Loss Will Mean Something Next Season

A review of Week 17 in the NFL, and the mastermind still has it. Mike Shanahan’s strategy once again impeccable, the Broncos lost a meaningless season finale to San Diego.

There are not many coaches who could have had their team play dead against the likes of the Chargers, who were missing their top five defensive backs and Junior Seau, and who were forced to play Moses Moreno at quarterback in the second half.

But on a visit to Denver a week ago, there was already an exciting buzz in the air, prompted by talk of securing a fifth-place schedule, the best remedy to recover seemingly overnight and return to Super Bowl contention.

The Broncos, who could have picked as low as 17th in the draft had they beaten San Diego, have now been guaranteed a choice in the top 10. This does not concern the Chargers, because they never have a No. 1 pick--2000’s top choice already promised to Tampa Bay.

The Broncos’ dive also means they will play the Bengals on the road rather than going to Indianapolis next season. Denver also gets Cleveland, New England, San Francisco and Atlanta at home, while playing the Jets, Rams and Saints on the road.

But kudos to San Diego for going 8-8.

COACH OF THE YEAR

Forget it No. 1: Popular sentiment in some quarters had the Jets’ Bill Parcells “doing the best coaching job of his career� this season, but if he was, how come he elected to start Rick Mirer at quarterback over Ray Lucas, waiting only until the Jets qualified to be spoilers before becoming smart and promoting Lucas.

Forget it No. 2: Baltimore’s Brian Billick also received rave reviews for the Ravens’ strong finish, but this is a guy who called off a trade for Brad Johnson, because it was too expensive, and then started Scott Mitchell at quarterback, followed by Stoney Case before running out of quarterbacks and throwing Tony Banks onto the field.

Forget it No. 3: Detroit’s Bobby Ross picked up a lot of support after opening the season 6-2 without Barry Sanders. Once Ross realized how much he needed Sanders, the Lions went in the tank.

The winner: Tampa Bay’s Tony Dungy. Anyone who starts the season with Trent Dilfer as the franchise quarterback has no shot at this reward, but after the Buccaneers went 3-4, he took a team with no offense to 11-5 and atop the NFC Central. In the last three seasons, Dungy has taken one of the NFL’s all-time doormats and put them in the playoffs twice with an overall record of 29-19.

LEAGUE MVP

Forget it No. 1: Remember when 49er offensive guru Bill Walsh proclaimed Arizona quarterback Jake Plummer the next Joe Montana? Time to retract that statement. Plummer took the Cardinals down this season and was 35th among the 35 quarterbacks rated.

Forget it No. 2: St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner will top most ballots, but even a World League quarterback can look good throwing against the 49er defensive backs twice a year and playing the Saints and Falcons every other week.

Forget it No. 3: Marshall Faulk led the NFL in total yards from scrimmage, averaged 5.5 yards a carry and was fourth in the NFC with 87 receptions. But he’s a sourpuss, and the rules here say that he’s disqualified.

The winner: Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning didn’t have numbers as good as Warner’s but his team played in a tougher division, and the Colts ran into more than half a dozen teams that were in first place in their divisions at the time they played Indianapolis. And the Colts prevailed, going from 3-13 to 13-3 in Manning’s second season.

THIS JUST IN

Coach Chan Gailey stepped before 10 TV cameras, 14 microphones and a dozen tape recorders Monday afternoon at the Cowboys’ practice facility to discuss Sunday’s playoff game with the Vikings, and said, “You’ve got to be able to score points to win.�

That’s why owner Jerry Jones gives the pep talks to the team.

OUT OF NOWHERE

* Carolina quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who played previously for the Raiders, Cowboys, Cardinals and Jaguars, throwing for 53 touchdowns in those nine years with 52 interceptions, delivered a shocking performance with 36 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions.

Beuerlein, who will undergo hernia surgery, before having a knee, ankle and shoulder surgically repaired, became one of only 11 players in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in a season.

* Jeff George was an afterthought in Minnesota, ignored by every other team after the Raiders elected not to keep him, and came on to replace Randall Cunningham after a 2-4 start and lead the Vikings to a 10-6 finish.

* Running back Olandis Gary wasn’t even in uniform for the Broncos’ first four games when Denver opened 0-4, and then lost running back Terrell Davis for the season. Gary, like Davis a little-known back from the University of Georgia, set a Denver rookie rushing record.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

* Nineteen players ran for more yards than Saint running back Ricky Williams, who was acquired to carry New Orleans’ offense on his back, signing an incentive-heavy contract with the knowledge that Coach Mike Ditka would feed him the ball.

Williams finished with 884 yards, running 14 times for only seven yards in the final game of the season against Carolina.

* After two seasons, Manning has thrown 43 interceptions, whereas Charger quarterback Ryan Leaf has thrown only 15. Of course, Leaf has also played in 22 fewer games and thrown 50 fewer touchdown passes than Manning.

* Quarterback Mitchell was benched after the first two games in Detroit two seasons ago, never to play the rest of the season, and benched after the second game this season with Baltimore, never to play again.

PLAYOFF TIDBITS

* The Lions should call it quits right now. They not only have lost four consecutive games, but will be going to Washington, where they have lost 19 in a row.

* The Cowboys have dropped seven successive road games, one a 27-17 setback at Minnesota. They have averaged 14.3 points in those defeats, and will be playing in the Metrodome against the explosive Vikings.

* Fifteen quarterbacks have higher quarterback ratings in the AFC than Dan Marino, only Kordell Stewart ranking lower. And he finished the season playing wide receiver.

* If only Tampa Bay, stellar on defense, and Washington, potent on offense, could combine their teams for the playoffs.

* Tennessee has jumped on its last two opponents, the Jaguars and Steelers, early and if it does so again against Buffalo in Saturday’s playoff game, look out for the Bills. The Bills overcame a 35-3 deficit in a wild-card playoff game Jan. 3, 1993, against the Houston Oilers, who later became the Titans, and won, 41-38 in overtime.

* Tampa Bay needs every break it can get on offense, but it won’t have tackle Paul Gruber. Gruber, who holds the Tampa Bay record for most games played and started at 183--which means he has been on a ton of losing teams--missed the end of the Buccaneers’ NFC Central-clinching win because of a broken leg, which keeps him out of the playoffs.

* Jacksonville appears to be falling into a heap. Quarterback Mark Brunell is trying to recover from a knee injury, and now tackle Tony Boselli has been lost because of a knee injury.

TOO MANY DAYS OFF

After the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs, Coach Gunther Cunningham said, “After working for two years and only taking four days off, it’s disappointing.�

There are two ways to look at that:

1. If you work two years, take only four days off and finish 9-7, maybe you should be doing something else.

2. Why did you need four days off?

AND FINALLY . . .

The folks in Dallas take their 8-8 seasons hard, even if it does mean advancing to the playoffs. Instead of getting the full dose of homerism that a team such as the Chargers is enjoying in San Diego after going 8-8 and missing the playoffs, the Cowboys awoke to rebuke.

“No matter how high you stack the proof, the soft-touch NFC, like the O.J. jury, is all about forgiveness,� wrote Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Randy Galloway. “The Cowboys got away with murder this season to get to downtown Minneapolis for Sunday’s wild-card round against the Vikings.�