Ranking Week 5 coaching blunders: Did Sean McVay, Jim Harbaugh, or an NFC East coach have the worst gaffe?

From Dan Quinn heating up his hot seat in Washington to Jim Harbaugh owning up to a fourth-quarter collapse in Los Angeles, we rank the week's most brutal sideline decisions

Oct 13, 2026 at 12:33 pm ET • 9 min read

Week 5 in the NFL featured some pretty incredible coaching gaffes that directly led to losses. Whether the leaders in charge of their teams just zoned out for a second, forgot what situation they were in or chose the wrong strategy, multiple fan bases were driven to madness by their franchises' decision-makers.

There were coaches who forgot about the clock, coaches who got either too aggressive or too conservative, and a coach already on the hot seat who admitted he cost his team the game. Week 5 almost saw it all when it comes to coaching blunders. 

Below, we break down and rank the notable coaching gaffes from this past week in the NFL, going from "That's pretty egregious," to "Sir, what the hell are you doing?"

4. Jim Harbaugh

"I can't think of a time I've ever been more mad at myself"

The 2026 season has been a nightmare for the Los Angeles Chargers. Not only are they 0-5, but the Justin Herbert and Mike McDaniel marriage has not gone according to plan. Plus, injuries are again beginning to mount.

It looked like the Chargers were on their way to winning their first game of the season against the rival Denver Broncos on Sunday. The Chargers held a 17-10 lead early in the fourth quarter and just watched Wil Lutz miss a 42-yard field goal. They had all the momentum, but Jim Harbaugh wanted more. 

The Chargers decided to go for it on a fourth-and-1 at their own 41-yard line. Herbert was stuffed, and the Broncos took over on downs. That fourth-and-1 failure marked the beginning of the end for Los Angeles. 

The Broncos went 41 yards on five plays and tied the game with a Courtland Sutton touchdown. Then, two plays into the Chargers' next possession, Herbert was sacked and fumbled away the ball. That turnover led to a Broncos field goal, which gave Denver a 20-17 lead. On the Chargers' next possession, Herbert threw an interception on fourth-and-6, setting up another Broncos field goal. Denver won, 23-17. 

"Yeah, it was the wrong decision, I've never — I can't think of a time I've ever been more mad at myself," Harbaugh said after the game.

Harbaugh is in the midst of his first eight-game losing streak if we include last season's playoffs. It's the longest losing streak of his career as a head coach in the NCAA or NFL.

3. Sean McVay

"It's been a while since I've been this pissed after a game"

The Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams on Monday night was a potential Super Bowl preview, and this game required a fifth quarter to determine a winner. Both teams scored touchdowns in the final two minutes to get the game to overtime, and the drama continued in the extra period. 

The Rams won the overtime coin toss and elected to kick since both teams now receive a chance to possess the ball in the extra quarter. It looked like the Bills were well on their way to a touchdown to open overtime, but then James Cook III fumbled at the Rams' 22-yard line. It was recovered by Aaron Donald, and Matthew Stafford took over, needing just a field goal to win. 

The Rams quickly got into enemy territory thanks to a 21-yard pickup from Puka Nacua. It was at the Bills' 35-yard line where Sean McVay began to feel comfortable. On second-and-10, he called for a short pass to Nacua, which picked up five yards. On third-and-5, he called a Kyren Williams run that got stuffed at the line of scrimmage. That set up a 48-yard Harrison Mevis field goal attempt for the win. 

If "48-yard field goal attempt from Mevis" sounds familiar, it's because he missed a 48-yard field goal just last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. He also missed a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter on Monday. Now, a 48-yard field goal is definitely makeable, but certainly not a gimme. Sure enough, this potential game-winning kick was tipped by Bills pass rusher Greg Rousseau. The Bills then went 35 yards down the field and kicked a game-winning 45-yard field goal to hand the Rams a 37-34 loss.

McVay's conservative play-calling and decision to go for a 48-yard field goal with his struggling special teams was mind-boggling. Consider that the Rams had registered THREE STRAIGHT touchdown drives to end the fourth quarter. That includes a possession where L.A. went 63 yards down the field on eight plays with 1:30 remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. Now, with the game on the line, McVay is choosing Mevis over the reigning NFL MVP?!

"It's been a while since I've been this pissed after a game," McVay said in his fiery postgame press conference.

As CBS Sports' Zach Pereles pointed out, the Rams rank dead last in special teams EPA this season:

• The Rams are 5-for-9 on field goals this year, the worst rate in the NFL
• The Rams are 29th in yards per kickoff return and 26th in yards per kickoff return allowed
• The Rams are 30th in net yards per punt and 26th in opponent net yards per punt

McVay really trusted this unit over the TOP OFFENSE IN THE NFL. The Rams are now 2-3 because McVay played it too safe.

2. Nick Sirianni

"I lost us that game"

No one expected it, but the Eagles' Week 5 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London ended up being one of the best games of the week. It looked like the Eagles had registered a massive upset victory at the end of the fourth quarter, but jubilation turned to depression in the span of eight seconds. 

With 1:35 remaining in the fourth quarter, down 16-14, Jalen Hurts led his offense 32 yards downfield on nine plays, setting Jake Elliott up for a 48-yard field goal. He nailed it, putting the Eagles up, 17-16, with eight seconds left on the clock. 

On the kickoff, the Eagles elected to kick the ball in play instead of kicking it into/out of the end zone, allowing Ameer Abdullah an opportunity to make a play. And make a play he did. Abdullah broke loose for 53 yards to set Jaguars kicker Cam Little up with a game-winning 57-yard field goal. 

Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni accepted blame for the decision to put the kickoff in play and for the devastating loss as a whole. 

"I didn't make the right decision, and I lost us that game, and that's what I said to our guys, and what hurts there is that the guys fought so hard and then I don't make the decision that I should make at the end of the game and I cost us that game," Sirianni said. "I put that fully on me."

So, why did Sirianni leave the ball in play? One could assume the Eagles wanted to allow a few of the eight seconds to run off the clock as the Jaguars returned the kickoff. The one thing you can't do is allow the returner to break loose, which is what Philly did. The 2-3 Eagles are now under .500 for the first time since 2021. Sunday's loss snapped a franchise-record streak of 76 games where the Eagles were .500 or better, per CBS Sports Research.

1. Dan Quinn

"That's my responsibility, nobody else's"

Without a doubt, the worst gaffe of the week — and maybe of the season — goes to Dan Quinn of the Washington Commanders. This is the kind of mistake where you may never look at your head coach the same again. It may be the first thing people point to when Quinn is eventually fired, because it was a sequence that warmed up his seat that much more.

The Commanders and New York Giants went to overtime in a rain-soaked Northwest Stadium with the score tied at 27 apiece. Giants kicker Dominic Zvada missed a 46-yard field goal to begin the extra period, while Washington was forced to punt after picking up just one first down. The Giants then took over with 5:33 remaining in overtime and needed just a field goal to win. Jameis Winston got New York down to the Washington 24-yard line, but Cam Skattebo fumbled the ball. It was recovered by Shy Tuttle, and the Commanders stole possession with 1:55 left on the clock and zero timeouts remaining. Remember that key detail. 

Washington put together three chunk plays to get into field goal territory with one minute left in overtime, and that's when everything went awry. 

The Commanders rushed Rachaad White for two yards and watched as the clock wound down under 30 seconds. Quarterback Jayden Daniels snapped the ball with about 13 seconds remaining, danced around, and then took a dive for a loss of one yard with eight seconds left. The clock continued to run, and the Commanders could not get back to the line to spike the ball. They ran the clock out on themselves, leading to a 27-27 tie.

Coach Quinn threw his headset down and stood on the sideline in disbelief. Obviously, the head coach deserves blame — no one on the field was aware of what to do in a critical situation. We aren't even sure if the players knew they had zero timeouts remaining. It's the head coach's responsibility to control the operation, manage the game and have everyone on the same page. Quinn did none of that on Sunday, leading to one of the worst mistakes we've seen in the NFL. 

While Quinn rightfully deserves blame for what happened at the end of this game, he's not the only one I have a problem with. 

• David Blough's play call: Did you notice on Washington's last play, the offense used a motion man? Daniels motioned tight end Ben Sinnott back and forth as the clock went from 16 seconds to 13 seconds. That's absolutely hysterical. What purpose could a man in a motion serve in that situation when the ticking seconds are precious? It's fair to speculate that if Daniels hadn't used a motion man, the Commanders could have gotten off the spike and kicked the game-winning field goal! That's a first-year offensive coordinator for ya. 
• Jayden Daniels' lack of football IQ: I don't care if the head coach is paying attention or not, as a quarterback, you have to be aware of the situation and the clock. Daniels saw the clock at 13 seconds when he snapped the ball. At that point, you're throwing it away to the sideline or throwing it in the dirt. You're not taking a sack. No starting quarterback should have to be told that. 
• No urgency from other players: It really felt like most of the Commanders on the field were not aware they had zero timeouts. When Daniels took his dive, no one was rushing to the line of scrimmage to spike the ball. You shouldn't have to explain this situation to professional football players, but apparently Quinn needed to. 

However you want to spin it, this mistake is on Quinn for not having his team ready for an end-of-game scenario, and the Commanders missed out on a win because of it.