NFL Coach Power Rankings Week 3: Wade Phillips, John Fox Getting Warmer
Everyone has played two weeks of football. Some trends are starting to finally emerge. Good teams are distinguishing themselves while the bad teams are also starting to show their true colors.
There have certainly been some surprises in the first two weeks. Almost no one outside of Steeler Nation saw the Pittsburgh Steelers jumping out to a 2-0 start. On the flip side, very few thought the Dallas Cowboys would be 0-2 after facing Washington and Chicago.
Some coaches who began the season feeling pretty safe are starting to feel the heat turned up a little bit. Others who began the year sitting on some very toasty seats are feeling much better after strong starts.
Here's a look at the hottest five seats in the NFL as we head into Week 3 action.
Cool Breezes: Coaches Who Are Feeling a Little Safer
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Some coaches are reaping the benefits of fast starts. Here are some coaches from the early rankings who aren't feeling quite so fevered after two weeks of football.
Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Morris opened the season ranked third among coaches on the hot seat. Since then, the Buccaneers have won their first two games with a stifling defense (Morris' specialty) and much-improved second year quarterback Josh Freeman. Morris is no longer fearing week to week for his job, but this team has a brutal matchup this week with the stifling Pittsburgh Steelers. If they can somehow come away with a victory, Morris should be able to ride that momentum to a seat on the safe list.
Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears
After a shaky and controversial victory in Week One over the lowly Detroit Lions, Smith was still considered a hot seat coach. This week, he moves from the number three spot to the warm seats after handling the Dallas Cowboys and looking more like a team that is utilizing its immense talent. There are still questions surrounding the running game and the turnover column, but Smith is safe for now. He can't let up, however, or he'll be right back on the hot seat quickly.
Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
Lewis' seat seemed to warm a bit after an abysmal opening performance against the New England Patriots. After thwarting powerful divisional rival Baltimore, however, Lewis looks to be back in safer territory. He's in a much better situation than most coaches near the top of this list, but owner Mike Brown is impatient and has been rumored to be down on Lewis more than once before. In the meantime, he's safe.
Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs
Haley's seat wasn't nearly as stifling as some, but the Chiefs needed to show some improvement in his second season. They've started 2-0 with gutsy performances against Cleveland and San Diego. San Diego looked much better against Jacksonville, so that first win might have shown us more about Kansas City than we thought. Now it's time to get more out of that offense.
And now, here are your five most endangered coaches...
5. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears
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While he may have cooled his seat some with a big win over Dallas on Sunday, Smith is still not off the hot seat. He's pretty much got to make the playoffs to keep his job. At 2-0, he's on track, but this team still isn't where it needs to be.
Matt Forte still can't run the ball. Eventually that has to come back to haunt this team. Jay Cutler didn't turn the ball over on Sunday, but if he doesn't get some support from the running game, teams will start teeing off on the strong-armed passer.
Smith's on better ground. That's certain. He's not on safe ground. And the schedule isn't getting softer this week. My guess is that we'll know a lot more about Chicago this time next week.
Coming Up
One of the oldest and most storied rivalries in football is renewed next Monday night as the Green Bay Packers (2-0) come to town to face the Bears. Green Bay is the favorite in the division this year, especially now that Minnesota has started 0-2.
Jay Cutler will have to contend with a tenacious pass rush and opportunistic secondary. If he can continue to build on this week's performance, Chicago might escape with a victory. Matt Forte faces another tough test. If he can't run, it's time to seek his replacement.
Chances of Being Fired For A Loss
Absolutely zero chance that Smith gets canned if this team loses. His seat is hot, but rivalry games have different rules. What Smith needs to do is make sure his boys are competitive on Monday night. If they can hang with the Packers and still lose, he won't suffer much. If they get smashed, the heat gets turned up again.
4. Wade Phillips, Dallas Cowboys
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Unless you coach for the Oakland Raiders, there is no hotter seat in the NFL than in Dallas, where Jerry Jones lords over his Cowboys and expects them to be in the Super Bowl every season.
This year, there's the added pressure of possibly becoming the first team to play (and win) the Super Bowl in their home stadium.
Add in the fact that a lot of analysts thought Dallas had the talent to get there and you have a recipe for disaster.
Wade Phillips stepped into a huge bucket of disaster with two losses to teams not expected to go anywhere this year.
Now, a seat that's always hot has become a blast furnace.
Not many coaches would turn down the opportunity to coach the Cowboys. Jason Garrett was long thought to be the successor in waiting. He's still waiting.
Phillips is on thin ice. Jerry Jones is publicly saying all the right things. Privately, I'm sure he's seething.
Phillips has a hole to dig out of now. He is not someone I'd bet would get all season long to do it either. If the team continues to misfire on offense and collapse on defense, he won't be around for the fireworks.
Coming Up
Dallas goes to cross-state rival Houston this week and will face a team that has surprised with two big wins to open the season. Sunday, they beat the same Redskins team that defeated Dallas in Week One, so the signs point to Dallas struggling once again.
On the flip side, Houston allowed huge gobs of offense last week. If Tony Romo and his offensive teammates can exploit a weak defense, the Cowboys will only have to stop Matt Shaub and Arian Foster and fail to beat themselves.
Chances of Being Fired For A Loss
The Cowboys are off to their worst start since Troy Aikman hung up his spikes a decade ago. An 0-3 start would probably provoke Jones to make some kind of proclamation regarding the team's performance. While Phillips may not be sent home immediately, if he loses another game he will basically be on death row.
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3. John Fox, Carolina Panthers
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Fox has placed his bets on the Quarterback Roulette wheel. Heralded rookie Jimmy Clausen will start his first game this week for Carolina.
Now that the abbreviated Matt Moore era has come to a close, Fox may have bought himself some time with a young quarterback at the helm.
The problem is, Carolina's quarterback play isn't their biggest problem. They also can't run the ball, can't block, and can't play good defense. They've beat themselves in two games against underwhelming talent.
That, folks, is a coaching problem.
Fox entered the season on a hot seat. It's gotten hotter after two straight losses. The NFC South is always wide open. Right now, the Panthers already seem so far out of the race.
Starting Clausen now makes sense in that it's an attempt to spark a stagnant offense. But they have to find a way to support him with a running game and to keep his jersey moderately clean. They couldn't do that for Matt Moore.
Coming Up
Carolina plays host to the 1-1 Cincinnati Bengals this week. The Bengals looked efficient in beating the Ravens last week, but were still unable to get much production out of their offense. Carolina will need to exploit that to have a chance this week.
Fox's team is usually a steady rushing team. The Bengals are notoriously poor against the run, so this would be the time for DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart to step up and produce points and yards. If Carolina can out-possess the Bengals, they have a chance.
Chances of Being Fired For A Loss
It seems like Fox will likely get a full season since his contract is up. This 0-2 start has a lot of people questioning whether or not the front office will cut their losses now and try to find a coach of the future. One thing Fox has going in his favor: no one on the staff currently jumps out as a potential replacement.
2. Tom Cable, Oakland Raiders
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The Oakland Raiders beat the St. Louis Rams. That might have been a big headline in 2002. Now it's nothing more than a blip on the radar and insurance that Cable won't go anywhere this week.
The Raiders beat a young, inexperienced team by two points. That's not a job-securing kind of performance.
To make it worse, big offseason addition Jason Campbell has failed to move the team's offense. For that, Cable benched him in favor of Bruce Gradkowski, who sparked the team last year in Pittsburgh. He did it again, bringing the Raiders back.
Now Cable gets to play Quarterback Roulette. Does he go with Jason Campbell, his original starter, or Gradkowski, who seems to have a better handle on this offense?
How he handles that choice will determine whether or not he keeps his job. Make no mistake. Al Davis is watching. He doesn't want a dink and dunk offense. He wants to use long-range bombing. Davis is senile enough to believe he's still a coach, so he expects to get what he wants.
Coming Up
The Raiders go to Arizona this week to face a disappointing Cardinals team. There's plenty for both teams to prove. Cable must decide on a quarterback and then stick with them or his team will never find consistency. The Cardinals haven't managed much on offense, a trend the Raiders must hope to continue.
Chances of Being Fired For A Loss
As with any Raiders coach, losing a game is a sin. Cable is already on thin ice. Davis has shown a penchant for making coaching changes early in the season. After being a dark horse candidate to win the division, the Raiders are a shaky 1-1. Fall to 1-2 and Davis might just have had enough.
1. Eric Mangini, Cleveland Browns
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I'm honestly not picking on the guy. I kind of feel bad for him. He spent most of last season in limbo after Mike Holmgren came on board. He's been surrounded by rumors every since.
You just get the feeling he isn't safe at all.
The time may be coming for Mangini to make some changes to his staff to help preserve his own job.
Brian Daboll has proven time and again that he cannot run an NFL offense. He's wasted two stellar defensive efforts by the Browns' defense. He doesn't have the most talent to work with, but he's misusing the amazing Joshua Cribbs and he totally mismanaged the abilities of quarterback Seneca Wallace on Sunday afternoon.
If Mangini doesn't warn Daboll to pick up his game, then he deserves to be fired himself. This isn't the time to make friends. It's time to do what Mangini does best: be the heavy.
Coming Up
The Browns face division rival Baltimore this week. That won't be an easy test. The Ravens are coming off a disappointing loss to the rival Bengals and will be playing with something to prove. Cleveland's offense has failed against non-powerhouses Tampa Bay and Kansas City. Now they draw the excellent Ravens defense.
Chances of Being Fired For A Loss
Mangini's seat is hot, but I don't get the feeling that a loss to a tough team like the Ravens will send him packing. If the offense lays another egg, however, he needs to step in and make changes. This is his team. Holmgren has let him coach. It's time for him to take a heavy hand with his coaches.
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