Week 2: Coaches on the Hot Seat
Fortunes change quickly in the NFL. Coaches on the hot seat this week might find themselves sitting pretty if their team puts together a three or four game win streak.
But two games into the season, there are certainly some teams that have disappointed, and some head coaches facing tough questions about what is ailing their respective clubs.
More than one pundit predicted Miami could knock New England off the AFC East throne, but the Dolphins have stumbled out of the gate; likewise, the Colts were a fashionable Super Bowl pick in August but have looked like disinterested pushovers in their losses.
Indianapolis’ Chuck Pagano guided his team back from an 0-2 start last year – and he’ll have to do it again this year. Fortunately, the Colts’ next three games are against Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee.
ON THE HOT SEAT
Joe Philbin, Miami Dolphins
Despite the Dolphins spending handsomely in recent years, most recently giving Ndamukong Suh a mega-deal and locking Ryan Tannehill up through 2020 as well as making some solid draft picks, they’ve been no better than 8-8 with Philbin as head coach. He is now 24-26 in three-plus seasons with Miami off to a 1-1 start this year. The Dolphins were in a 10-0 hole in Washington in Week 1 before coming back to win, and never led in Jacksonville last week, with the Jaguars winning on a final-minute field goal.
Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts
Pagano clearly isn’t happy after his postgame comments Monday night, and a team that’s been to the playoffs each of the last three years is now 0-2. But if it were up to us, general manager Ryan Grigson would be shown the door before Pagano – Grigson hasn’t done enough to address the Colts’ areas of need, most notably on the offensive and defensive lines. With the Colts on the clock at No. 29 in this year’s draft, Grigson didn’t take squeaky-clean Texas DL Malcom Brown – he took Miami (Fla.) receiver Phillip Dorsett, a seeming luxury for a team that’s had little trouble scoring points in recent years.
Tom Coughlin, New York Giants
The Giants are having more trouble finishing than a novelist with writer’s block – they’re the first team in league history to hold 10-point fourth quarter leads and lose both games. New York was 6-10 last year, including a seven-game midseason swoon. With the Eagles struggling and the Cowboys without two of their best players for much of the season, the NFC East may be up for grabs if Coughlin can right the ship.
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SEAT’S GETTING WARMER
Chip Kelly, Philadelphia Eagles
Yes, Kelly guided the Eagles to the playoffs last year, but for an offensive guru, Philly’s offense has been terrible for seven of the eight quarters it has played this season (exception: third quarter of Week 1 against Atlanta). Kelly won out earlier this year in a front-office shakeup and got control of personnel decisions, so he has no one to blame but himself.
Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints
Payton may get a little more leeway with Drew Brees injured and potentially missing multiple games, but with this season’s 0-2 start, the Saints are now 7-11 over their last 18 games. Considering they play in one of the consistently worst divisions in the NFL – the NFC South – that’s not good.
