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10/11/22 Hey, NFL Coaches! You get paid to think!

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Raiders’ coach Josh McDaniels’ decision to go for two with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter after a huge touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Davante Adams had pulled his team to within one point of the Chiefs at 30-29 made no sense whatsoever. And the fact that most Raiders players seemed to support McDaniels’ decision (after their fourth loss in five games) changes nothing. Unified, collective stupidity is no less stupidity.

A coach’s in-game job is to keep open as many paths to victory as possible. There are four and a half minutes left. Your defense has been pretty much powerless to stop the Chiefs in the second half. If you go for two and make it, you have not guaranteed victory, or really even significantly raised your chances of winning. But if you go for it and fail (which they did) you have taken OT out of the picture. Your job is to keep doors open, not to close them.

Cold “analytics” say you have a better than 50 percent chance of making a two-point conversion. OK. But here’s a situation where the downside of failing greatly exceeds the upside of succeeding.

We’re seeing more and more coaches “think” with their gonads instead of their brains. This creeping insanity really took root last season, when we saw coach after coach make inexplicable decisions to “go for it” on fourth down, regardless of field position and game situation, and “go for two” when it made no sense.

The Dunce Corner of The Royal Order of NFL Mindless Machismo currently includes:

Josh McDaniels

Zac Taylor

Brandon Staley (maybe the most chronic offender of all of them)

John Harbaugh

Nathaniel Hackett

Kliff Kingsbury

WWCLD? What would Coach Landry do? He would think, rather than spasm.

Analytics make a lot of sense in baseball. Baseball is pure stats. That’s simply not the case in football, because there are so many more moving parts and so few games in a regular season, 17 as opposed to 162. A football coach can “analyze” himself into unemployment, and several of these guys are headed that direction.

Kick the damn PAT.

Yeah, let me beat you to the punch. Yes, even The Sainted Andy Reid unnecessarily went for two earlier in the game. Not a great decision, either, but Reid may have been taking his team’s recent kicking woes into account.

The Chiefs come from 17 down to win. Mahomes is now 23-3 against the AFC West. Travis Kelce had only 25 receiving yards, but turned them into four touchdowns.

Look. I’m all for protecting NFL quarterbacks. Quarterbacks are the product and the brand in the NFL. If your quarterback is unavailable and can’t perform, neither can the rest of your offense. But this is ridiculous. The flag the Falcons got Sunday for that love pat on Brady was a travesty. And that Monday night call on KC’s Chris Jones for gently escorting Derek Carr to the ground was even worse. What is a pass-rusher supposed to do?

Hey, Davante. Are you missing Aaron yet?         

I almost think getting fired was the best thing that could happen to Matt Rhule. He’s a college coach. And a very good one. His is now better off, IMO. And the Panthers still owe him $40 million.

Astros open up against the Mariners today. I’ll prepare by buying Rolaids by the bulk. Postseason baseball tears my stomach up.

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Paul's Bio

I clearly have the attention span of your median fruit fly.Look! Airplane!

Sorry. I’m back.

It’s both a curse and a blessing. I’ve never bought this stuff about, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” But I do think that a wide range of life experiences helps us grow as people, and helps us better relate to other people. I’ve been fortunate. And I am beyond grateful.

I show up on time. I go like hell. I’m a good listener. I hold myself accountable. I own my mistakes. And I have a natural and an insatiable curiosity. I’m never afraid to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t. But then I try to find out.

The flip side is I’m a lousy ballroom dancer and my clothes sometimes fit me funny.

Stuff matters to me. I care. But while I take that stuff seriously, I try hard to never take myself seriously. As a result, I have sometimes been told, “Paul, it’s hard to tell when you’re serious and when you’re just having some fun. Which is it? Serious or fun?”

My answer is “yes.” But I think that is a legitimate criticism. I promise I’m going to work on that.

This has been the quickest and strangest half-century I’ve ever experienced. During that period, I’ve been afforded amazing opportunities in news and sports journalism across all platforms. I have taught wonderful students at the high school and collegiate level. Always, I learned more from them than they did from me. I’ve been a high school administrator. I spent ten seasons as a high school varsity football coach. I’ve been an advertising executive. I’ve hosted nationally syndicated television entertainment shows. In maybe the biggest honor I ever received, I was selected by NASA to be “Chet The Astronaut” for the “Land The Shuttle” simulator at Space Center Houston. (All I can say there, is “Do as I say, not as I do.” I put that thing in the Everglades more often than not.) Most recently, I just wrapped up a decade as a television news director, during which time our teams distinguished themselves in holding the powerful accountable, achieving both critical and ratings success.

What does all that mean? It means I am profoundly grateful. It also means I’m ready for “next.” So here we are. Radically Rational. It’s an idea I woke up with in 2017. I scribbled “Radically Rational” on a piece of notebook paper and used a magnet to stick it on our refrigerator. I saw it every day, and it just would not leave me alone.

I am second in charge at Radically Rational, LLC. My wife, Jo (also known as BB), is the president. Clearly, I have failed in my attempt to sleep my way to the top of this organization.

I hope you will learn that I’m loyal as a Labrador. But I will admit that this doggie can bite every now and then. My promise to you? I will show up on time. I will go like hell. I will listen to you earnestly and attentively. I will hold myself accountable. I will never be the least bit hesitant to say, “I don’t know,” when I don’t.

But then I’ll try to find out. Let’s do it.