Week 8: Frank Reich and the Coaches on the NFL Hot Seat

Firings This Season

Coaches on the NFL Hot Seat

Frank Reich/Indianapolis Colts

The hottest seat in the NFL just got hotter. Indianapolis offense sputtered yet again as the Colts lost 17-16 to Washington, as the Sam Ehlinger tenure begins. Colts owner Jim Irsay stated this week that Frank Reich or GM Chris Ballard are not on the NFL hot seat now. What he didn’t specify is whether that means for this season or for the foreseeable future.

Frank Reich’s offense has only scored two touchdowns in the first half of the games its played. Ehlinger managed himself wonderfully considering the position he was placed in this week. But again, as has been stressed on past articles written on Frank Reich, they are not making any progress in the areas of weakness. He is staying the course even when the times are tough right now and, in the end, it very well may cost him his job by years end.

Kliff Kingsbury/Arizona Cardinals

The communication issues between Kingsbury and Murray continued this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings. Arizona takes the loss by the final of 34-26 on the road in Minnesota. Murray and Kingsbury don’t appear to be on the same page this season. They were seen yelling at each other again and the sideline personnel were not meshing either.

Kingsbury"s time management was suspect today and more questions on play calls. They did keep DeAndre Hopkins involved and hopefully the return of James Conner will bring about some balance in the offense and save Kliff from the NFL Hot Seat.

Josh McDaniels/Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas get steamrolled by New Orleans on the road 24-0. This is the first time the franchise has been shut out in 8 years. McDaniels and the staff are nearing rock bottom already. They benched Derek Carr, Josh Jacobs was held to 43 yards on 10 carries and Davante Adams was non-existent this week.

McDaniels has taken a playoff team that added Davante Adams and Chandler Jones and he has somehow made them worse. Right now, it’s inexcusable and if you believe the rumblings, he may not survive this.

Nathaniel Hackett/Denver Broncos

Denver defeats Jacksonville 21-17 in London this weekend. Credit to Hackett, a frequent flyer on the NFL Hot Seat this season, for allowing QB Russell Wilson to take over the final drive to get the go-ahead score. Sources close to his job security had leaked that he was potentially going to be let go if he lost against Jacksonville this weekend.

Whether those rumors were true or not, he called a great final drive that might change the trajectory of the season. They have 3 winnable games coming up before closing the season on a difficult stretch of division games.

Dan Campbell/Detroit Lions

It feels very surprising to have him on the list this after what appeared to be an upward trend for this football team. But that’s why this game is not played on paper. Detroit blows their 10-point halftime lead and gets shoutout in the second half to lose to Miami 31-27 at home. This brings Dan Campbell’s record in Detroit to 4-19-1.

Campbell was noticeably angry at the secondary on Sunday and DB Coach Aubrey Pleasant was fired Monday afternoon. If Detroit should be firing someone other than Campbell it needs to be DC Aaron Glenn. Not saying the offense was great but the defense struggled again today. The Detroit Lions fanbase is synonymous with losing but Campbell must show progress in the second half of the season for job security. For now, he"s on the NFL Hot Seat.

Seats That Are Staying Warm
John Harbaugh/Baltimore Ravens, Ron Rivera/Washington Commanders, Kevin Stefanski/Cleveland Browns

Will Frank Reich survive the season? Will their be a November surprise firing? Let us know you thoughts and who you think deserves to be on the NFL Hot Seat in the comments below!

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