Who Wants to Coach? NFL 2021

Three firings before it ended, and another four more, maybe five.

Before it ended came the firings of Matt Patricia, Dan Quinn, and Bill O'Brien. O'Brien damaged the Houston Texans pretty badly. Supposedly, they are looking at Marvin Lewis and a favorite may be Jim Caldwell. Both have done well with the teams they have been around. Quinn had a number of struggles the last couple of years with the Atlanta Falcons. No run game and defense killed his chances. Detroit had no defense under Patricia. Along with running game issues and the health of Matthew Stafford, no surprise he was let go.

Adam Gase being fired was not a surprise. The New York Jets going 2 and 14 this year don't help. Too many problems on both sides. Cover 0 blitz, anyone? Salvaging the season and being 7 and 9 did not save Anthony Lynn from getting canned with the LA Chargers. Some injuries and poor defense hampered this season. Hopefully whoever is hired does not mess with what Justin Herbert did as a rookie. Doug Marrone being fired from the Jacksonville Jaguars is not a stunning thing. Second rate talent, though they were in some close games.

I thought Doug Pederson was safe in Philadelphia. Not the case with being let go yesterday. Supposedly, disagreements with Eagle owner Jeffrey Lurie to go with an abysmal year and questionable approaches. Losing the locker don't help. Carson Wentz's situation does not help either. Too much toxicity from the sounds of it. One likely candidate is running back coach Duce Staley, who has ties with Philly. Lots of surprise considering reactions from a number of sports networks. The one that is still in the air is Matt Nagy. Despite two playoff appearances. the Chicago Bears were one and done. Even with a good defense, the offense was still a hassle. Inconsistency is the word I would describe it. If he's gone, three coaches in eight years.

There are some places that one could envy and head to. Some are an easy fix and a couple are ones that require a year or two to rebuild. Have to play that hand and see what can be done with what will be a lowered salary cap.

Tank Culture in Football

Do I think there's tanking in football? Sometimes. But the ire that is stemming towards the Philadelphia Eagles is very obvious for anyone following the disastrous final game of the season. Tight game between them and the Washington Football Team. Then comes the decision to not tie the game on a field goal. Pretty common for Doug Pederson this year. But the changing from quarterback Jalen Hurts to Nate Sudfeld is what is driving many up a wall.

Washington won, securing the NFC East and being the last team to get into the playoffs. It eliminated the New York Giants from contention, but what I'll say is this. It isn't so much the Giants being eliminated that bothers people. Most will not disagree, including former players, that they could have more than six wins. It's how they were eliminated that's the issue. You play with pride. Players want to show they are still worth something to their team or to another team if they express interest in them. People are bringing up a press conference bite of Eagles center Jason Kelce valuing winning over tanking. That will not age well.

I see people bring up playoff bound teams resting players. That's a huge apples and oranges situation. Why risk injury with your starters before heading into the postseason? The look on Hurts' face when he got benched says it all. He was the reason the game was close with his two rushing touchdowns. He didn't look good from a passing perspective, but there is uptick to him compared to Sudfeld. I don't know how Pederson can keep a straight face and say that he was coaching to win. That is flat out chickenshit. Even beyond current and former Giant players, you got angry fans. Angry analysts. Former Eagle players feeling embarrassed. Some are questioning the inactives thing because you can get in trouble for that, but I don't think that's a huge factor.

What this will go into is the culture of the Eagles. This brings a bad message to kids and a bad message to high school football programs all over the country. It's the kind of bad moments that brings toxicity to a locker room. The ones defending Pederson's decisions don't seem to grasp the blatant tanking. Other teams played with pride like Detroit and Houston. If it was a blow out, I would understand. Philadelphia played a big game defensively to give Jim Schwartz a proper curtain call.

Philadelphia gets the sixth overall pick of this year's draft. It does make a difference where you are early. However, whoever they get is going to face a lot of unwarranted hype and potential scrutiny if he messes up or doesn't live up to the pick. Sudfeld I can see being a scapegoat. Unfortunate that Pederson will more than likely keep his job. Shame on owner Jeffrey Lurie and anyone involved in that organization. A shame also that the NFL will probably not investigate this. No excuses should be made at all.