Lane Kiffin No Longer Interested in Keeping His Job as Raiders Head Coach

That headline is the only conclusion I can draw after his decision to march Sebastian Janikowski out to attempt a 76-yarder before the half yesterday. On paper, it sounds kinda funny. But when you watch the actual context in which the impossible attempt came to be, it’s just more pathetic than anything. Instead of using a timeout, running another play and trying to get into actual field goal range, Lane Kiffin decided to run the clock to one-second and let Janikowski do this:↵

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Oonce Kiffin inexplicably decided not to use his timeout, the best play was to take a knee and avoid possible disaster, which could’ve resulted from this little newsflash: That kick was returnable. I’m not sure Kiffin understands that, based on his post-game comments:↵↵⇥“We gave him a chance,” said Kiffin, who had Janikowski attempt (and miss) a 64-yard field goal in the same northern direction at the Coliseum last season. “There’s really nothing bad that can happen.”↵↵No, no, nothing bad whatsoever has ever occurred from attempting one of these. Well, accept for this, of course:↵

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↵Luckily for Kiffin (or, perhaps he was unlucky, assuming he really doesn’t want his job anymore), the Chargers were unable to return the kick for a TD this time. But regardless, Kiffin’s judgment still has to be questioned given both the way he handled the remaining seconds of the half and the decision to have his kicker essentially punt to San Diego, instead of taking a knee.↵