this year, all they had to do was beat a few crappy teams (Raiders or Bills), and the AFC west would be theirs, and they would have had the pleasure of seeing Payton rip the secondary apart again. A few years ago, they would have made the playoffs if they beat one of the worst teams in the league (49ers). Couldn't do it then, either. They've tried hiring different defensive coordinators, but that had little effect. I'm surprised they made the change since Bolen and Shanahan were connected at the hip. It will be interesting to see what direction they go in after this.