Shanahan has been a bit of a gambler

ENGLEWOOD • Denver Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who has been known to visit Las Vegas once in a while, has a gambler's mentality.

Not in a compulsive way. He probably didn't stop on his way home from Denver's 39-38 victory Sunday to buy a handful of lottery tickets. Shanahan will judge a situation, weigh his options and unlike many coaches, he's not afraid to push his chips to the middle of the table.

That's what he did Sunday. The Broncos coaches had already discussed going for the 2-point conversion and the win if they drove 80 yards and scored late against San Diego. Still, when receiver Eddie Royal caught a 4-yard pass for a touchdown with 24 seconds remaining, Shanahan had to make a final call.

True to his nature, Shanahan took a calculated risk. Royal caught the 2-point conversion for the win.

"You can kind of get a gut feeling with your football team and you just do what you think is right," Shanahan said. "I thought that was the right call and thankfully it worked."

Many NFL coaches pass the smart call for the safe call.

With the Browns trailing 10-3 on Sunday night and 3:24 remaining, Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel tried a field goal rather than going for it on fourth and 7 at Pittsburgh's 20-yard line. The Browns kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 10-6, which was a safe move that did Crennel's team little good. The Browns didn't get the ball back until they were at their 26-yard line with 26 seconds left and no timeouts left. Cleveland didn't pull off a miracle, and lost.

Whether it is a punt on fourth and short late in a game, three straight running plays and a punt while nursing a lead or playing for overtime rather than trying a 2-point conversion for the win, NFL coaches often play it safe. Receiver Brandon Stokley guessed how many other coaches would have gone for a 2-point conversion in that situation.

"None," Stokley said. "I never would have guessed we would go for two right there."

Since the 2-point conversion was introduced in 1994, only three teams have gone for the 2-point conversion and the win instead of the extra point and won the game.

The tenuous job status of many coaches, like Crennel, might prevent them from taking chances. Shanahan is the second-longest tenured coach in the NFL and has always had the backing of owner Pat Bowlen.

"I guess when you have good job security, you can do those things," Stokley said. "It was a gutsy call."

The odds were probably with Shanahan. When he decided to go for the 2-point conversion, San Diego had scored on six straight possessions. Even if Denver won a 50-50 coin flip in overtime, Denver's offense had run 75 plays, its most in a game since Oct. 22, 2006, so the offensive players were probably tiring.

Since he took over as Denver's coach in 1995, Shanahan's success rate on 2-point conversions was 53.6 percent (15 of 29) before Sunday's attempt.

"I thought that with the coin flip, it was worth taking the chance," Shanahan said.