Tom Krasovic: Bills fire coach, bringing back memories of Martyball’s end in San Diego

Warning to dear fans of the bygone San Diego Chargers: Painful NFL history has once again echoed across the decades, pinging Mission Valley and radiating its bad vibes outward in San Diego County.

Word that the Buffalo Bills fired coach Sean McDermott recalled the Monday night thunderbolt of February 2007, when Marty Schottenheimer was dismissed.

Both Schottenheimer and McDermott suffered bewildering playoff defeats that snuffed great shots at the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy itself. A Super Bowl trip never materialized for either coach, although McDermott stands to get additional chances.

So painful were the respective signature moments of each defeat in a divisional playoff game, just three or four words cue up instant recognition.

“Marlon McCree fumble” still induces anguished cries from San Diegans, as if a rock landed on their foot.

It’s a bit unfair to McCree, who wasn’t the only Chargers person to err on that January afternoon in 2007. His blunder is the one that no one forgets.

Ensuring Schottenheimer’s Chargers would lose 24-21 two weeks after Bolts fans celebrated 14-2 season and a first-round playoff bye, Bill Belichick’s Patriots exploited McCree’s late-game error and won as a five-point underdog before some 68,000 fans.

The Chargers were up by eight points when McCree intercepted a Tom Brady pass near San Diego’s 30-yard line. Then he fumbled in traffic, after famously not going to the ground.

Patriots receiver Troy Brown, a former defensive back, jarred the ball loose. Another Patriots receiver, Reche Caldwell — an ex-Charger — recovered it.

Six minutes were left, giving the Chargers a great chance to win, but the Patriots outplayed them. A month later, Dean Spanos and A.J. Smith fired Schottenheimer, replacing him with Norv Turner.

“Thirteeen Seconds,” likewise, induces acid reflux from Bills fans.

Four years ago this month, it seemed Josh Allen’s go-ahead touchdown pass and the ensuing PAT would lift the Bills to a 36-33 victory and the AFC title game.

After all, only 13 seconds remained.

Andy Reid’s Chiefs showed how much can be done with 13 seconds.

Losing no time on the kickoff because McDermott opted for a touchback, the Chiefs still had to go far and fast after snapping from their 25.

Bam! Patrick Mahomes hit Tyreek Hill for 19 yards.

Reid’s timeout stopped the clock with seven seconds remaining.

Bam! Mahomes found Travis Kelce for 25 yards.

Reid’s second timeout froze the clock with three seconds left.

Harrison Butker’s 49-yard try went through the uprights as the clock expired.

The Chiefs won the coin flip, then the game without Allen touching the ball, as Mahomes drove his team to a Kelce touchdown, making it 42-36. Under NFL overtime rules that have since been changed, an opponent didn’t get a chance to answer an opening touchdown.

Though Schottenheimer never returned to coaching after his Chargers’ dismissal, in part because he was 64 years old, there’s little doubt that McDermott, 51, will attract strong interest from NFL teams.

Like Schottenheimer, who had a career winning rate of .613 across 21 seasons, McDermott ranks among the better regular-season coaches of his era. His .662 win rate with the Bills over eight seasons stands second out of 32 NFL teams since 2017. Only Reid’s Chiefs, at .711, sit higher, and it was the Reid-Mahomes tandem that booted the Bills of McDermott and Allen from four playoffs.

McDermott’s calling card is defensive expertise. It would be small-minded to obsess over the Bills’ defensive failures in the 13-second meltdown.

Allen, 30, will attract higher-end coaching candidates. It doesn’t mean in-house candidates, such as offensive coordinator Joe Brady, won’t pan out.

If McDermott is to land with another team that has a star quarterback, the only candidate, for now, is the Ravens with Lamar Jackson.