NFL Coach Hot Seat Rankings, Week 10: Happy Trails Wade Phillips
After nine weeks of NFL action, we finally have something real to talk about. We have a head coach fired, another two that are looking more and more like soon-to-be casualties, and a few more who are in some hot water heading into the season's second half.
Everyone has played at least half of the schedule now. As the season crests and heads downhill, the pace picks up. Contenders push harder each week to position themselves for a title run. The bottom-dwelling teams try to play spoiler and find out how much of their young talent has a chance to succeed in the future.
And coaches get fired. The margins that were already razor-thin are now non-existent. The teams out of it are clearly marked, their coaches are one or two more losses from the unemployment line.
Here are the rankings as we boldly go into the season's second half.
First, We Bid Farewell to Wade Phillips
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I said all along you couldn't trust Jerry Jones to keep his word. When I saw Dallas manhandled by Green Bay 45-7 on Sunday night, I turned to a friend and said that the Wade Watch was over. He'd be relieved of his duties by Tuesday at the latest.
Yesterday Jones finally put Phillips, one of the league's true nice guys, out of his unending misery.
I've come to feel bad for Phillips. I've never seen a head coach look so overwhelmed. But the fact is that his vastly talented and favored Cowboys are 1-7 and look disorganized, out of sync and generally poorly coached.
It's now up to Jason Garrett, the chosen one for so long, to prove he can change all of that and be the head coach that Jones has been paying him to be for years (he's by far the highest paid assistant in the NFL with absolutely no head coaching experience).
So, before we continue, let's pause for a moment of silence to remember the good times with Wade Phillips.
Okay, that was long enough. Now for the guys who are still in danger of being put out of their misery.
5. Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys
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I'm not picking on the new guy. He really is in trouble already.
The chances of Jones firing two guys in midseason are slim to none, but this is Garrett's big moment. For several years now, he's been Dallas' future. They seemingly only hired Wade Phillips so that Garrett could have some time to learn the ropes.
Then Phillips had some limited success and kept his job longer than anyone thought (if you look back, you'll find all kinds of references to him being only a one-year stop-gap).
Now, it's finally Garrett's turn. He's no longer the hotter-than-lava head coaching candidate that he was a few years back. Now he's running an offense that has been exceedingly ordinary the last few years and, until last year, couldn't show up for playoff games.
There's almost no chance he'll have to worry about the playoffs this year, but he does have to worry about keeping his job and regaining his sought-after status.
Want further evidence that he's on a short leash? The Cowboys evidently contacted Bill Cowher to gauge whether he'd consider taking over the team immediately. Cowher said no. But you can bet Jones will make another run at the old Pittsburgh coach in the offseason unless Garrett wows everyone and gets Dallas back on track.
Checklist for the Second Half
-Play Stephen McGee and see if he's the quarterback of the future.
-Start troubleshooting defense. Try call-in help line run by Bill Cowher.
-Make list of problems. Perhaps use smaller font to save some paper.
4. Gary Kubiak, Houston Texans
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You may think that Kubiak's presence here indicates that there are not a lot of guys in real trouble, but I'd think twice before dismissing this as a spot-filler.
Kubiak was rumored to be in trouble as early as last season. Then Houston came within a tiebreaker or two of making its first-ever playoff appearance and the talk died down. During the offseason, it was once again rumored to be a make-the-playoffs-or-bust type of season for the Texans' coach.
Well, they started hot. That's about all you can say for Houston.
Struggling quarterbacks want to play the Texans every week because they have no pass defense. Their offense is up and down. They can't seem to gain any consistency.
They're tied for last place in the division after suffering another strange loss, this time to San Diego, which hadn't won a game on the road coming into this week.
Their offense, which Kubiak is more closely associated with, is fifth in the league. That's great statistically, but unless they can perform in key situations (as in the second half of almost any game), those statistics do little to help.
The defense is in dire straits, ranking 30th. Kubiak has made no move on his defensive coordinator, which is surprising considering that the Texans haven't been good on defense all year.
He may be safe regardless, but I think another sub-.500 season would put him out of business.
Checklist for the Second Half
-Fix pass defense.
-Fix offensive lapses.
-Find way to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
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3. Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos
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A former Bill Belichick disciple is thriving finally in his current digs.
That man is Eric Mangini, not Josh McDaniels.
After seeing Wade Phillips fired after weeks of pronouncement that he wouldn't be, how much stock do you put in Pat Bowlen saying his coach is safe until after next season?
I didn't think so.
McDaniels isn't in a much better situation than Phillips was. His Broncos are 2-6. With San Diego suddenly discovering that it is no longer the preseason and that the games actually count, Denver is very firmly at the bottom of a competitive division.
Want further proof that disaster is looming? Five of the Broncos' final eight games are within the division, including three of their next four.
How about this? Since starting off 6-0 to open his first season (and shocking everyone who thought he was a dolt for badly mishandling the whole Jay Cutler situation), his team has gone 4-14. Ouch.
McDaniels has a talented team. They aren't nearly as talented as the failure that is Dallas, but there's no reason they should be 2-6. They have a steady quarterback in Kyle Orton who limits mistakes and makes big plays. They have a stable of young running backs that should be getting big yardage, but aren't.
And, like Houston, they have a terrible defense. The defense fell apart last year and seems to have picked right back up where it left off, regardless of the change in coordinators.
Failing to right the ship will likely be fatal.
Checklist for the Second Half
-Check under couch cushions in locker room to find missing defense.
-Get offensive line to open holes for running backs.
-If all else fails, play Tim Tebow and see if he can be a pro quarterback.
2. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings
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If you think a win will save you, even if it's a really nice comeback victory, you're mistaken.
When an owner publicly questions his head coach's authority and job performance, you have to do a lot more than win a close game.
Childress has been vilified for the whole Randy Moss experiment, so much that Vikings' owner Zygi Wilf said he was weighing the possibility of firing him. The win likely kept that from happening immediately, but you can bet that Childress isn't on much of a leash right now and that another loss might finish him off.
Regardless of the star-crossed receiver that spent four weeks with them, the Vikings are not a very good team. Brett Favre looks every bit of his advanced age. Percy Harvin is in and out of the lineup with injuries. And the whole team looks a bit out of sync.
Not to pile on, but Childress has spent two years being upstaged by Favre. He continually lets the quarterback win arguments. That assassinates his control over his roster, and it shows badly. The Vikings don't seem to respond to his sometimes "chilly" leadership style.
Childress tied his coaching future to a title run or two with Brett Favre as the star quarterback. The Vikings came within a field goal of playing for the title last year.
This year, things aren't going so well. Minnesota is 3-5 and falling out of the tight NFC North race. Another loss or two and the Vikings' season will be pretty much over. Back-to-back division games with Chicago and Green Bay loom, so the Vikings will either make or break themselves in the next two games.
Lose those two and I'm sure Wilf will have little trouble making his decision.
Checklist for the Second Half
-Locate fountain of youth, send Brett Favre to visit again.
-Find receiver other than Percy Harvin to depend on (Greg Camarillo anyone?).
-Assert control over team before it asserts control over you.
1. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals
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The good? The Bengals started 2-1 after winning the division last season. The bad? They've lost five straight games since then, including a heartbreaking loss to the Steelers on Monday Night Football.
The ugly? They are, by far, the most inconsistent team in the league not playing in Texas.
The primadonna attitudes are starting to show. Terrell Owens has started his me-first whining for the football anytime a drive goes poorly. Chad Ochocinco is actually playing the adult (there's a thought for apocalypse theorists). Carson Palmer looks like he's ready to quit on this team.
Marvin Lewis, who's been rumored to be in trouble almost every year he's been in Cincinnati, might finally be running out of time.
Like Dallas, the Bengals were expected to be a force again this year. They won the tough AFC North last year in a close race and added talent to their roster to rectify the issues they had.
The defense was great last year and was supposed to be clutch this year, with Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph supposedly ready to be a force in the secondary. Adam Jones was brought in to solidify the unit just as Owens was to solidify the offense.
And then the wheels came off.
After a 2-1 start that had everyone thinking this whole Owens and Ochocinco thing might actually work, the Bengals are falling to pieces. They can't score consistently, needing timely and questionable penalties to get within six points of the Steelers last night. And they can't close the door on any opponent.
Five straight losses will wear on any team. If the Bengals don't rebound, they are in trouble. They still have to face Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Baltimore again. Two of those teams beat them once already and all of them look to be playing some of the most inspired football in the NFL.
Checklist for the Second Half
-Tell Owens to shut his mouth and play football.
-Find offensive consistency.
-Get corners and safeties to cover somebody. Anybody.
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