Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton had a horrid Sunday. He threw a pair of interceptions and lost a fumble on a head-first dive in the 27-10 wild-card loss to the San Diego Chargers.

The young quarterback is now 0-3 in the playoffs since he was drafted by the Bengals in 2011.

His boss for those three seasons? Offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.

Despite the Bengals' loss, the Lions and three other teams (Titans, Vikings, Redskins) have requested permission to interview Gruden for their head coach openings.

Gruden was an offensive assistant for seven seasons (2002-2008) in Tampa Bay while his brother Jon was coach. That’s his only NFL experience other than these three seasons with the Bengals.

Never met him. He must interview well because he’s been a candidate for other NFL head coach openings in the last two years.

He has been a successful head coach in the Arena Football League but not sure how that would transfer to the NFL. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.

He is one of three known candidates for the Lions who fired Jim Schwartz a week ago.

The other two — Ken Whisenhunt (Chargers offensive coordinator) and Jim Caldwell (Ravens offensive coordinator) — both have NFL head coaching experience which would seem a better fit for the Lions who have a roster ready to take the next step.

The day Schwartz was fired Mayhew said NFL head coaching experience would be beneficial but wouldn’t say it was an absolute requirement.

Whisenhunt and Caldwell seem to be much better fits.

(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Order her book,  “100 Things Lions Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die’’ here. It’s also available at bookstores.)