Griffin definitely deserves some of the blame for that injury. It's not 100% on Shanahan.
Most boxers get back up and want to continue after they've been knocked senseless. MMA fighters complain when their bouts are stopped--even if they don't know where they are at that second.
Someone has to be the adult there. In fighting, that's the corner or the ref. In football, that's the coach.
Leaders also admit mistakes and take blame. I make multiple mistakes every week, if not one every single day. At times I make incredibly stupid decisions.
And I totally respect an ego on a coach. I think it's healthy.
It may have been even healthier if Shanny would have just come out and taken the blame, instead of lying about the team doctor. From where I sit, he didn't act like a leader.
Griffin should get better. Culpepper never did return to form.
So we have a coach who made an incredibly stupid decision (both Keim and Tandler say it was the lowest point of his entire career) and then he appeared to try and pass the buck. That's not a great thing.
And it's that's same ego, along with bad drafting and awful defenses that got him fired in Denver. From ESPN:
In Denver, Shanahan ran everything and as things went downhill, he relieved defensive coordinators -- Greg Robinson, Ray Rhodes, Larry Coyer and Jim Bates -- in almost revolving-door fashion.
It's not clear how it contributed to his firing, but the Rocky Mountain News reported on Tuesday night that Bowlen asked Shanahan to make another change at defensive coordinator -- this time cutting loose Bob Slowik. Shanahan reportedly refused. He had said after Sunday's loss that he would not fire another defensive coordinator.
This year, as the defense floundered, it became obvious it wasn't just a coaching problem. It was an issue of talent on the field, and in Denver, the buck stopped with Shanahan.
He focused on defense in 2007, using two of his four picks for defensive linemen Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder, neither of whom has been much of a factor. Also of late, he wasted a third-round pick on Maurice Clarett (2005), spent millions on Travis Henry (2007), never got anything from Boss Bailey, Niko Koutouvides and Dewayne Robertson (2008).
Cutler, along with receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal, make up the core of what could be a very promising offense in years to come. But the defense Shanahan assembled was wretched -- allowing more than 400 points over the past two seasons -- and the Broncos hardly looked like contenders.
Denver Broncos fire Mike Shanahan after season falls apart - ESPN
And yeah, that's the same Bob Slowik we have here.
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