NFL: Schottenheimer can't catch a break

Why do these things keep happening to Marty Schottenheimer?

The Earnest Byner fumble. The John Elway drive. And now this.

His Chargers were leading 21-13 with less than 10 minutes to play and seemingly had salted away a victory when Marlon McCree intercepted Brady, San Diego's third interception of the day. But then it all unraveled.

McCree was stripped of the ball by New England's Troy Brown. Because, this is Schottenheimer the Patriots, of course, recovered, scored, got the two-point conversion to tie. Then, the next time they got the ball they drove for a game-winning field goal.

Thus, the Chargers glorious 14-2 regular season went up in smoke. And, probably, so did Schottenheimer's tenure as their coach.

It seems incredibly unfair. Schottenheimer is a good coach who seems to have bad things happen to his playoff teams. San Diego management is not fond of Schottenheimer, and has reportedly been looking for an excuse to replace him.

Sunday's Chargers collapse provides them with that excuse. Especially considering a decision by Schottenheimer to forsake a field goal from the New England 30 in the fourth quarter, which backfired when QB Philip Rivers fumbled and the Patriots recovered.

Schottenheimer has been a good coach for a long time, and he deserves better. Misfortune seems to follow him around, however, and now it will probably be following him out of San Diego.

technorati tags: NFL, Playoffs, Marty Schottenheimer, Football, San Diego Chargers