Tuesday Morning Running Back Week 17: The Coaching Carousel's In Motion

What a difference six months makes.

Within the last six months, the New York Jets have gone from a team full of renewed optimism to a team searching for answers.

Although last year's season was bad, the ending to this season was far worse.

At one point, the Jets sat pretty at the top of the AFC East with a record of 6-3 and what seemed like an easy road ahead.

Then, the curse of Collinsworth reared it's ugly head, as NBC's lead NFL stooge chose the Jets as his pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

What followed was a 3-4 finish culminating in ugly losses to the Seahawks and to former Jet QB Chad Pennington and the Miami Dolphins last night.

As a result, a head coach that was once labeled a genius by the vicious New York tabloids has lost his job.

It can also be said that the legendary QB that was lured out of retirement to head the offense is now a disgraced old man who wishes he stayed back home in Mississippi playing backyard football with the boys from Wrangler.

The ensuing fallout from a once promising season has lead the Jets organization to wonder how they are going to pick up the pieces of a miserable season.

This is a mess that won't be very easy to clean up.

Despite the horrid end to the Jets season. plenty of excitement surrounded the NFL as several teams clinched playoff berth and one team claimed an infamous record.

• Every report I've heard about Lions coach Rod Marinelli has been about former associates such as Tony Dungy and Monte Kiffin talking about how nice a guy he is. Marinelli should be commended on always acting professional and never losing his cool in the midst of arguably the worst season a professional football franchise has ever had to endure. However, 0-16 means no victories and nothing positive to reflect on, and unfortunately, Marinelli had to be the scapegoat.
• The same can be said for now former Browns coach Romeo Crennel, but unlike Marinelli, Crennell never met the strong expectation set of him based on his past.
• If there's a sliver lining for Crennell, he may have ruined the playoff hopes of his former team's hated rival. It depends on how Ben Roethlisberger responds to his concussion
• On the other hand, the Bengals Marvin Lewis may have saved his job by figuring out how to win his team's last three games.
• Yesterday's "replacement player classic" between the Colts and Titans was a good exhibition on how bad the Titans would be if they didn't have a strong defense and Vince Young was at quarterback.
• Credit the Panthers for not letting a determined Drew Brees stand in their way of the #2 seed in the NFC.
• Before anyone from Carolina asks me, yes I did see Football Night in America, and I would suggest for your team's sake to somehow convince Cris Collinsworth to change his Super Bowl pick.
• If there's a team that grinded it way to the playoffs it's the Vikings who road a strong defense and the back of Adrian Peterson to the playoffs all year long.
• If there's such a thing as an underrated offense I think the Texans have it. Andre Johnson and Steve Slation barely get any press.
• Every Eagles fan should thank Raiders running back Michael Bush who rushed for 178 and 2 touchdowns against the Bucs for helping the birds
• The Patriots did everything they could to ensure they'd make the playoffs, but their lack of a strong schedule and the heartbreaking home loss to the Jets did them in.
• Unlike Eric Mangini, Jim Zorn is likely to get a reprieve even though his season went from promising to sour the minute he started sparring with Clinton Portis. His objective for the offseason is to figure out how to be a cohesive unit on the field by next season.
• After watching the highlights of the Ravens and Jaguars I have only one thing to say. If any of the playoff games turn into the Ed Reed and Ray Lewis show, the Ravens could shock a lot of people come February.
• There is no reason why Tony Sporano shouldn't be coach of the year. He took over an organization in total disarray and instilled a confidence that paid off in a division championship.
• Spare me the talk that Wade Phillips is safe as coach of the Cowboys. A team that loaded with talent should not play like it doesn't care enough to make the playoffs. Phillips can't be easygoing and turn the other cheek when he's got a team full of egotistical punks that act how they want. The Cowboys self-destructed yesterday with their careless play and penchant for stupidity in regards to penalties. Wade Phillips is clearly not the man to lead this cavalcade of buffoonery.
  
• If there was ever a time for LaDainian Tomlinson to be himself, Sunday was the night. Because of it, the seat under Mike Shanahan's behind became a little hotter.
• Even though the regular season is history, the playoffs are about to begin, meaning there's more work for me to do. See you next week for all the reaction to Wild Card Weekend.