Michael Silver (who has become one of my favorite sports writers) has a good article on the return of Mike Shanahan.
The true significance of Sunday’s game was Shanahan’s gutsy decision to go all in and play for the win – a course that he and Cutler plotted as the Chargers went up by 7 with 4:22 remaining.
Strip it all away, and this was an "I’m Back" statement from a coach nearly a decade removed from his last Super Bowl victory who is coming off a losing season he found untenable.
It was a power move by a play-calling savant who knows he finally has the quarterback who can help the Mile High City get over its collective post-John Elway hangover.
And, let’s be honest, it was the act of a man who, despite recent rumblings to the contrary, is secure in his environment. Now in his 14th season, the league’s second-longest-tenured head coach was willing to risk the backlash that would have accompanied a failed conversion. Given that only six other coaches had pulled a similarly risky move (going for two while down a point in the final two minutes) since the advent of the rule in 1994 – and only two of those six had been successful – Shanahan had to be feeling mighty exposed.
Let’s be honest: He’s been waiting for a chance to expose himself in good conscience for a long time. And even in those tense moments before he knew how the outcome would play out, Shanahan loved every second of it.
"I think so," said Cutler, who completed 36 of 50 passes for 350 yards and four touchdowns in a performance that we may remember as the day he became a big-time NFL passer. "I think he’s comfortable being aggressive. We’re attacking a lot more this year. We’ve got so many weapons. Our receivers are stepping up, our tight ends are exciting and our backs are so versatile. And with the way our line’s playing, we feel like we can attack you any way you want."
Most of all Cutler, in his third season, has progressed to a point where Shanahan wants nothing more than the ball in his quarterback’s right hand with the game on the line.
"That’s why you go for it," Shanahan said afterward as he sat in the coaches’ locker room at Invesco, his face still flushed from the excitement. "I’ve always believed you get a good feel for a quarterback in his third year, and I knew going into this offseason that Jay was capable of doing what he’s done these first two games. If he keeps on playing at this level, good things will happen."
