Overtime Heroics NFL Hot Seat Report

Firings This Season

Matt Rhule/Carolina Panthers- Replaced by Steve Wilks (Defensive Assistant)
Frank Reich/Indianapolis Colts- Replaced by Jeff Saturday (Staff Consultant)

Coaches on the NFL Hot Seat

Kliff Kingsbury/Arizona Cardinals

Arizona loses to New England 27-13 on Monday Night Football. Kingsbury was dealt a bad hand in the beginning of this game as Kyler Murray went down with a serious knee injury, as an MRI has shown a torn ACL. One would imagine this will keep Kyler Murray out for next year as well. Colt McCoy will step in as QB for the remainder of the season.

This really leaves Arizona, now at 4-10, with a tough decision ahead of them. With Kyler Murray out, presumably, until 2024 will Arizona keep Kingsbury through next season at least. He recently signed an extension along with GM Steve Keim. With a place holder QB for next season, it might be in the best interest of the owners check book to keep everyone going into next season.

Nathaniel Hackett/Denver Broncos

Denver takes the loss against Kansas City 34-28. While 34 points is a lot to give up the Denver defense actually created some turnovers (three in total) but it wasn’t enough to get the win. A breakout game for WR Jerry Jeudy brought some hope to this team this week with a 3 TD performance. QB Russell Wilson is in concussion protocol after taking a nasty hit late in the game and it is most likely that backup Brett Rypien will be the starter this week against the struggling Arizona Cardinals.

It’s surprising to see Nathaniel Hackett still coaching this team with a 3-10 record. They have an in-demand assistant, DC Ejiro Eviro, that has the defense playing at a high level. If Hackett moves off the NFL Hot Seat and to the NFL unemployment line before next season, expect Eviro to be a candidate in Denver.

Arthur Smith/Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta had a bye last week but did have some news coming out the bye. They are making a change at quarterback. Marcus Mariota will be benched, and rookie Desmond Ridder will be the starter for the rest of the season. This comes after Mariota pulled himself out of the game with an apparent knee injury. Mariota has also (reportedly) left the team completely after being demoted for “performance based issues" by Arthur Smith. It is not know if, or when, Mariota will return to the team. This adds to the already murky season going on in Atlanta. Smith is now 12-17 as the Falcons head coach and he will need a strong finish with a rookie QB to cement his status for the 2023 season.

Dennis Allen/New Orleans Saints

New Orleans also had a bye week but did not go the same way as Atlanta (their opponent this coming week) did in the quarterback department. They have decided to keep Andy Dalton as the starting quarterback this week and leaving Jameis Winston on the bench. This move is puzzling and makes you wonder what is going on in New Orleans with the relationship between Winston and Allen.

The similarities with New Orleans and Atlanta can’t be missed right now. It’s apparent that Andy Dalton is not getting the job done, so why leave him out there? Dalton is now 3-7 this season as the starting quarterback. Allen’s track record of winning as a head coach isn’t stellar either as he has moved to 12-37 all time as a head coach. With the "win now" job market of head coaches it’s befuddling that Allen will stick with Dalton instead of looking to the future with Jameis Winston. As a result, Allen is firmly on the NFL Hot Seat.

Seats That Are Staying Warm
Josh McDaniels/Las Vegas Raiders, Matt LeFleur/Green Bay Packers, Kevin Stefanski/Cleveland Browns, Brandon Staley/Los Angeles Chargers

Let us know who is on your NFL Hot Seat report in the comments below!

Main image credit Embed from Getty Images