NFL 2021 Regular Season!

[Kirby101]

The Aquatic Mammals of Miami continue to make bad decisions.

Rich Real Estate Asshole buys team and flushes it down the toilet, story at 11:00.

[Witchfan]

Saturday 1/15
AFC: No. 5 seed Las Vegas Raiders at No. 4 Cincinnati Bengals (4:30 pm)
Raiders all the way!
AFC: No. 6 New England Patriots at No. 3 Buffalo Bills (8:15 pm)
Bills are the better team now

Sunday 1/16
NFC: No. 7 Philadelphia Eagles at No. 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1:00 pm)
Eagles pull the upset
NFC: No. 6 San Francisco 49ers at No. 3 Dallas Cowboys (4:30 pm)
49ers will win this
AFC: No. 7 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs (8:15 pm)
Steelers pull the upset

Monday 1/17
NFC: No. 5 Arizona Cardinals at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams (8:15 pm)
Rams will win at home

[Scott Taylor]

Dang. Didn't really want to face the Cardinals at Sofi in the Wild Card round. Pretty much worst case scenario. Stupid 49ers. I'll forgive them if they knock out Dallas, though.

[Kirby101]

Some speculation about Jim Harbaugh coming to Miami since Steve Ross is an alum and the U of Mich's biggest donor.

[MRP]

Some speculation about Jim Harbaugh coming to Miami since Steve Ross is an alum and the U of Mich's biggest donor.

Ross has also said publicly today he does not want to be the one responsible for taking Harbaugh away from his alma mater. I would guess that if Harbaugh is to leave Michigan, it would be for somewhere he could have complete control, like say his old team the Bears who are hiring both a coach and GM, and Harbaugh could get power over personnel decisions as well as being HC (or at least have a say in who the GM is he has to work with). But that's just pure speculation on my part. (Though Harbaugh would know from first hand experience just hat he potentially has in Fields at QB from coaching against him at Michigan and that could inform his decision yea or nay).

-M

[worstblogever]

Gonna run down all the coaches in the league in order on my list...


BLACK MONDAY "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
ALREADY RESIGNED/FIRED BEFORE WEEK 6: Jon Gruden (Raiders) , Urban Meyer (Jaguars) , RESIGNED/FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED!

32. Andy Reid, Chiefs: Even with his son getting a criminal DUI charge and KC’s defensive woes, this is probably the safest coaching seat in the league.

31. Matt LaFleur, Packers : Top record in the NFL. Probably doesn’t deserve the credit. Needs to say his prayers that Aaron Rodgers doesn’t demand him as sacrifice as well as the GM. Because the Cheesehead fans might go along with it.

30. Mike Vrabel, Titans Top of the AFC, even while missing King Henry and top WRs for multiple games. Coach of the Year worthy. The guy who deserves it, frankly.

29. Bruce Arians, Buccaneers … 13-4, NFC South Division title. Coming off a title last year, and hosting a playoff game… how do we have Arians only at #29?

The Antonio Brown situation. It’s ugly. Also, there’s a question of how far Tom Brady is going to take Arians’ team in the playoffs, given there’s no Chris Godwin, AB y’know… flamed out… Leonard Fournette is dinged up, and this squad has had issues at cornerback all season. They’re not as loaded as they looked prior to the start of the season when the whole 22 man starting lineup were coming back. Plus, we’re gonna say that winning the NFC South is not as big as an achievement these days as it would have been a few years ago.

28. Sean McDermott, Bills They won a second straight AFC East title. Buffalo struggled to even make the playoffs before his arrival, and they seem to finally have wrested the Patriots iron grip stranglehold away. Safe, obviously.

27. Zac Taylor, Bengals: We said at the start of the year, Why Zac Taylor might not get fired is two-fold… first… "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.“

Well, the Bengals won the division. We don’t think it’s Taylor, necessarily, but Burrow, Chase, and Mixon are incredible young talents. The injuries in Baltimore, Big Ben fading, and the Browns having Mayfield and OBJ regress opened the door for a “worst to first” division winner.

We’ll see how things go in year 3, but making the playoffs in Cincinnati at all means Taylor’s likely entrenched for the next several years.

26. Bill Belichek, Patriots: He got a team with a rookie QB into the playoffs, and gave the Bills a scare if they could hang on. But for the moment, the folks who were immediately declaring Tom Brady won the divorce are chirping a little less confidently about it. Belichek is likely to reign in Foxboro as long as he breathes.

SIDE NOTE: We also saw Bill’s son Steve on the sidelines, and he has the most godawful mullet we’ve seen in football in over a decade. We cannot overstate this.


25. Sean McVay, Rams The Rams won the division, but McVay swapping out Goff for Matt Stafford and getting less confidence in a signal-caller… could damage his job security in the long term. It’s going to depend on the postseason results, frankly.

24. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys Jerrah does not like chaos at the coaching position… but Mike McCarthy has continually been exposed as a coach, particularly in situations where he has to handle clock management to save his life. Or defense. He’s not good at fielding a defense. Which… are two pretty big things you want a coach to be able to do.

This being said, Dak Prescott, his new leg, CeeDee Lamb, Ezekiel Elliott and the remnants of the Cowboys’ prolific offensive line mean the NFC (L)East was still the Cowboys’ to lose, and they got another division title, so he’s safe.

However, ask us again how safe he is if Dallas blows it in the Wild Card Round against 49ers because of terrible coaching decisions.


23. Nick Sirianni, Eagles: He made the playoffs as a rookie head coach. I don’t care that their schedule down the stretch was soft. He learned as the year went along, he’s got Jalen Hurts playing good enough football, and they made it. Safe for year two. Barring a disaster, probably year three.

22. Mike Tomlin, Steelers: Fun fact… Mike Tomlin has a winning record in each of his first 15 years as coach. That is unmatched in the annals of NFL history.

This being said, even when he just loses in the playoffs, there are Yinzers out there in Pennsyltucky who call for his job. And… WHAT IS WRONG WITH THEM? These are the same dumbasses who thought Bill Cowher couldn’t coach either because they didn’t get a ring annually.

My take: The Rooney family prides itself on stability as a franchise, and Tomlin’s here… but next year will also be the first year developing a starting QB might be a concern for a defensive coach who never got Big Ben a decent backup. Those morons might lose it if the team struggles with a rookie or journeyman under center.


21. [B]Kyle Shanahan, 49ers[/BThe 49ers were supposed to be a Super Bowl contender, given the weapons they have on offense for Jimmy G to work with, and a defensive front the envy of most of the league. Well… much like last year, injuries at the RB position, to TE George Kittle, and here and there along the offensive line have meant they started slow. Still, they won 7 of their last 9, including a win in the finale in OT over the division-winning Rams to get a first round playoff matchup with the Bucs.

The fact that Shanahan has 5 years left on his contract also guarantees he’s not going anywhere, no matter how far they go.


20. Brandon Staley, Chargers: His first year, and he’s got a young, potentially elite QB and a solid cast… they still were right around .500 and in the playoff hunt all year. They needed to win or tie in the finale to get in, and… well… losing 3 of their last 4 in a crowded AFC meant they fell short. But still, this is a solid first year outing, and he should be more than safe in year 2.

19. Sean Payton, Saints: How the hell did this team go 9-8 and survive until the final weekend with its QB situation? Payton… can coach. And the defense is legit. But even if they had a catastrophic year and went like 2-15, this guy won a Lombardi, and the city won’t show him the door until he’s ready.


18. Brian Flores, Dolphins : FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED! What I wrote last night: “The Dolphins front office made distractions for this team the first half of the year with Deshaun for Tu’a trade rumors… but even with a 7 game losing streak, Flores reversed course and got Miami on a 7 game win streak, and won 8 of their last 9 overall. The way this team is run from the top… they don’t deserve this guy. And if they were smart, they’d extend his contract a year or two.”

…

Stephen Ross and the Dolphins’ front office are not smart. This guy is one of my least likely firings because of the direction the team was heading, noting the front office creates most of the team distractions, and they’re going to blame Flores and fire him? F***ing idiots.

[worstblogever]

17. John Harbaugh, Ravens This is the highest we’ve ever had Harbaugh, and it’s not because they started out 8-3 only to lose their last six, barely miss the playoffs, but still end up in the AFC North basement. It’s HOW. There were three separate games where the Ravens went for 2 and the win rather to play for overtime and blew it. And those are all on the coach, for making the wrong, albeit gutsy call. Still, he got this team to 8-3 at one point with a M.A.S.H. unit of injuries, particularly at RB and CB. Lamar Jackson going dowm was just the tipping point. Baltimore would be idiots to let him go.

16. Ron Rivera, WFT: 7-10… We hate putting his name on this list, whenever we’ve had to over the past few years, because for f***’s sake, the guy is risking Covid-19 while coaching through fighting cancer. And that battle is probably the only positive news story you can find about the Washington Football Team from the past two years. The front office absolutely wants a guy they can champion who’s up against something as reviled as cancer, because it’s only slightly better regarded than a scumbag like their owner Daniel Snyder (whose dirty deeds managed to get the RAIDERS COACH fired).

Maybe the sign they were going to have problems at kicker in the middle of the year was the fact that the guy’s surname was literally BLEWITT. (They released him during the BYE week to replace him with Joey Slye.) It’s not a good sign when your special teams coaching is that inept. This team had Chase Young wrecking opposing offenses last year and a top tier defense to win a terrible division, but now? This defense is 29th in the league. They’ve been running out Tyler Heinicke at QB and seem to be thinking he’s a real option… (Ryan Fitzpatrick might be done) as if that’s a hero who changes a team’s fortunes completely (not exactly the best record as a starter in his career, y’know?).

We’re rooting for Riverboat Ron, but we know Daniel Snyder is also the exact kind of motherf***er who would fire a guy who risked death to coach his team. And while they are coming off a BYE week, on Sunday they have to play the Bucs... who also got a BYE week to prepare for them.





15. Arthur Smith, Falcons: Alright, let’s break this down… Arthur Smith is a 1st year head coach, so he had to absolutely screw the pooch with an aging Matt Ryan in Atlanta this year. They finished 7-10, including two losses mid-year by a combined 68-3. After getting throttled 43-3 by Dallas at Jerrahworld, they returned home and got blanked by Mac Jones and the Patriots. For the life of me, I cannot recall seeing Matt Ryan this frustrated in any game, and I once saw him turn over the ball six times against Arizona. He was benched late for Josh Rosen, who threw three passes, the last of which in true Rosen fashion was a pick six. (Seriously, how the f*** is he still in the league? I know he’s only in his fourth year, but he’s terrible.) Then they put in third stringer Feleipe Franks (WHO?) and he immediately through a fourth Atlanta INT in ten minutes.

You would think a team that brought in an offensive coordinator as a coach like Arthur Smith would not be regressing this much. But they are. Their only bright spot is TE Kylie Fitts this year, as Calvin Ridley as being treated for depression, and based on what we saw out of Matt Ryan, he might not be far behind.

Which, we didn’t even mention how their defense is practically non-existent, and that’s been a topic of concern for this team since… well, since Matt Ryan entered the NFL.




14. Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals: Arizona missed the playoffs last year after starting the season 5-2, and after the Hail Murray versus the Bills, were 6-3. Arizona's 8 wins last year? Four were against the NFC (L)East and a fifth came against the Jets. They went 2-5 down the stretch. This year? They started 7-0, but managed to lose SIX of their next TEN to back into the playoffs and go from being the #1 seed to a Wild Card team after blowing a two game lead over the Rams in their division. Oh, and those five losses include a double-digit debacle where they got out-coached and out-played by the Detroit Lions. All they had to do was beat Seattle at home yesterday and… Kingsbury didn’t have his team ready to play offense. Again.

It feels strange to have a guy coaching a playoff team this high on this list, but the Cardinals went from looking like the best team in the NFL to first-round playoff fodder in December. Losing their #2 and #3 corners to injury late in the year isn’t going to help, and now it’s a question of if J.J. Watt and DeAndre Hopkins have mutant healing factors and can get back to help Kyler Murray win in the postseason.
Kingsbury’s coaching decisions in clock management, challenges, and particularly 4th down calls are abysmally terrible, and it’s not just that he tends to go for it on 4th down WAY too early in games and put his team down early rather than take a FG for some points… it’s just some of the dumbest decisions you’ll see.

Take, for example, on the road in Jacksonville when before the half, he had Matt Prater attempt a 68 yard field goal. Listening to the radio play-by-play by Dave Pasch at the time, as Urban Meyer took a time out to ice the kick, Pasch had a whole minute to explain why you should absolutely not try to kick from that deep before the half, because it can be returned by a man left deep if it’s short, and if you have the kicking team’s offensive linemen primarily on the field, they’re not fast enough to catch that returner, who can take it the other way to the house for a TD.

IT LITERALLY PLAYED OUT EXACTLY LIKE THAT.

So, when the radio play-by-play guy is predicting how your bone-headed call will play out like he’s Cassandra making predictions or some s***, that’s maybe a bad sign. But watching Kingsbury call a game is akin to seeing an arrogant Madden player’s hubris at work. Kingsbury started this season on the hot seat, had Kyler Murray playing at an MVP level and got off it, and somehow has managed to lurch backwards right where he started. Kingsbury teams always turn rotten after Halloween, after all. Making the postseason will likely keep him around for a fourth year, but his time in Arizona hardly seems infinite, especially if they’re out in the Wild Card round against the Cowboys.


13. Kevin Stefanski, Browns: Stefanski is going to probably survive without getting a pink slip after a disappointing 2021 season for the Browns, who have switched the lever within the organization to return back to the “Factory of Sadness” settings. From OBJ’s meltdowns leading to him getting released (they didn’t think to trade him while he was a headache by the deadline and got nothing in return), and the question of whether or not Baker Mayfield is worth a damn… the Browns at least got back-to-back seasons with a winning record at 9-8. That’s mostly a credit to Nick Chubb and the defense.

The AFC North will be one of the most competitive divisions in football next year, but Stefanski’s foing to have to weed out all the dysfunction to win it, or a playoff game.

12. Frank Reich, Colts: ]: The Colts started off the year 1-4. Carson Wentz… was hurt on and off all season, and caught Covid-19 because he’s an anti-vaxxer idiot Reich asked for. This team’s fortunes ride on the health of a guy who has the durability of wet tissue paper. If he's not hurt, he’s suffering from inflammation of the ego and just started tuning out coaches his last season in Philly and it’s carried over here. Remember this is the kid that at one point, was an MVP candidate that every GM around the league would name as a young talent they wanted to build a franchise around.

How does the Wentz situation fall on Frank Reich, for better or worse? He’s the guy who wanted to trade for Wentz, so if he’s injured and does fall out of games completely and they’re forced to start their unqualified back-up options… Reich’s likely to take some of the blame. That will happen when you green light the front office sending draft picks for a $40 million a year albratross with a busted wing…

Most importantly, we now think Reich will begin next year on the hot seat after losing its final two games, including the finale to the Jags, and missing the playoffs. They won’t axe him now, but he’s going to be done next year if he can’t get a team this talented into the postseason.


11. Robert Saleh, Jets: 4-13… Look, we’re gonna say it… we thought this was a solid hire. It probably still is… but the Jets statistical numbers are butt ugly at this point of the year. They got shut out against the Denver Broncos in Week 5, struggling to get even 162 total yards of offense. After that loss, they got an early BYE week so they had extra time to prepare to travel to New England, and they probably needed a whole MONTH if they were gonna have a chance based on how it went. The Jets lost 54-13 in a lopsided loss that is one of the worst in recent history for the Jets… and that’s saying something.

Even though Saleh is a defensive guru, the Jets now at the bottom of the NFL in points per game allowed at 29.8 PPG, 32nd in YPG allowed, and second to last in point differential. They have rotated through an injured Zach Wilson, one-game-fluke-hero Mike White, Josh Johnson for most of a Thursday game, and Joe Flacco only to settle back on Wilson.

No matter how fired up people were to play for Saleh in San Francisco, if things don’t reverse course with the Jets while he sits at 4-12, he could enddone after next season. Especially if that defense doesn’t start stopping someone… anyone, or it looks like this staff has taught Zack Wilson ANYTHING about how to play QB.

[worstblogever]

10. Dan Campbell, Lions: Captain Kneecap-Biter led Detroit to 3.5 wins in his first season in town, which in relative terms, is considered “promising”. His QB is still Jared Goff, so there’s probably a ceiling. Campbell will need to get near .500 in year two, though. The Lions do have some draft capital, so maybe it happens. It’s not like, other than the Packers, that this division is loaded…


9. Pete Carroll, Seahawks Yes, Carroll gave this city a Super Bowl. That was… some time ago. His franchise QB wants out of town, and on a Thursday night game against the Rams, the ligament in his middle finger decided to try to leave the team a bit before Russ was even ready for it to. So far this year, this team is 7-10 and that’s not necessarily because Russell Wilson missed 3 games. We knew it would be bleak any time they ran Geno Smith out there instead of Russ, it was gonna be rough because Chris Carson’s done for the year, as well. We want to point out that it’s not just that the O-Line never got rebuilt… and that even with Russell Wilson’s medical miracle month to come back from a severed tendon in the middle finger of his throwing hand…

The Legion of Boom is GONE. This defense is no longer scary, it’s Bobby Wagner and a bunch of scarecrows in the secondary (Jamaal Adams is great against the run, but gets torched in coverage a LOT… and now he’s done for the year). Through their first thirteen games, they are giving up 394 YPG, 32nd in the NFL and are the worst team against defending the pass. They gave up 331 yards passing to friggin’ DAVIS MILLS yesterday. Offensively, they’re 28th in YPG, Just… Jesus. Their kicker’s also been dead last in the NFL all year, so at this point, they’re failing at all three phases of the game.

Our reason why we think Carroll won’t be fired no batter how bad this year gets, and getting upset by the Bears is pretty bad (they’re more likely to force his hand and make him retire)… Even though he’s a kooky 9/11 truther who keeps violating NFL policies for practices and getting the organization fined (he kind of has a track record of cheating, but he’s not Belichek so it’s not thought about)…. Our reason he won’t be fired is Pete Carroll is under contract now until 2025. That’s a lot of money to eat, no matter how awful this squad is going to get, and we think their best case scenario is once Wilson gets back will be to overachieve down the stretch and maybe end up third in the division... but we are thinking they’re going to finish last. And if they’re lucky, they can convince Carroll to retire, because we don’t think he has a rebuild in him.

8. Matt Ruhle, Panthers: The Panthers started 3-0, but now are 5-10… They opened up looking like they proved Sam Darnold was a successful reclamation project, but once injury removed Christian McCaffrey from the Carolina offense, Darnold looked like he was back to being a draft bust again… and then HE got hurt. The team got a boost in the arm from the play of XFL V. 2.0 star P.J. Walker, and then s*** the bed by inviting Cam Newton back in town to get two TDs from the 1 yard line in Arizona, steal all the glory in that win on the road, and have immediately realized why no other teams signed Cam Newton off the street.

Fun statistic… Cam Newton lost his last 12 straight as a starter for the Panthers dating back to 2018. This team has lost 11 of its past 13 games since their hot start, Matt Ruhle has not developed anyone into being a credible starter for this team going forward, and McCaffrey might be the most injury prone non-QB in the league that they still foolishly built their offense around. McCaffrey was gone for the final 4 games of the season, and has played all of 10 games the past 2 years.

Ruhle jettisoned offensive coordinator Joe Brady during the BYE week, and it has not helped the team’s woes when it comes to scoring points, as evidenced by them giving up 7 sacks in the 32-6 beatdown they just got at the hands of the Buccaneers that had fans chanting “FIRE MATT RUHLE!” and Cam Newton struggling to defend his new coach (who benched him out of desperation to put Sam Darnold back in). They followed that up with another loss to Atlanta before winding up losing by three scores again to the Bucs in their finale, their 7th straight loss. Ruhle’s not going to one of the elite college programs that had openings, because they already filled them. If Ruhle is given a pink slip, he might have to take a year off.


7. Joe Judge, Giants : We don’t believe Joe Judge should have ever been a head coach. His prior experience before getting the gig in the Meadowlands with the G-Men was serving as special teams coordinator/wide receivers coach in New England (a team not regarded well for its WR corps during his tenure). His QB, when healthy, is living blooper reel Daniel Jones (who had two embarrassing INTs in yet another primetime game this team doesn’t deserve the spotlight for). His team’s preseason was marred by a massive brawl with THEMSELVES where the pileup of players throwing haymakers tumbled onto their starting QB who ended up at the bottom of the mound of humanity, enraging Judge so he made his players run gassers like they were back in high school JV, and resulting in one veteran filing to retire immediately, rather than play for him any more. Two other veteran players announced their retirement before the preseason was over.

This guy’s team loathes him, and the New York media are salivating at all the ink they can lay out simply by getting his players to throw him under the bus. His only hope for any job security was that he’s coaching in the worst division in the NFL right now, that the Cowboys are winning by default… and yet… there’s a report that ownership has already decided that 2022 will feature another season of the Joe Judge/Daniel Jones partnership, because they must think their fans are masochists who can be placated with one free medium size soda per PCL account.
https://nypost.com/2021/12/17/giants...reciation-day/
The team responded to the news by going to Chicago and getting embarrassed with the team owner having travelled to watch it happen. They ended the season now on a 7 game losing streak where every loss has been by double-digits.

We don’t care what the Maras say about Joe Judge’s future, he deserves to be fired for the embarrassing brand of football he’s putting out there. But the toxic environment in that locker room makes it more so.


6. David Culley, Texans: Houston is sitting at 4-12, with the first win coming from when they beat lowly Jacksonville in Week 1 before they rattled off eight straight losses and then upset the Titans (Tennessee had 5 turnovers to hand it to them). Those first seven L’s were, frankly, a series of games where opposing coaches have utterly dismantled a team led by rookie 3rd string QB Davis Mills. They’ve already been shut out twice this season. They just got their second wind because, again, the football gods were kind, took mercy on them, and fed Jacksonville to them.

They shipped Mark Ingram off before the trade deadline, falling back on David Johnson (who hasn’t had a good season since… what 2016?) as their main offensive weapon, and not shockingly they’re 32nd in the league in rushing. Brandin Cooks is pulling his hair out that he couldn’t managed to get himself traded to an actual football team before the trade deadline. It doesn’t look like anyone is going to manage to take serial sexual predator DeShaun Watson out of Houston in a trade, either, a move that’s hovered over this team’s fate for almost nine months now. Everyone thought things would get better when Tyrod Taylor came off of the injured list, and he went out and threw 3 INTs in his first game back and have gone back to Davis Mills for the remainder of the season (word is they’re officially trying to tank and fall back behind Detroit to get the #1 pick). And hey, they upset the Chargers this past week, winning the turnover battle by +3 and having Rex Burkhead of all people rush for 149 yards on the ground.

So… we’ve covered that the Texans were BAD right now. We’re going to say that their misfortunes are not a product necessarily of bad coaching, but a TON of bad front office decisions, because obviously, that’s the case. It sucks that a guy who’s considered such a nice dude like David Culley, who’s waited his whole life for a head coaching gig, could get the blame if he couldn’t turn the chickens*** roster he was given into chicken salad. But that can be the cruel nature of NFL coaching gigs…

[worstblogever]

5. Rich Bisaccia, Raiders We’re going to say that it seems clear that this interim guy who took over for Jon Gruden is done at the end of the year. It’s not just that team owner Mark Davis has been spotted hosting Clemson coach Dabo Swinney in his private box at Raiders games.
https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/the-b...hunter-renfrow
Bisaccia just is not the sort of “name coach” that the Raiders would hire full time. He just isn’t. He’s the guy that took over until Mark Davis could open his wallet to get the team’s “real coach”.

Two weeks ago, he didn’t stop his players, playing on the road in Kansas City, from going to the logo at Arrowhead to pump themselves up by disrespecting the Chiefs that way before kickoff. Stupid move, all around, and a wiser coach would have put the kibosh on it. Kansas City got all fired up, and beat the snot out of Las Vegas, winning 48-9. Sure, they’ve had better luck since against inferior competition, but we’ll see what happens after the Raiders' postseason run.

4. Darrell Bevel, Jaguars: Bevel took over for Urban Meyer, who was a train wreck that Shad Khan reluctantly let go after a myriad of controversies, and he is regrettably most famous for being the offensive coordinator in Seattle who forgot to call a running play from the 1 yard line for Marshawn Lynch in the Super Bowl against the Patriots. This sounds exactly like the kind of person Shad Khan will remove the “interim” title from and keep around for three or four years, no matter how many losses he racks up as head coach… but current headlines indicate Khan is interviewing former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, and Tampa Bay DC Todd Bowles, to name a few, so maybe not.

The fact that the Jags got destroyed by New England and lost 50-10, leaving them now far and away the worst team in the NFL in point differential at -219 (For those who want the math, they average out at having lost games by about two touchdowns all year on the average), indicating that this squad is not fired up to play for the interim guy, at all, and Khan is right to have started interviews.

3. Vic Fangio, Broncos : FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED! 7-10… … This team started 3-0 and some chuckleheads thought they might win the division… But wiser people noted that trio of victories were against the Jets, Giants, and Jaguars, who were a combined 0-9 at that point? Denver came back to Earth fast, losing 10 of their past 14. They know this is a lost season and if you needed any more proof, it was when they traded Von Miller to the Rams for a 2nd and 3rd round draft pick in 2022. This is after spending weeks trading away every late-round draft pick they had to get any competency at the LB position they could. If you STILL needed proof, it would be the game where Teddy Bridgewater pulled a matador act on a turnover and let Darius Slay go the other way for the touchdown. Fangio has buried his starter in the press for it, and while Bridgewater deserves getting skewered for it… look at that replay. There’s MULTIPLE Broncos players on the field who flat out quit on that and made no effort. And that’s indicative that this team has quit on him, even for what their record is. He’s throwing Bridgewater under the bus, though, because he’s got to do SOMETHING to look like he hasn’t checked out, either, like his players. You can check the tape earlier in the year and see defensive captain Courtland Sutton walk off the field towards the sideline after an INT was thrown, making no effort to pursue the defender with the ball.

Denver’s game to game offensive capabilities seem tied to whether or not Teddy Bridgewater is available to play, which, when we’re talking about a guy with a series of concussions through his career and a leg that decided to explode and make itself into a jigsaw puzzle of bone and sinew in one practice, does not inspire confidence in the team’s playoff hopes.

A reminder, Fangio declared that Covid-19 is showing "who the whiners are" around the NFL, last season. Perhaps we should also mention that last year, the game that the Broncos played without an actual QB was because under Fangio’s leadership, the whole QB room broke Covid-19 protocols so they could sit right on top of each other in the film room, rather than socially distance in corners. If you can’t get guys to adhere to that simple thing… it might be because you yourself are fighting the regulations there to keep you alive. On the field, though... “Mr. Covid Tough Guy” Fangio led Denver to a 19-30 record in three seasons, and to paraphrase a wiser person on CBR than I… “Denver somehow found the only person who can make dumber decisions than Vance Joseph.” Prediction: The Broncos next head coach will not have a name that starts with “V”.


2. Mike Zimmer, Vikings: FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED! The Vikings were supposedly "just a QB away" from winning a Super Bowl a few years ago with the impeccable defense they had, and they spent BIG for Kirk Cousins. Then they traded away Stephon Diggs (BIG MISTAKE), and their defense officially "got a case of the olds" going into LAST season. This season, they’re just a year older than that. Minnesota’s biggest off-season free agent signing was CB Patrick Peterson, who age has not just proven to be “no longer an elite corner”, he’s arguably “not even a starting corner” in the league, admitting on his podcast he struggles at covering any receiver who’s simply PUT IN MOTION. That’s the top free agent addition to an aged defense, which cut #2 corner Bashaud Breeland, after he fought with coaches and had both HC Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman jump all over him about it in the middle of a practice. DE Everson Griffin has major psychological problems and might never play another down in the league.

What was once an elite defensive unit now is simply medicore, and Kirk Cousins has been widely inconsistent game to game (certainly not deserving of what he gets paid), leading to a disappointing 8-9 record in a division where you get 4 easy wins versus Chicago and Detroit. Speaking of…

YOU LOST TO THE LIONS.

There is no easier reason for the Wilfs to drop the axe than that.


1. Matt Nagy, Bears: FIRED! THEY’RE FIRED! You were 6-11, nd it’s amazing you did that well. Matt Nagy was considered one of the hottest young coaches in the league before the Double-Doink happened like 3 years ago, but it made something snap in the guy. He spent that entire off-season talking about it, and making his players relive that trauma, and they responded by getting worse afterwards. The Bears have been shy a QB this whole time, finally giving up on Mitch Trubisky to draft Justin Fields… but Nagy kept insisting he would go with Andy Dalton. If you’re going with the Red Rifle at this stage of his career, you’re pretty f***ed. Their defense? It’s statistically still a Top 10 defense the NFL. Truly, this is a team that can live up to the Bears’ legacy in the Windy City…

Matt Nagy caved to the pressure of fans and put Justin Fields in at the start of October, and got two wins in his first two games… however, in Week 6, they got handled by Green Bay, and Aaron Rodgers barked at fans, “I STILL OWN YOU!” And nobody is questioned the validity of that statement, because it’s true. Justin Fields is getting sacked at a rate not seen for any rookie QB since David Carr was getting his brains bashed in for the expansion Texans (or whoever they line up back there, this squad is 31st in the league in sacks allowed). They’re now 6-10 after beating the hapless Giants, and are 32nd in the NFL in passing, with just 184 yards a game (they used their first five draft picks all on offensive players, and they seem to be slow learners). Justin Fields’ rookie season currently stacks up as statistically comparable to such luminaries as Blaine Gabbert, Josh Rosen, and Jimmy Clausen.

Chicago fans at least might stop turning up to yell “FIRE NAGY” at pro-wrestling events and at high school games where Nagy’s son is playing because we don’t believe the sins of the father should be held against a son when he gets fired… it seems a certainty.

[The Big G]

5. Rich Bisaccia, Raiders We’re going to say that it seems clear that this interim guy who took over for Jon Gruden is done at the end of the year. It’s not just that team owner Mark Davis has been spotted hosting Clemson coach Dabo Swinney in his private box at Raiders games.
https://www.si.com/nfl/raiders/the-b...hunter-renfrow
Bisaccia just is not the sort of “name coach” that the Raiders would hire full time. He just isn’t. He’s the guy that took over until Mark Davis could open his wallet to get the team’s “real coach”.

Two weeks ago, he didn’t stop his players, playing on the road in Kansas City, from going to the logo at Arrowhead to pump themselves up by disrespecting the Chiefs that way before kickoff. Stupid move, all around, and a wiser coach would have put the kibosh on it. Kansas City got all fired up, and beat the snot out of Las Vegas, winning 48-9. Sure, they’ve had better luck since against inferior competition, but we’ll see what happens this week in their “win and get in” game against the Chargers. Regardless of the outcome, we think Bisaccia won’t be at the help in two weeks’ time.

You might wanna update this one WBE

[SUPERECWFAN1]

In reading Rick Spielman had been with Minnesota 16 years. That is as long as Carl Peterson had in Kansas City at one point when he had 20 seasons in KC. Spielman is expected to land somewhere soon given that his drafts have landed some solid players and one possible spot is with his brother in Detroit.

[worstblogever]

In reading Rick Spielman had been with Minnesota 16 years. That is as long as Carl Peterson had in Kansas City at one point when he had 20 seasons in KC. Spielman is expected to land somewhere soon given that his drafts have landed some solid players and one possible spot is with his brother in Detroit.

Gettleman just retired with the Giants, could see him sliding in there.

[Scott Taylor]

Zimmer and Spielman were doomed from the minute they decided Kirk Cousins was the future of the franchise. And Minnesota has been more disgusting and frustrating than a soggy hand pie during most of their tenure. But I wouldn't wish Detroit on anyone.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Gettleman just retired with the Giants, could see him sliding in there.

Do tell. From all indications, it sounds like Joe Judge is sticking around. So, would the new GM have autonomy to either keep Judge or can him?

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Gettleman just retired with the Giants, could see him sliding in there.

He also could land in Chicago as the Bears just fired Ryan Pace as GM. Pace will always be remembered for the fact he drafted Mitchell Trubisky because he drove a beat up car , instead of Pat Mahomes or Watson (who he never gave an interview to). Instead he zeroed in on Trubisky after a dinner and raving about his old car. This slight irked Mahomes who decided in destroying Chicago one night in 2019 decided to count to 10 on his fingers after a TD pass.

Anyone who decides Pace should be in front office...that team needs to understand he drafted a franchise QB over the fact he drove an old car.