Who Wants to Coach? NFL 2022

There's about eight coaching spots to fill in the NFL. It all started before the season ended Las Vegas, but firings came with Jacksonville firing first year Urban Meyer. Pretty much lost the locker room. Then came the avalanche after the final week of the season. Denver got rid of Vic Fangio. Then immediately came the firings of Minnesota's Mike Zimmer, Chicago's Matt Nagy, and the surprise of Miami's Brian Flores. After that was New York Giants' Joe Judge and Houston's David Culley. Las Vegas is up in the air as Jon Gruden did resign in October and if Rich Bisaccia retains being the coach.

Jacksonville was a mess and not getting along with Trevor Lawrence among other players pretty much got Meyer let go. Not to mention his behavior. Zimmer's teams in Minnesota were never consistent and his specialty in defense were up to snuff. Great offenses when healthy. Nagy always had offense problems in Chicago. Different quarterbacks, inconsistent running. Defense can't always save an offense. Flores had problems with some players similar to Meyer. I'd also wager Miami blowing opportunities to get into the playoffs this year and last year. Since 2002, they have only made the playoffs twice (2008, 2016)

Denver hasn't been the same over the last six seasons. Fangio's defenses were underwhelming and the offense was always changing. Struggled after starting well this season. Judge could not work with the pieces he was given on offense for New York once his key guys were hurt. Three coaches in six years for the team. Culley got put in a bad situation. No DeShaun Watson and no defense. The mess of Bill O'Brien still lingers. The situation regarding Gruden, he ain't coaching again. Bisaccia kept his composure to get only Vegas' second playoff berth in the last 20 years.

Dallas seemed like a question mark, but sounds like they are going to keep Mike McCarthy as their coach. Chicago has an interest in Brian Flores, though offense should be a priority. Minnesota should be a better fit for him New York needs an offensive minded guy. I wouldn't mind seeing Bisaccia get a crack at being the full time coach for Las Vegas. I don't know what direction you go with Denver and Jacksonville. The former needs to get out of the hump and back to some form of relevancy and the latter needs a winning formula with someone who can get the pieces together and win. I'm not sure Houston fixes their almost two year old mess.

Who has a good chance to be a coach again? Share you thoughts.

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.

2020 NFL Divisional Recap

Another series of wheels in motion.

Another round of Derrick Henry and a huge win for the Tennessee Titans. Add 195 rushing yards and a stingy defense to beat the Baltimore Ravens. Every facet coming in at the right time. The Ravens not having a good running attack combined with an unprepared defense. But then you have adversity like the Kansas City Chiefs. Pat Mahomes' arm got them out of a 24 to nothing deficit to win 51 to 31 against the Houston Texans. A tighter second half on defense, better running of the ball. Bill O'Brien may have coached his last game with the Texans.

We have the not surprised results of the NFC. San Francisco played strong defense in their win against the Minnesota Vikings. Tevin Coleman has been valuable in the ground game and Jimmy Garoppolo played decent enough. The Vikes were sloppy running the ball and a couple special teams mistakes doomed them and their usually good defense. Green Bay survives a late attempted comeback against the Seattle Seahawks. Aaron Jones scoring and running keeps them in games. Otherwise, Hollywood Rodgers is not on the level of where he has been in years past and the defense almost choked. That should question how big of a test it will be when they face the 49ers on Sunday.

In three weeks, I believe we will see a San Francisco/Tennessee Super Bowl in Miami. At this point in time, the former's defense can hang with the best. The latter plays it old school on offense. Keys for the other teams: If you're Green Bay, be aware of the run and don't forget about Jones. If you're Kansas City, run the ball to provide enough balance and keep eye on formations when playing defense. Mike Vrabel is laying down the law with the Titans. These Conference Championships should provide good entertainment and tight match ups.

NFL Wild Card Recap

A crazy weekend for football.

The Tennessee Titans put up a show and defeated the New England Patriots. Strong running from Derrick Henry kept the Titans in the game and Mike Vrabel's intelligence on having penalties on fourth down in the fourth quarter helped secure a big win against his former team. The future of New England lays in question with coaching opportunities and potential loss of big players. Lack of big plays killed them. Tennessee plays huge underdog against Baltimore.

I call it The Comeback II. Just the opposite. Down 16 to nothing, the Houston Texans rebounded and beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime, 27 years and a day to the day the Bills beat the Oilers in a huge comeback for the ages. Deshaun Watson showed he can hang with the best and the defense had a great second half. Buffalo faltered with the second half. Josh Allen still has work to do and progression will help him and the team make another run next year. Houston gets a chance to eliminate Kansas City, which they did in the regular season.

Another year, another New Orleans heartbreak. Again against Minnesota, the Vikings won in overtime, eliminating the Saints. Kirk Cousins gets the coveted first postseason win, Dalvin Cook puts up good numbers and the defense held their own despite letting them tie it up. Drew Brees can only do so much with a poor running game and the cobbled up secondary was not a match for the Vikes receivers. Minnesota can play upset against San Francisco.

Same score, different week. The Seattle Seahawks beat the Philadelphia Eagles again. Russell Wilson was the main factor for the offense. Half his passing yards went to rookie D.K. Metcalf. And as always, the young defense made the Eagles night horrendous, including a head injury for the often hurt Carson Wentz. Josh McCown did okay. Miles Sanders proves he can be good, but no threats outside of tight ends hurt Philly's chances. The defense not showing up is another issue. No NFC East team was going to win a game, regardless of who they were going to face. Seattle can be the nightmare once again to Green Bay, who they haven't played in the postseason in five years.

The Divisional Round should bring a lot of excitement and dare I say maybe some big upsets. No New England makes it a lot more intriguing.

Securing a Romo

For the 2006 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys started with Drew Bledsoe as their quarterback. Heading into mid-October they were at 3-3 following a poor performance against the New York Giants. In the midst of that game, Bledsoe, who had certain issues in games (accuracy, yards, and turnovers mostly), would be benched in favor of third year backup Tony Romo. Though Romo struggled coming in that game, he would put up some good numbers in ten and a half games. He would end the season with almost 3000 yards, 19 touchdowns, and earned a trip to the Pro Bowl.

With a young player under center, the Cowboys were a team to fear. In Romo's first three years as the full time starter, they had postseason berths in two of them. Their 2009 season got them a playoff win, something that wasn't seen since the 1996 season when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles. Despite the numbers he was putting up, there was Romo's infamous chokes. Long story short, there was the 2006 playoffs where he botched a field goal snap and tried to run for the endzone against the Seattle Seahawks. He threw the game ending interception against the eventual Super Bowl champion Giants a year later. The label has stuck ever since, even with a win against the Eagles in 09 and the Detroit Lions in 2014.

Heading into the 2010 season, the Cowboys saw a mediocre year where nothing worked early on and Romo getting injured on national television in mid-October with a broken clavicle. He would rebound and have very strong seasons statistically but saw major chokes in the last game of the season in 2011 and 2012. The team would rebound in 2014 and put themselves back in the playoff race and win another game. Though 2015 started off well, Romo would suffer injuries twice in the same body part like in 2010. Dallas faltered without him. With this past pre-season, he would injure his back and lose his starting job to Dak Prescott, who put up a good rookie season.

With the question that begs to be answered, where does Tony Romo go? The Houston Texans just traded Brock Osweiler away to the Cleveland Browns. He could fit in there with a decent ground game and some young talented receivers. There is questions on whether he goes to the Denver Broncos. As far as that team goes, they have some good receivers, but the ground game is a little concerning. That being said, Trevor Siemian didn't have that bad of a season. It was something that didn't become a huge problem.

If Romo were to go to one of those two teams, they are going to need to be sure there is a competent backup in place in order to avoid like what happened in 2015. Dallas caught a huge break with Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott propelling them to success. Whoever gets him has to know the injuries that have been there for the last two years. Romo may be turning 37 in April, but Denver and Houston may only have a few years with him if they want a championship immediately, especially Houston. They have that strong defense and decent ground game, but Tom Savage is not a proven strong backup. Siemian might help in a pinch in case of any injuries in Denver, 

My personal thought is Romo stays in Texas and goes to the Texans. They have more than enough talent to have at least a 10 win season. Combined when you healthy players like JJ Watt in a strong defense, the opportunity and expectations to win a Super Bowl increases if the trade goes through. Other than the Houston Rockets in basketball, there hasn't been many championships in Houston sports, with the most recent being their soccer team in 2006 and 07. Whether it pans out in a conference where the biggest threat is Brady until he retires is up to how the Texans manage the next few seasons. The timetable is extremely tight and they better hope everything fits into place come September. Otherwise, it could be a potentially long year if injuries occur again if the trade goes through.