NFL 2020 Season

[worstblogever]

Week 10 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" Watch

ALREADY FIRED BEFORE WEEK 8: Bill O'Brien (Texans) , Dan Quinn (Falcons)

10. Mike Zimmer, Vikings (LUKEWARM SEAT): The Vikings were supposedly "just a QB away" from winning a Super Bowl with the impeccable defense they had, and they spent BIG for Kirk Cousins. Then they traded away Stephon Diggs, and their defense officially "got a case of the olds" going into 2020. Minnesota is 3-5 after getting a crack at the Lions, who now are similarly 3-4 and tied for last place in the division. Knocking Kirk Cousins out of the game also greatly reduced the chance that this team could choke a late lead away, as they’ve become adept at doing. Zimmer now has a 2 game winning streak AND it’s against division rivals. And that will ALWAYS buy a coach time in Minnesota. He should send Dalvin Cook some flowers for going off for 4 TDs against the packers and then going out there and snagging 206 yards rushing yesterday. Glancing at the Vikings' second half schedule, they have a game against Detroit left, two against Chicago (who are trending the wrong direction right now), and they still play Dallas and Jacksonville. This doesn't look like a squad that's going to manage a playoff run this season, but with a light schedule, they bear a chance of getting back to .500 if things go right.

9. Joe Judge, Giants (LUKEWARM SEAT) The Giants are 2-7 after having the luck of playing the WFT, and also seeing Kyle Allen have a season ending broken ankle. That seems to be the latest in a “Theismann curse” that’s developing of Washington QB’s having devastating leg injuries. Speaking of, Allen was replaced by Franken-legs himself, Alex Smith. The historically mediocre Smith threw three INTs, and the former racial slur nicknamed squad only managed 37 yards rushing to the Giants’ 166. Daniel Jones is still trying to shake the "draft bust" label, and having a game where he just “didn’t f*** it up” and got a win that might help people forget the embarrassing clip of him tripping and falling flat on his face on the 11 yard line against the Eagles in Week 8 (NAH, that’s FOREVER HIS NFL MEMORY). Back to the rest of this squad... they're without Saquon Barkley for the rest of the year. The only upside is... they're still nowhere near eliminated in hunt in their division, because it's utter shite. Now they're in a tie for second place, but have a murderer’s row of opponents left on their schedule that aren’t division matchups.

Joe Judge is probably not a name you've heard, in general, as New York's coach. You will be for the rest of the year. He was formerly New England's assistant special teams coach. How he got elevated to his first HC gig... lord only knows. How the Giants have not paid attention to how everything on the Belichek coaching tree has died on the vine through the past 20 years... yeah... don't know. What we do know is, Joe Judge made his players run sprints when he wasn't happy with them prior to this season, and the only thing that will save his ass to get a second season will be if he blames Daniel Jones, GM Dave Gettleman, or injuries for his woes. But it's gonna be a long year for the G-Men.

8. Vic Fangio, Broncos : 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.

On the field, though... Denver just moved to 3-5 after losing to an Atlanta squad that came in at 2-6 with a number of embarrassing blown leads and blowouts on their resume. The offensive line had Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay average like 3 yards a carry, but rookie WR Jerry Jeudy had a hell of a game again catching passes from Drew Lock that almost dragged this squad to a win. Fangio could get to 6-8 wins by the end of the year... but this is not a franchise whose ownership or fanbase accept mediocrity. Unless they start to look like at least a playoff contender, we won't declare him safe out there. Fangio, supposedly a defensive mind, gave up 450+ yards of offense to a Chargers team led by a rookie QB two weeks ago and now gave up 34 points to an Atlanta team that was without Calvin Ridley. That's... not inspiring.

7. Ron Rivera, WFT: The WFT lost coming out of their BYE week to the Giants and dropped to 2-6, Kyle Allen was looking like he might emerge as the starter out of their fustercluck situation at QB and then broke his ankle, forcing them to put in Frankenleg, Alex Smith, instead. It did not go well as he threw three picks, and the Giants (without Saquon Barkley) ran the ball against what is supposed to be a solid front seven on the defensive side of the ball for Washington.

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 at 2-6, has this team in second place in the division. He can probably get some wins in divisional matchups but this squad will be lucky to get to six total by year's end.

6. Anthony Lynn, Chargers: Anthony Lynn's looking like he has something with rookie QB Justin Herbert who went off for 326 yards and 2 TDs against the raiders, but it was too no avail as his team dropped to 2-6. This is coming off the game where they blew a 24 point lead and gave up 28 points to a Broncos offense in a quarter and a half, 21 points in the fourth quarter. They held the Raiders to 160 yards passing… but gave up 160 on the ground. Lynn's in his fourth season as Chargers head coach, he just got his contract extended through 2021 in February... but after going 5-11 last year, if he doesn't improve on that, he might not get that fifth.

[worstblogever]

5. Zac Taylor, Bengals : YOU CAN’T LOSE WHEN YOU’RE ON YOUR BYE WEEK.



The story here of why Taylor might not get fired is "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 at 2-6), they're in a transition season with a rookie QB to blame it on (even though Burrow has the goods). A smart organization would go with 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 (LOL, sure). While they Bengals had a fire sale before the trade deadline, Taylor’s job looks to be safe until the end of the year, at least.

4. Matt Patricia, Lions) Detroit is now 3-5 after giving up 275 yards on the ground and losing to Minnesota 34-20. While there current slate of upcoming games looks friendly, Detroit cannot win on Matt Stafford's arm alone (he threw a pick-six yesterday, because Indy knew he was throwing the ball). And that becomes even harder when you consider he left Sunday’s contest with a head injury that’s likely to place him in concussion protocol and could jeopardize him starting next week when the WFT come to town. Speaking of home games, the Lions are also winless at home, because of course they're just going to perform worse in front of their own fans. We should note also that two of their three wins are against the Jets and Jaguars, so this team is actually far worse than that in reality. Oh, and don't forget, Matt Patricia probably shouldn't have been hired because of 1996 sexual assault indictment he had, if this organization was actually smart enough to do a simple background check before hiring him.


3. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys 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 2-7 now. They look far worse than that record the past three 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 now they’re running Garrett Gilbert out there as a starter. If you said, “WHO?” that’s fair, because Gilbert is effectively their 4th string QB. What was always obvious was the defense was atrocious. Dallas' defense is on pace for a historically bad year, and after starting to trade starters and bench veterans… it’s looking even worse. They may have stifled the Steelers’ running game yesterday, but gave up over 300 yards to Big Ben and failed to force a single turnover. Somehow, though… Dallas actually went up 13-0 on the undefeated Steelers and only relinquished that lead with about two minutes left in the contest. That’s the only positive in a loss.

Going forward, 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. They are in last place, but somehow only a game and a half games behind the Eagles, who lead the division at 3-4-1. For the last three years he was in Green Bay, 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.

2. Doug Marrone, Jaguars: I honestly thought he got fired at the end of the 2019 season... but NOPE, he's still down in the swamps of Jacksonville. We're now going to three years removed from the Jaguars being up on the Patriots with 10 minutes to go in the AFC Championship Game, and the number of players from that 53-man squad still in Jacksonville is 7. They have had two Top 5 picks from recent drafts in Jalen Ramsey and Leonard Fournette flat-out escape this franchise. They've had two double-digit loss seasons coming into this one, and now having dropped to 1-7 after a loss to the Texans... who were hardly world-beaters... The Jags look like they'll have a third straight double-digit loss season. Gardner Minshew and his "cop in a porno flick" mustache was benched, and now he's got a thumb that left the team in the capable hands of rookie Jake Luton (from University of Idaho, and who honestly played alright against the Texans in a two-point loss). Shad Khan is one of the more patient owners in the league (hell, he let Gus Bradley stick around to build the worst losing percentage in coaching history), and the team stuck by Marrone through the BYE week. While firing Marrone at any point to let OC Jay Gruden take over as the interim coach would make sense... it looks like Marrone will stick around through season's end in their quest to try and overtake the Jets to get Trevor Lawrence. They'll likely have to settle for Justin Fields from Ohio State, though. And we all know how well Buckeyes signal callers do in the pros...

1. Adam Gase, Jets: Last week, the Jets played Kansas City, and at one point in the build-up to that game, New York was a 21.5 point underdog against Kansas City, per the sports books. THE CHIEFS COVERED THE SPREAD. They were lucky enough to play a discombobulated 2-5 Patriots team in one of the s***tiest Monday Night Football matchups in years. AND YET, THERE THEY WENT AGAIN, blowing a 10 point fourth quarter lead, and watching Cam Newton lead New England to 13 unanswered points in the six final minutes of the game.

Sam Darnold only hasn’t been seeing more ghosts than Pac-Man because he’s hurt and forced to watch Joe Friggin’ Flacco lead this team to failure while he wonders where he might get traded to when the team inevitably drafts Trevor Lawrence. The Jets are now 0-9, and are losing by an average of about 16 points a game. The Jets have lost by 20 or more points eight times since the start of 2019. In one out of three games the J-E-T-S are blown out by three TDs with Ol' Bug Eyes as head coach over his 25 game tenure. He's also got his own defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, taking potshots at him in front of the New York media, who are eating that s*** up with a spoon. Adam Gase should be fired after this game, when the Jets enter their BYE week, but he won’t, because as long as he’s bumblef***ing around the sidelines, this team won’t blow their chances of that #1 pick in the draft, and that Adam Gase picked his own GM, who ridiculously lied to the New York media that Gase was the best man for this job. At this point, even Joe Namath is coming out and predicting the Jets will have the #1 pick in the draft, and that Trevor Lawrence should threaten to go back to school for another year at Clemson if the Jets pick him or force a trade away from this disaster of a franchise.

The Jets have seven games left to escape 0-16. If any of the coaches in those games manage to fall to this team, we have to instantly place them somewhere on the HOT SEAT list. We don’t care if Pete Carroll just signed a long-term extension in Seattle, if the Seahawks lose to the Jets, it wouldn’t be wrong of the team to fire him. The Las Vegas Raiders still have like 6 or 7 years left on Jon Gruden’s insane contract? DOESN’T MATTER. If Bill Belichek loses the Week 17 rematch of last night’s game against the Jets? Robert Kraft would be within his rights to kick the guy who won him six rings to the curb. It’s nothing personal… but DO NOT be the coach that flubs and gives this squad its win for 2020. Send them to the land of the winless with the Lions and Browns like they deserve.

[Surf]

- Washington watched Kyle Allen go out for the season with a dislocated broken ankle and now Alex Smith will be the starting QB. Ron Rivera claims that Smith will tutor Dwayne Haskins as starter (why didn't they do this before and keep Haskins activated on sidelines ?). Rivera tried to say Haskins still has a chance but given so far its a question mark.

Ronnie River... even after all this, I think he is still fortunate to have a Haskins. Play the kid. Do the best you can with him cause THERE IS NO OTHER OPTIONS LOL. Sure he ain't that good and half listens but the Alex Smith story has finally come a full 360 and time to end that tale. Better late than never sure but I prefer better never late.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Ronnie River... even after all this, I think he is still fortunate to have a Haskins. Play the kid. Do the best you can with him cause THERE IS NO OTHER OPTIONS LOL. Sure he ain't that good and half listens but the Alex Smith story has finally come a full 360 and time to end that tale. Better late than never sure but I prefer better never late.

I think if the plan was to tutor Haskins he should have been in that role to start. Not being part of the team and activated. If your gonna make Haskins learn this offense and be a pro NFL QB , he should have been learning under Alex Smith from camp on. Not suddenly deciding your gonna do that halfway through the season. The Washington team continues to be a travesty of crap.

[Surf]

1. Adam Gase, Jets:

Mark the tape, I told yall I've been leaning this way since about week 3. Adam Gase is going to be the HC of Trevor Lawrence. Joe Douglas is not going to fire Gase, that's his man. Douglas is going to eat this plausible 0-16 and then start clean. They are going to attempt to make this work I'm 95% sure this how it's going to rock. I know conventional wisdom, nobody is this backward, yadda, yadda but the upper levels of JETS management and ownership have been leaning into this play more than anything. I'd be happy to be wrong but I don't know that I am.

[Kirby101]

Thankfully, Woody will be home from London in January. (I am thankful because it means his boss is gone) So we will see what he does with the team. (Not that he is any better at making smart decisions).

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Got an alert from Bleacher Report that Ben Roethlisberger and three other Steeler players were put on the COVID list.

[Surf]

(I am thankful because it means his boss is gone)

Facts and we see this Administration and it's adjacent enablers is in full on spite mode. By Administration I mean cabal of thieves and liars btw.

Dammnnn, I see on the replay Cam was fully terrible and clutch af in the same game, shoutout to Burkhead. The Patriots celebrated like a high school winning a 3A state title at the end.

[Scott Taylor]

Got an alert from Bleacher Report that Ben Roethlisberger and three other Steeler players were put on the COVID list.

Ruh roh, Shaggy!

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Ruh roh, Shaggy!

And that’s on top of the fact Big Ben tweaked a knee during the Dallas game. He might or might not be cleared for Pittsburgh’s next game.

[Albert1981]

Pass Interference is a judgement call on the part of the refs. But I have seen a common element in recent years - it depends on where you are looking. Nine times out of ten you will get called for PI if your head is not turned around looking for the ball when contact is made. Amazing how many DBs are obviously just looking at the receiver when they are flagged.

Oh thank you so much for clearing things up. You've been most helpful. Now I have to figure out what constitutes as an interception!

[SUPERECWFAN1]

So on Tubi (free streaming service) is Draft Day. The movie examines a day in the NFL draft and a GM (played by Kevin Costner). The film came out in early 2010's I believe.

- Costner as Sonny Weaver is having a hard day with trying to rebuild the Cleveland Browns. At #7 , Weaver has a player he really desires (a funny young LB who can transform his defense he brags) and a RB who just wants to play in Cleveland like his father did.


- The owner pushes Weaver to make a splash or he could be in trouble. So he is forced to make a draft day trade with Seattle to get QB Bo Callihan. A fact he did not want Bo to start but is pushed into giving up 3 , 1st rd picks and a 2nd .


- In a comical scene everyone knows about the trade within time as his mother calls mad about how much he gave up.


Its a fun movie for what we see if your a NFL fan who loves this type of thing.

[babyblob]

WBE I love your run downs on coaches in the hot seat. but I disagree with one. Well maybe not disagree but will debate them.

I dont think that Mike McCarthy will be gone this season. Or in the off season. For jerry Jones to fire him after one year would be Jerry Jones saying he was wrong. And we know how much he hates doing that. At least if Mike has a couple seasons Jerry can say "well I did every thing I could for him. he just shot him self in the foot. I am shocked but I will move on."
To be honest Mike McCarthy was never more then a so so coach. The only reason he did as well as he did was because of Rodgers. It is like the poor mans Belichek/Brady debate. Would Mike have done as well as a coach with out Rodgers?

I dont see Mike being gone until game 4 or 5 of next season at least.

[worstblogever]

WBE I love your run downs on coaches in the hot seat. but I disagree with one. Well maybe not disagree but will debate them.

I dont think that Mike McCarthy will be gone this season. Or in the off season. For jerry Jones to fire him after one year would be Jerry Jones saying he was wrong. And we know how much he hates doing that. At least if Mike has a couple seasons Jerry can say "well I did every thing I could for him. he just shot him self in the foot. I am shocked but I will move on."
To be honest Mike McCarthy was never more then a so so coach. The only reason he did as well as he did was because of Rodgers. It is like the poor mans Belichek/Brady debate. Would Mike have done as well as a coach with out Rodgers?

I dont see Mike being gone until game 4 or 5 of next season at least.

I'm hearing a lot of talk about his job security... Stephen Jones had to come out and say he's there guy. But really, for how long?

[MRP]

I'm hearing a lot of talk about his job security... Stephen Jones had to come out and say he's there guy. But really, for how long?

Jerry will run with it until he is allowed to fill up his stadium with fans but cannot because McCarthy has alienated the fanbase and the team stinks. Since that won't be a possibility until sometime next season, McCarthy is safe until then. Jerry's ego comes first until it impacts the team's bottom line. He'll ignore what fans say unless they are saying it with their wallets, so all the wailing and gnashing of teeth from the Cowboy fanbase won't impact his decision unless their actions follow suit and it cuts into his revenue stream. With the NFL's limits on attendance due to COVID, there's no way for Jerry to pin the economic impact on his terrible choice for coach, and the record this season can be blamed on lack of training camp and pre-season with a new coach (again due to COVID) and injuries, not on Jerry's decision to hire McCarthy. So as long as he has other scapegoats and dodges to protect his ego, McCarthy will be safe. Mike Nolan however, is likely gone as DC by season's end and he will be the scapegoat for the poor performance of the Dallas D and give Jerry another layer of cover for his poor decision to hire McCarthy. And Jerry is nothing if not stubborn and ego-centric, so as long as he has outs which allow him to dodge admitting his mistake, McCarthy will be around no matter how much sense it would make to ditch him and how likely he would be gone if it were a team with a different owner.


-M