5 NFL Head Coaches on the Hot Seat
As we march towards Halloween, a clearer picture is starting to emerge of who NFL teams are and where they stand. These five coaches aren't quite dead and buried, but if their teams continue on recent trajectories it's a solid bet that change will be coming:
Freddie Kitchens - There was a point yesterday where it honestly wouldn't have surprised me if Kitchens were fired heading into the Browns' bye, after just six weeks on the job. The Browns are very talented, but Baker Mayfield has regressed from where he was playing in the second half last year, and it just consistently feels like they are overmatched in the coaching department. One tell-tale sign was the debacle at the end of the first half on Sunday, and this explanation defies credulity:
Freddie Kitchens wouldn't run Nick Chubb at the end of the first half and use timeouts because he thought the #Browns could score on a TD pass, use 3 timeouts, get the ball back & score again in 96 seconds. Let that sink in. Instead of going up 27-12, it was a 20-18 game at half
— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 14, 2019
Jason Garrett - Garrett's name could have been on this list nearly every October of the past decade, but he keeps churning on. Last year, the Cowboys acquired Amari Cooper and went on a big run in the second half. After Dallas has dropped their last three games, it now appears as though they feasted on bad opponents to get off to their 3-0 start. Could this be the year Jerry Jones wrests Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma?
Mike Vrabel - The Titans are another team going in the wrong direction. Part of this is because Marcus Mariota just doesn't seem like the answer at quarterback, but you see various challenge and clock management decisions by the Titans and wonder if Vrabel knows what he's doing. Former NFL GM Joe Banner thinks Vrabel could low-key be on the hot seat:
Titans QB play has not been good and trying someone else is worth a shot. That said, that is not a talented team and the coach is creating challenges for the players to overcome. No discussion yet of change there, and there should be.
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) October 14, 2019
Dan Quinn - The Falcons have completely fallen off the map, and Quinn could be gone by Thanksgiving if things continue to spiral in this direction. It seems like a lot longer ago than early 2017 where the Falcons blew the 25-point lead to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, and if we're looking at a turning point in Quinn's tenure with the team that is an obvious one.
Anthony Lynn - Lynn's seat is probably the least warm of this bunch as the Chargers have had to deal with numerous injuries -- this always seems to be the case for them -- and also the fact that they play 16 road games. It must be so demoralizing for Chargers players when their stadium is like 80 percent Steelers fans as it was Sunday night, and perhaps the Chargers will want to change direction before entering the new stadium next year.