Clements and McCoy Suddenly Available as Packers and Broncos Lose in Divisional Playoffs
If Chicago Bears GM Phil Emery was worried that he would have to wait around while his coaching candidates went deep into the playoffs and couldn’t be hired, a couple of those worries disappeared on Saturday night. Two of Emery coaching candidates, Packers offensive coordinator and Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy both suddenly have nothing going on as their teams dropped their playoff games.
Dec 30 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (center) and head coach John Fox (right) and offensive coordinator Mike McCoy (right) on the sidelines in he fourth quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs at Sports Authority Field. The Broncos defeated the Chiefs 38-3. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
The Baltimore Ravens pulled off a big upset, going into Mile High Stadium and beating Mike McCoy and the Denver Broncos 38-35 in double overtime. Peyton Manning had an uncharacteristically sloppy game, tossing two interceptions – both to former Chicago Bears special teamer turned cornerback Corey Graham and giving up a fumble in the loss.
The biggest disappointment for the Broncos had to be their defense. Clinging to a 7-point lead with less than a minute left in the 4th quarter, they gave up a 70 yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones. Inexcusably bad play by the Broncos safety taking a terrible angle and getting beat over the top.
As for our ‘friends’ up North, the Packers just got their gold pants pulled down and got spanked. The 49ers dominated them and pulled away in the second half to send the Packers back to Green Bay with a 45-31 loss. It’s the Packers’ second straight one-and-done in the postseason.
Again, the biggest problem for the Packers was their defense. They didn’t have an answer for Colin Kaepernick, who threw a pair of touchdown passes and ran for a couple more as he led San Francisco in both passing and rushing. It was an impressive outing by the Niner offense.
With their losses, Clements and McCoy are both available for the Bears head coaching search. In the case of both coordinators, if the Bears wanted any more interviews, they’d have to wait until the week before to Super Bowl to have any official followup interviews had their teams won.
Emery will have to sit back and watch the Sunday games to see if all his candidates come free. Seahawks’ OC Darryl Bevel and Texans offensive coordinator Rick Dennison are both on underdogs on Sunday. If their teams end up losing, I would expect the Bears coaching search to come to a resolution in short order, most likely within another week.
What do you think? Do either of these coordinators do anything for you?