Dan Henning. Even perceived wimp Jim Fassel did the same when Sean Payton's circus offense was getting the Giants nowhere a few years back. Does anyone doubt whom the final authority is in New England?

I'm not saying that Herm doesn't accept the blame (or willfully deny the existence of unqualified failures as Bush does). But here in New York, Coach Edwards simply cannot manage his team and too often seems dumbfounded by the simplest gameday coaching decisions.

To wit: For two consecutive plays in the second half, the Jets lined up 10 men on defense. For those of you unfamiliar with American football, we play 11 to a side here. Blame defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson? Defensive captain and signal-calling NFL Defensive Rookie-of-the-Year Jonathan Vilma? No. The buck stops with Herm.

He's got that useless fogey Dick Curl tugging at the hem of his skirt for the first 28 minutes of each half before consulting him for insights obvious to even a casual fan. Um, why not give him the additional responsibility of maybe counting the players before each snap? Or one of the water boys, even? How can this happen in a playoff game? It's not August, for fuck's sake.

A shouting match with running backs coach Bishop Harris? Granted, Herm refused to divulge what this insanity was all about and passed it all off as a "family" quarrel. But what could these two possibly be arguing about during a game? If, as some have surmised, it was about the occasional insertion of Lamont Jordan over NFL rushing champion Curtis Martin, I have two questions. The first is: why is the running backs coach making gameday personnel decisions? If Herm wants to run Curtis or run Lamont, this should be his call to make. There should be no question. What he says goes. And the second: Is Lamont Jordan not the best back on this team?

Perhaps this is sacrilege to all you Curtis-lovers out there. Although Curtis has been the Jets' MVP of recent years, isn't there ample evidence that when given the chance, Lamont out-performs him? There were several runs last night when Curtis had an opportunity to turn the corner on San Diego's slow secondary, but as though in slow motion, he just couldn't get there. Flash-forward to Lamont's 19-yard, game-winning run around the left side (with a beautiful block by Jerald Sowell). Does anyone see Curtis making that cut upfield and accelerating through traffic? Has Curtis broken a tackle in the last 5 years? Isn't it obvious that Lamont has an infinitely greater upside? We'll continue this argument in the coming months after the Jets lose #34 in free agency, likely to a division opponent that will stuff him down our throats for years to come.

But the most beguiling Strom Herman moment came at the end of regulation when San Diego was driving to tie the game. Once it became 4th and goal with under one minute to go, because the Chargers still had a time-out, the clock ceased to be a factor. It was a 1-down game. The two most likely scenarios were a Chargers touchdown or a game-ending stop. There was no way to predict, nor should one plan for Barton's Gastineau imitation on Brees' head.

An intelligent coach, with the ability to actually think a play ahead, facing overtime on the road with no momentum and almost a full minute on the clock MUST CALL A TIMEOUT. Instead, Marty Schottenheimer let's the clock run all the way down to about 20 seconds before they call their own timeout, ensuring that the Jets would have little to no time after the score is tied to set up a game-winning field goal in regulation.

If anyone doubts the wisdom of this decision, ABC cameras caught Edwards mouthing to Donnie Edwards in feeble admission that he should have called his own timeout before the Barton play.

Why this was an afterthought, when the entire room of football fans I was with -- none of whom are paid millions to coach in the NFL-- understood this well in advance...just baffles me.

But then, the buck stops with Herm. Let's just hope there aren't any football decisions to make next weekend.