I like Jim Caldwell.

I like the fact that he is from the Tony Dungy coaching tree, and that he is representing Dungy well.  It also didn’t hurt that Caldwell went to the Super Bowl in his first year of coaching.

Having said that, he should be on the firing line after his clock mismanagement against the Jets Saturday night.

Let me reset the scene for you.

The Jets just ran the ball to reach the Colts’ 32 yard-line with 29 seconds left in the game.  You’d figure the Jets will call their last timeout to keep from scrambling to get another play in.  Instead, it was Caldwell who offered the Jets that lifeline in calling the COLTS’ last time out.  Watching Peyton Manning flail his arms in disgust was priceless.

That gave the Jets time to regroup, draw up (and make) the big play to Braylon Edwards to get them much closer for the game-winning field goal.  So, instead of worrying about kicking a 50-yard game-winner, kicker Nick Folk trotted onto the field and nailed a 32-yard field goal with no time remaining.

Game, set, match.

What was worse was Caldwell’s explanation for that dubious timeout.

“I don’t care…”  Really Jim?  He should care, because the next time he screws up in the playoffs in similar fashion, you bet your ass Manning will have him replaced with someone who CAN coach…

Categories: NFL, sports story