Welcome back to Belly Up’s Over-Reactionary Coach’s Hot Seat Scale – or BUORCHSS for short. This is the weekly scale for every NFL coach to gauge their time left with their respective teams. If you need an explanation of how this scale works, check out my Week One post!
We have more movement in the NFL hot seat scale and one coach has pulled himself out of the Circle of Hell: Level 8. Let’s take a look.
Coach-for-Life
Brian Flores, Matt Nagy, Sean McDermott, Kevin Stefanski, Mike Vrabel, Brian Shanahan, Bill Belichick, Mike Tomlin, Frank Reich, Matt Ruhle, Bruce Arians, Pete Carroll, Matt LaFleur, Andy Reid.
Flores led Miami to their first win of 2020 on Thursday night in Jacksonville. Congrats to Ruhle, who earned his first win as an NFL coach as Carolina beat the Chargers in Los Angeles. Nagy, McDermott, Vrabel, Tomlin, Carroll, LaFleur, and Reid all helped keep their teams’ records blemish free.
Tepid
Doug Marrone, Sean McVay, Ron Rivera, Jon Gruden, Joe Judge, Zac Taylor, Anthony Lynn, Kliff Kingsbury, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, John Harbaugh.
Kingsbury and Harbaugh’s teams each suffered their first loss of 2020. Arizona somehow lost to Detroit and Baltimore was outclassed by Kansas City. Judge is still looking for his first win as an NFL head coach. Taylor’s Cincinnati team had Philadelphia dead to rights but allowed a last-minute touchdown and then battled to a TIE. McVay’s Los Angeles Rams team nearly completed a 25-point comeback but lost in the final minutes in Buffalo. Marrone, Rivera, Gruden, Lyn, McCarthy, and Payton’s team all dropped to 1-2.
Instant Pot
Mike Zimmer, Bill O’Brien, Doug Pedersen, Matt Patricia, Vic Fangio.
Patricia has emerged from Circle of Hell: Level 8 after his Lions held on to beat Arizona. It was Detroit’s first win in 11 tries. Fangio, though, has now entered the Instant Pot after his Broncos were beaten at home by Tampa Bay. This was disappointing because Mile High Stadium had a bunch of South Park character cutouts filling the stadium. Meanwhile, Zimmer, O’Brien, and Pedersen remain in the Instant Pot level after their respective teams lost. Which coach is closest to the final level? It might be between Zimmer and Pedersen; Zimmer’s Vikings were up by five with 10:17 left but couldn’t put the final nail in Tennessee’s coffin. Pedersen’s Eagles struggled against Cincinnati and tied the game late but fought their way to a TIE.
Circle of Hell: Level 8
Adam Gase, Dan Quinn.
It seems like both Gase and Quinn are going to be here for a while. Gase’s Jets team initially came out aggressive against Indianapolis but the wheels fell off after Sam Darnold threw two – TWO!!! – Pick Sixes. You could argue that Atlanta has it worse: for the second consecutive week, Quinn’s Falcons relinquished a multiple-score lead and lost. The Falcons became the first team in NFL history to surrender leads of 15 or more and lose. There’s no way to tell how long either will be coach of their respective teams. Reports have it that if the Jets lose on Thursday against Denver, Gase will be relieved of his duties. Things don’t get any easier for Atlanta, though; they’ll visit Green Bay next Monday night.
Got your own take about the NFL hot seat scale? Leave a comment below or hit me up on Twitter: @WhoIsRyanMcC. And don’t forget to check out my podcast No Credentials Required (new episodes every Wednesday) and my live stream show A-Round for the Weekend (most Fridays at 6:30pm).
