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)
Nathaniel Hackett/Denver Broncos-Replaced by Jerry Rosburg (Senior Assistant)

Coaches on the NFL Hot Seat

Kliff Kingsbury/Arizona Cardinals

Arizona lost to Atlanta on a last second FG 20-19. Kliff Kingsbury’s fate seems to have been sealed for weeks but the speculation is intensifying as the regular season draws to a close. Kingsbury claims he "has not been informed of his status" leading into the season finale against San Francisco. This moves the Cardinals to 4-12 on the season and their 6th consecutive loss and 8^th loss in their last 9 games. This also moves Kingsbury’s tenure to 28-36 with one playoff appearance. The season has been marred with staff issues (two were removed), upper management dysfunction and the relationship with starting QB Kyler Murray has been damaged, and potentially permanent.

They are also on their 4^th starting QB of the season, with David Blough starting last week’s game. If that weren’t enough, defensive captain JJ Watt announced his retirement from the NFL at the end of the season. Expect Kingsbury to be relieved of his duties immediately following the season.

Arthur Smith/Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta gets the win this week against the lowly Arizona Cardinals on a last second FG 20-19. Falcons move to 6-10 on the season and will finish against Tampa Bay in a meaningless game. Smiths’ situation with Atlanta is very different than Kingbury’s in Arizona. Smith is dealing with a new QB and RB and they are both showing promise. QB Desmond Ridder got his first win as a starting QB and rookie RB Tyler Allgeier has shown himself to be a capable RB1 in the coming years.

Rookie WR Drake London has also shown some promise this season as well. This "core" of players might be what keeps Arthur Smith around for at least one more season. They have drafted well this past year and they are in a very weak division that will probably be wide open next season if Tom Brady leaves Tampa Bay during Free Agency.

Lovie Smith/Houston Texans

Just when it seemed like Houston was starting to turn the season around with strong play last month, Houston played one of the worst games of their season with a loss to Jacksonville 31-3. The speculation has intensified surrounding his job status these past few weeks. It seems that the staff will need to be overhauled at a minimum if Lovie survives this season.

The expectations were not high this season to begin with, but this could be the third HC in as many seasons and would be two consecutive one and done coaches. Not an ideal way to re-build a franchise especially with 3 first round picks in the upcoming draft, including the #1 overall pick. It appears that current starting QB Davis Mills is not the answer and will most likely address that position with the #1 overall pick in April"s draft.  

Mike McDaniel/Miami Dolphins

There is always one surprise every offseason on Black Monday or shortly after. I think this one has potential to be the surprise. After an 8-3 start to the season the Dolphins have stumbled to an 8-8 record after losing 5 in a row. Last year, the Dolphins made it known that they wanted to bring in Sean Payton and pair him with potentially Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers. Similar rumors have begun to cook again this season with the injury history and inconsistency from Tua Tagovailoa.

McDaniel is a good young coach and has done a decent job this season and many believe if he was let go he would be hired fairly quickly by another franchise as a head coach. But this is Sean Payton and the staff that is being reported is stellar. Payton seems to be re-charged and ready for another Super Bowl run. Stephen Ross has very deep pockets and wants to win now and he would not hesitate to make the move.

Seats That Are Staying Warm
Ron Rivera/Washington Commanders, Dennis Allen/New Orleans, Josh McDaniels/Las Vegas, Kevin Stefanski/Cleveland Browns

Let us know who you think deserves to be on the NFL Hot Seat in the comments below!

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