Originally Posted by
worstblogever
WEEK 2 "WHO'S COOKIN' ON THE HOTSEAT?/FIRE THIS COACH!" DISCUSSION
11. Jon Gruden, Raiders (LUKEWARM SEAT): Yes, they’re also 2-0 after beating the Steelers up this weekend. However, we’ll see how long it lasts… The supposed QB whisperer cannot get the Raiders to get to the next level, and this offseason green-lit the trade of Pro-Bowl Center Rodney Hudson to Arizona, as if THAT would help the Raiders’ offense figure it out. This would be similar, but to a lesser extent how after Gruden’s arrival, seeing him trade away Khalil Mack to the Bears, except he only asked the Cardinals for a 3rd round pick for a key piece of their offense. It’s a miracle he hasn’t traded away Derek Carr to start Marcus Mariota yet.
Our reason why John Gruden won’t be fired no matter what his record is at year’s end: He still is only in year FOUR of a TEN YEAR contract. That’s a lot of money tied up into the guy, and if Mark Davis drops the axe, he’d have to keep paying Gruden millions until 2028. The business model is no longer a “Commitment to Excellence” though, it’s “find a way to make a profit until Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert retire”.
10. Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals (LUKEWARM SEAT): Yes, they’re 2-0. HOWEVER…
Arizona missed the playoffs last year after starting the season 5-2, and after the Hail Murray versus the Bills, was 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. The starting QBs in that 7 game stretch:
• Russell Wilson, Seahawks (LOSS)- the only real threat of this group.
• Cam Newton, Patriots (LOSS)- Cam is considered washed up by many, and calls for Jared Stidham instead were being made.
• Jared Goff, Rams (LOSS)- Jared Goff has never been considered even a Top 10 QB. He put up 400 yards against the Cardinals. Rams coach Sean McVay went to 8-0 versus Arizona.
• Daniel Jones, Giants (WIN)- Daniel Jones sucks. He also was playing with a hamstring injury.
• Jalen Hurts, Eagles (WIN)- Hurts is in his second start, and puts up 300+ yards.
• C.J. Beatheard, 49ers (LOSS)- This one isn't simply a QB issue. San Francisco is beyond depleted on offense due to injuries. Arizona needed to simply win and they were in the playoffs. They can't force a turnover against a 3rd stringer.
• John Wolford, Rams (LOS)- A guy who a year ago was in the AAF throws a pick on his first series, then settles in to handle the Cardinals defense down the stretch, including opening the second half with a 12-7 lead and taking his team on a nine and a half minute drive. Yes, the Rams were chewing clock with a lead at halftime. They were just going to let their defense hang on.
Kliff Kingsbury started 2021 on the hot seat, and if they fail to get in the playoffs this year, he could be toast. He makes bad decisions on a weekly basis. He burns timeouts at the worst times (in Sunday’s blowout win, he burned two in the first seven minutes, and used his third in the first half a minute into the second quarter), and his team nearly coughed up a win to the Vikings, who got the ball back because Arizona went 3 and out on their final drive while managing to only burn 35 seconds off the clock, due to decisions to throw it or run out of bounds when they needed to shave off any time Minnesota needed.
This being said, he probably is the LEAST endangered coach we’re talking about after two weeks, because Kyler Murray is making a case for an MVP campaign. So… yeah, all is right in the desert… for now.
9. Vic Fangio, Broncos (LUKEWARM SEAT) : It’s year three of Vic Fangio, and somehow, he’s got the best QB situation he’s had with Teddy Bridgewater coming in this year. Perhaps we should 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.
A reminder, Fangio declared that Covid-19 is showing "who the whiners are" around the NFL, last season. On the field, though... “Mr. Covid Tough Guy” Fangio led Denver to a 5-11, 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”. Just in case.
For the moment, Fangio looks like a genius with his team at 2-0, but we can’t say his team is actually that good, because those wins are against the hapless Giants and the woeful Jaguars. Once he has to play the rest of the AFC West… that’s when we’ll really see if the Broncos are the real deal.
8. Bill Belichek, Patriots (LUKEWARM SEAT) : Does Belichek get a pass this year they’re starting a rookie QB in Mac Jones? They had seven starters on defense sit out last year due to Covid-19… but those guys are back. Is the story of this year going to be “Belichek gets a pass because he started a rookie he’s developing?” We’re saying, yes. That’s why no matter what Tom Brady does in Tampa Bay that will make people wonder if Belichek maybe isn’t that good without him, he’ll be allowed to hang around.
This week, Belichek looks reeeeallll smart, but that’s because he got the cure for whatever has ailed him for two decades… the New York Jets. Mac Jones completely outplayed Zach Wilson, his counterpart on the other side, and the Patriots’ defense picked off Wilson four times. Darth Hoodie’s doom is not impending… at this time.
7. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys (LUKEWARM SEAT) Jerrah does not like chaos at the coaching position… but Mike McCarthy has continually been exposed as a coach, and in spite of Dak Prescott AGAIN carrying the Cowboys to a late lead with 400+ yards passing, McCarthy cannot handle clock management to save his life. In Week 1, that left Tom Brady with 90 seconds to casually head the other direction against Dallas’ still porous defense (they gave up 379 yards and 4 TDs to Tampa Bay) and take the Buccaneers to a victory. The Bucs had 11 PENALITES which you would think would screw them out of a win, but the Cowboys had EIGHT of their own.
Yes, in Week 2, Dallas got the win versus the LA Chargers… but again, McCarthy and clock management. Dallas won on a 56 yard field goal, which was kicked from the Chargers’ 38 yard line with 4 seconds left. They started that drive on their own 13 yard line, and 3:54 on the clock. They had 2 timeouts, plus the two minute warning for a stoppage. In 3:50 of elapsed time, they only went 49 yards. In a “what the f*** are you thinking?” bit of clock management, they ran the ball with one timeout left from on 2nd and 6 from the Chargers’ 41 with 33 seconds left… and then didn’t run another play to kick that long field goal. They had another down where they could have thrown a pass AFTER taking their final timeout, and if it was incomplete, clock stopped. If they completed it but didn’t get out of bounds, they would have had time to spike it as well. But THERE. WAS. TIME. TO. GET. CLOSER. Postgame, he lied about the confusion with the final timeout, and why they let the clock tick down so far before they took it. McCarthy is lucky that his kicker is Greg Zeurlein, frankly.
At some point, it should be clear that Mike McCarthy cannot coach defense to save his life and all he can do is get a solid franchise QB and pray they carry him to victory. That was the case in Green Bay, and so it is in Dallas.
This being said, the NFC (L)East still is the Cowboys’ to lose, even with their abysmal D.
6. Matt Nagy, Bears (LUKEWARM SEAT): The Double-Doink happened like 3 years ago, but it made something snap in Matt Nagy. He spent that entire off-season talking about it, and making his players relive that trauma, and they responded by getting worse afterwards. Where they didn’t respond was fixing their QB situation. They drafted Justin Fields, sure, but Nagy is sticking with Andy Dalton. If you’re going with the Red Rifle at this stage of his career, you’re pretty f***ed. Their defense? They still have DPOTY candidate Khalil Mack. The offense? Yeah, again, that QB situation and poor Allen Robinson wishing he didn’t leave Jacksonville. Think about that… there’s a guy who was better off IN JACKSONVILLE than in Chicago. The Bears watched Arizona choke away the #7 playoff seed last year and got it, but 8-8 and early exits and a never-ending offense stuck in first gear could end Nagy’s tenure in the Windy City at four years.
The Bears managed to escape with a win against the Bengals, who injured their own former QB. Which means the Justin Fields experiment begins, and the new Matt Nagy excuse will be, “but I had a rookie QB…” if they can’t win.