Miracle At The Meadowlands Started A Trend

(More on King Carl relinquishing his throne to come. For now, enjoy this feature on Kansas City’s new favorite punching bag — Herm Edwards. – Adam)

Thirty years ago, Herm Edwards was an integral component of one of the most controversial and memorable plays in the NFL — the Miracle at the Meadowlands. The Giants only had to run out the clock to win the game and pull an upset over the favored Dick Vermeil Eagles. Joe Pisarcik, the Giants QB, fumbled the handoff to Larry Csonka and Edwards scooped up the ball and streaked into the end zone, giving Philadelphia a mind-boggling victory.

Seeking to extend his last minute immortality, this year Herm has given us new classics such as Sudden Death at San Diego, the Nightmare at New York , the Buccaneer Bailout and now…the Ambush at Arrowhead. What creative ways to finish a ballgame (blow a victory)!

Yesterday’s loss was a work of art. With a seemingly insurmountable 21-10 lead with minutes to go, only a genius of defeat could pull off such a rarefied loss. The ingredients:

1. Defensive backs that lose their receiver much in the fashion of the Mizzou’s defensive backfield.
2. Special teams fubar (jumping to catch an onside attempt with your chest rather than your hands while your teammates stand and watch you get blasted off the field by the Chargers).
3. Using all your timeouts earlier in the half so there is no chance for a comeback.
4. Getting only three first downs in the second half after getting 18 in the first half (i.e. don’t make ANY halftime adjustments or react at all to the Chargers’ adjustments, a la Gary Pinkel)
5. Fall asleep on a fake punt attempt even though the runner was warming his hands on the sideline before the play.

Yes only you, Herm, the Genius Of Defeat, could create such innovative ways to lose a game and in the process pick up the second or third pick in the draft. Boy, I’m glad we gave up our fourth-round pick in 2005 (Leon Washington the Jets MVP in 2007 and one of the most versatile players in the NFL) for you. Hopefully, the next miracle in your career will be Clark Hunt showing you the door right behind Carl Peterson.