Y'know, because tomorrow's MNF matchup is Bears/Rams and both squads are comfortably over .500 and mathematically both will still be over .500 following their tilt, I think I can go ahead and do the...
Week 8 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" Watch
ALREADY FIRED BEFORE WEEK 8: Bill O'Brien (Texans) , Dan Quinn (Falcons)
TOTALLY OFF THE STOVE FOR NOW: Matt Patricia (Lions) Detroit is now 3-3 after a comeback win versus the Falcons, who had Todd Gurley fall into the end zone when he wanted to avoid scoring too quickly, and leaving Matt Stafford the ability to mount that comeback (which tells you how bad Atlanta's defense is and why Dan Quinn got fired). Matt Patricia might return to this list in a few weeks' time, given the Lions' second half schedule will see business pick up quite a bit from what they've seen early in the year, with virtually a playoff caliber team coming at them every week.
8. Ron Rivera (LUKEWARM SEAT): The WFT just flat-out handled Dallas yesterday in a 25-3 win where their defense mauled Andy Dalton and left Dallas playing most of the 2nd half with a rookie QB they drafted in the 7th round. Kyle Allen had a safe start for the WFT, making their fustercluck situation at QB seem a little less like the carousel was spinning out of control. Again, why Rivera is even on this list... I want to be clear, here... I don't think Ron Rivera is a bad coach. I think this roster is hot garbage outside of an impressive defensive front, but Rivera didn't build it. Their QB and skill positions are woeful, and I wouldn't put it on him. It's bad practice for a franchise to fire coaches after only one year. Also, if this wasn't obvious... it would be really f***ed up if the team fired a guy who's trying to coach THROUGH CANCER TREATMENTS. So, based on everything I know about team owner Daniel Snyder being a colossal ***hole... he could absolutely still fire Ron Rivera and then try to spin it in the media that he was doing him a favor because of said cancer at the end of the year. I hope that isn't what happens, but if this team doesn't squeak out some more wins, it could happen. Luckily for Rivera, he's in the NFC (L)East and can probably get some wins in 6 divisional matchups. This squad will be lucky to get to six by year's end.
7. Mike McCarthy Again, first year coaches don't usually get fired. The Cowboys were, I s*** you not, the NFC Super Bowl pick by Dan Patrick, and they're 2-4 now. They look far worse than that record the past two weeks. The offensive line that made them so threatening only a few seasons ago is already dilapidated due to injuries, and right now, it's second stringers across the board. That decline in talent across the O-Line wasn't glaring when Dallas had Dak Prescott keeping them in games with gaudy numbers through their first five (RIP Dak's ankle, I think it died of the 'Rona or something), but what was always obvious was the defense was atrocious. Like, Dallas' defense is on pace for a historically bad year, and somehow, they had a "good" day by only giving up 25 to WFT yesterday. But as I started saying, the O-Line fell apart, and they had to start playing Andy Dalton at QB, which... he ended up leading the offense to a safety on their opening drive, and 75 yards of offense before he got a concussion and sat out most of the second half. This team has dropped all its money into skill position players and no one is left who can block for Zeke, or buy enough time to throw to Amari Cooper. And yet... they're still completely in the hunt to win this division, as the Eagles are only a half-game ahead of them at 2-4-1. Still, Mike McCarthy was considered to have been more of a hindrance to Aaron Rodgers from the point they won a Super Bowl going forward, and he doesn't seem like his return to coaching after a year away is going to prove Rodgers was the problem.
6. Zac Taylor "Why did the second year Bengals coach not end up on this list sooner?" I was asked. Your answer: "Mike Brown is a f***ing cheapskate." Remember all the years where people thought FOR SURE Marvin Lewis would get fired because he couldn't win a playoff game? And Cincinnatti kept him around? Well, the talk always was because Mike Brown couldn't find a cheaper, better option than that, and the skinflint would never spend money on a good coach. So I look at Zac Taylor, and think they're gonna give him at least until the end of the year and maybe longer because as bad as the Bengals look outside of Joe Burrow and as disgruntled as this locker room is... Zac Taylor still only makes between $400,000 and $600,000 a season. He is valued at roughly 1/20 of Bill Belichek, and maybe like 1/16 of an Andy Reid. He's a bargain bin option, and the Bengals will say no matter how bad they look on the field (sure, they're 1-6, but they gave the Browns a run for their money yesterday), that they're in a transition season with a rookie QB to blame it on (even though Burrow has the goods), and that they want consistency to help with Burrow's development... and Taylor worked under Rams coach Sean McVay, therefore he's THE FUTURE OF THE NFL COACHING RANKS. But we'll all know,
5. Vic Fangio: Last week, Denver came out of their BYE week, went up 18-0 on the Patriots (yes, this offense is so good it managed six McManus field goals), and had to hang on for an 18-12 win. This week, though? WHOOO-BOY. The Broncos got their s*** kicked in so hard by the Chiefs in a 43-16 beatdown that they'll be flossing it out of their teeth until at least Wednesday. Their offense had 6 turnovers, which included four fumbles. Just an embarrassing performance across the board, and the Chiefs sat down Patrick Mahomes in the 4th quarter to not pour it on too much. A reminder, Fangio declared that Covid-19 is showing "who the whiners are" around the NFL, which is one of the dumbest "fake tough guy" quotes I think I've seen in some time about a disease that's killed 220,000 people. This is in addition to his terrible opinions on police killings of African Americans in the off-season that were completely unnecessary for him to even opine about in the first place. If it were only "on the field" failings, I think Fangio would be in trouble, but that AND his mouth are making him a likely candidate for getting the boot at year's end.