Pat Shurmur, game manager extraordinaire

Nothing irritate me more than poor game management. It’s inexcusable. Any 12 year old kid who plays Madden knows when to go for the 2-point conversion and how to use timeouts at the end of a game. A kid in his basement, chugging mountain dews, and stuffing his face with pizza doesn’t think twice before going for two when going up 15-10 in the 4th quarter against Philadelphia, or when going up 19-14 late in the 3rd quarter against Pittsburgh. Luckily the second decision didn’t come back to bite the Brownies, but the fact that Shurmur isn’t learning from these mistakes is what worries me. If only Shurmur could type in “2 point conversion chart” into Google, and find a magical chart that tells you when you should and when you shouldn’t go for two. Oh wait? These charts do exist? And every decent football coach from Dillan, TX to Hudson, OH uses it? Hmm… Why would Pat ignore such widely accepted principles? Maybe he’s not. Let’s start with the Eagles game, according to the chart if you ...