Martz still lacking as a head coach
Updated: September 15, 2003, 12:25 PM ET
By By Darrell Trimble | NFL Insider
Mike Martz's mastery of Xs and Os is unmatched, but as a head coach he just doesn't seem to get it. He has shown a penchant for wasting timeouts and ignoring Marshall Faulk, and on Sunday his decision-making was a huge reason the Rams lost to the Giants. The hard part might be deciding which decision was the worst. Consider:
He twice passed up decent field goal opportunities in the fourth quarter and ended up turning the ball over on downs when Kurt Warner couldn't convert. Down by 10, the Rams were going to need a field goal at some point anyway, but he apparently wanted more and ended up with nothing.
But why was Warner even in the game? Martz stubbornly stuck with his quarterback even after Warner suffered a concussion in the first quarter. Granted, Martz didn't know Warner was concussed, but he acknowledged that Warner seemed so unresponsive that Martz thought the radio in his helmet wasn't working. If that's the case, why stay within him, especially with Marc Bulger on the bench?
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