The Dumbest Coaching Decisions of the NFL's Wild Card Weekend

To get into the NFL playoffs, a coach has to make a lot of right decisions. While it is smart of them to continue with the game plan that worked for them all season long, the playoffs is a completely different place and one needs to be open to making adjustments.

In the Wild Card Round this past weekend, we saw a lot of coaches making some big decisions that perhaps cost their team a chance to proceed to the next round. While they were going with their gut and what they believed was the best decision for their team, perhaps now they are considering that they made the wrong choice.

These coaches are some of the best out there, but just like the rest of us, they are not immune to making dumb choices.

Jim Schwartz Abandoning the Lions' Run Game

When you are going to take on the New Orleans Saints, one thing comes to mind—out-throw Drew Brees.

This seemed to be the goal that Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had in mind, and in doing so, he completely abandoned his running game.

While I would be skeptical about trusting running back Kevin Smith with the ball as well, it is completely outrageous that Smith only got the ball six times—six!

On his six carries, he was able to gain 21 yards, but that was all he was going to get. 

The Lions also didn't really share the wealth outside of Smith, as the rest of the team managed to put together four carries on 11 yards.

In the meantime, quarterback Matthew Stafford threw the ball 43 times for 380 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. He hit wideout Calvin Johnson 12 times for 211 yards and two of those scores, so clearly those two were clicking.

While the Lions were not wrong to rely heavily on their passing attack, as it is their strength, their abandonment of the running game cut down their options, making them try to beat a team at what they were best at.

Clearly, it didn't work out.

Marvin Lewis Keeping in Andy Dalton

Alright, perhaps taking star rookie quarterback Andy Dalton out of the game would have been nearly impossible, Cincinnati Bengals' head coach Marvin Lewis may have been dumb not do just that.

There is no doubt what Dalton has done this season, and what he can potentially do in any game. Still, he was very sick this past weekend with the flu, and he clearly struggled throughout this game.

The rookie completed 27 of his 42 attempts for 257 yards, but he ultimately failed to find the end zone. Instead, he found the hands of his opponents three times. One of those picks was taken back for a score, while the other two were in the fourth quarter.

Dalton has been a beast all season, but his struggles through the course of this game clearly showed that he just wasn't all there. It would have been a tough call to make, but it was perhaps the best decision for the Bengals in order to make it to the next round.

Marvin Lewis Forgetting That He Has a Running Back

Speaking of bad decisions by Marvin Lewis—did he completely forget that he has a running back in Cedric Benson who could make things happen?

When these two teams faced off early this season, Lewis went with a balanced attack. The Bengals lost that game by one point, but it still looked far better than what we saw this past weekend.

In their first meeting, Benson was given the all 21 times. He turned that into 91 yards and was essential in helping the team continually move the ball down field.

Benson is a liability, as he has fumbled the ball five times this season, two of which were lost.

To only give him seven carries in this game was just absurd. Benson can clearly help this team push the ball, and give them a completely different dimension, but instead they just left him out of the game.

Lewis could have taken a lot of the weight off of Dalton's shoulders, especially since he was ill. There was no reason for Dalton to throw the ball more then twice as many times as the entire team ran with it (42 vs 19).

Lewis' abandonment in the run showed a complete lack of trust in his run game, but in the end that perhaps reopened a lack of trust in his play-calling abilities.

Mike Smith Not Turning to Michael Turner

From time to time, it seems as Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith forgets that he has an extremely talented, and difficult to tackle, running back in Michael Turner.

Including this game, he has managed to keep the beastly back under 20 carries on the day 10 times this season.

While he wasn't that effective in this game—15 attempts for 41 yards—one could argue that he wasn't really given the chance.

The Falcons were playing a New York Giants team that gives up 121.3 yards per game on the ground. Despite their inability to slow down the run, the Falcons decided that their best move was to attack the Giants' shaky pass attack.

How did that work out? Not well.

The Giants held quarterback Matt Ryan to 199 yards on 24-of-41 attempts. While he didn't have a touchdown pass or interception, it was clear that the passing game wasn't getting it done.

Perhaps giving the ball to Turner didn't seem like the best way to attack this Giants defense, the team's inability to score shows that they perhaps made the wrong choice.

Turner was coming off of a 172-yard game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which he managed to score twice.

The Falcons kept the ball out of his hands, and it perhaps cost them any chance in winning in the Meadowlands.

Mike Tomlin's Failure to Stop Tim Tebow

Was the Denver Broncos' quarterback Tim Tebow's performance a product of his ability or that of a failed game plan by Mike Tomlin?

We will likely know the answer to this when the Broncos visit the No.1 seed New England Patriots next round, but for now it can be assumed that the Pittsburgh Steelers did not put together a good enough plan to stop the rising star.

For the game, Tebow threw for 316 yards, while also gaining 50 yards on the ground. He only completed 10 of his passes including two touchdowns, one of which was an 80-yard TD to Demaryius Thomas to help the team claim an overtime victory.

Tebow's game was his most effective game in terms of passing, throwing for 80 more yards then his previous career high against the Chicago Bears.

This season, the hope of Denver has been held in check—passing for under 150 yards in five different games. The inability of the Steelers', who are statistically the best defense in the NFL, to stop Tebow is going to raise many questions.

Perhaps Tebow is just rising to the moment, or perhaps one of the smartest coaches in the league failed to write up a game plan good enough to stop a miracle from happening.