Whispers from around the league

Posted Jan. 08, 2012 @ 5:06 p.m. ET

By PFW staff

The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
• "Offensive coaches need to be cerebral. When it comes to making adjustments, (Jets offensive coordinator) Brian Schottenheimer is one of the worst in the game. You look at the way they protected against the Giants. You're playing one of the best defensive lines in football and you're not going to give your tackles any help? Someone has to explain that to me. I know (OLTD'Brickashaw) Ferguson is good, but have some common sense."

• "When (Lions RB) Jahvid Best was coming out, we would not have drafted him. Concussions were an issue in college. The Lions have taken a lot of chances on guys like him. Mikel Leshoure never played this year. Titus Youngwas a loose cannon. Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh are talented yes, but if you build your team around issue guys like that — it's not the way I would do it. Maybe it will work for them. They've come a long way in three years."

Chiefs name Romeo Crennel head coach

Terry McCormick - National Football Post

The Kansas Chiefs were sufficiently enough impressed with Romeo Crennel's 2-1 finish as interim head coach that they have named him coach on a permanent basis, NFL.com reported.

The thought of Crennel, who took over when Todd Haley was fired, taking the reins for good began to pick up steam when the Chiefs handed the Green Bay Packers their only loss of the regular season.

The Chiefs finished the season 7-9 and upset AFC West champion Denver in the regular-season finale.

Kansas City is just one season removed from the playoffs and lost a number of key players to injuries, including quarterback Matt Cassel, safety Eric Berry and running back Jamaal Charles.

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Patriots make McDaniels reunion official

Posted by Mike Florio on January 8, 2012, 9:11 PM EST

Getty Images

In the same hour that the two players former Broncos coach Josh McDaniels drafted three picks apart in 2010 delivered a playoff win with a stirring 80-yard catch-and-run, the team that will face Tim Tebow and Demaryius Thomasnext Saturday night announced that McDaniels has returned.

The Patriots have made it official, via a press release sent via email not long after Tebow and Thomas connected to ensure a rematch of the December 18 game between the two teams.

NFL admits officiating errors in Lions-Saints game

Posted by Mike Florio on January 8, 2012, 10:27 PM EST

Getty Images

Sunday’s game between the Steelers and Broncos included a bad call on an apparent fumble that allowed the Steelers to force an overtime period from which the Broncos emerged with a memorable win.  Saturday night’s game between the Lions and Saints included a bad call on an apparent fumble that could have allowed the Lions to seize a 21-7 lead late in the first half.

The league admits that two mistakes were made on the play.  One hurt the Lions, and one helped the Lions.