Welcome back to Belly Up’s Over-Reactionary Coach’s Hot Seat Scale – or BUORCHSS for short. More movement happened in this NFL hot seat scale after Week 6. Two NFL coaches – one permanent, the other interim – received their first wins, while two slip to a new hot seat scale. As usual, if you need an explanation of this scale, refer to Week 1’s column.
Coach-for-Life
Mike Vrabel, Frank Reich, Raheem Morris, Vic Fangio, Joe Judge, John Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin, Matt Nagy, Bruce Arians, Brian Flores, Andy Reid, Kliff Kingsbury.
It took six weeks, but Judge finally earned his first win as an NFL coach as the Giants defeated Washington Team Football. Morris was named interim head coach of the Falcons and helped earn ATL their first win. It was the first win as a head coach for Morris since October 16, 2011, when he was coach of the Bucs. Although, I’m sure when the Falcons went up 20-0 at halftime, Falcons fans were on pins and needles. (I presume.)
The Falcons have a 20-point lead at the half in Minneapolis.
— Ryan McCarthy (@WhoIsRyanMcC) October 18, 2020
Falcons fans: #NFLTwitter pic.twitter.com/UR0270tPBM
Speaking of the Bucs, Arians and his squad handed the Packers their first loss of 2020 with a rather dominant win. Vrabel and Tomlin’s teams both remain perfect; the Titans eked one out in overtime over the Texans and the Steelers beat down the Browns. Fangio’s Broncos had to wait two weeks, but came away with the upset in New England. Speaking of New England…
Tepid
Romeo Crennel, Zac Taylor, Bill Belichick, Kevin Stefanski, Matt Rhule, Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay, Sean McDermott.
Is it the end of an era in Foxborough? I wouldn’t say so, but Belichick’s Patriots lost their second consecutive game. LaFleur’s Packers were defeated handily in Tampa Bay for their first loss of the season. McDermott’s Bills lost their second game in a row as did Taylor’s Bengals. Crennel’s Texans came back from eleven down and took the Titans to overtime, but eventually lost.
Instant Pot
Ron Rivera, Doug Pedersen, Doug Marrone, Matt Patricia.
Patricia’s Lions helped their head coach climb out of the Circle of Hell: Level 8 hot scale with an overwhelming win in Jacksonville. Speaking of Jacksonville, the Jaguars suffered their fifth consecutive loss. The 36-16 loss was their second double-digit loss in consecutive weeks. Rivera’s Team Football came back, but lost by one to the Giants. It was the fifth consecutive loss for Washington and the pressure is on for Rivera to win. Pedersen’s Eagles came back from a 17-point halftime deficit, but lost to the Ravens.
Circle of Hell: Level 8
Adam Gase, Mike Zimmer, Mike McCarthy (no relation).
Welcome to the Circle of Hell: Level 8, Zimmer and McCarthy. Zimmer’s Vikings were underwhelming on offense as it sputtered for three quarters and fell behind 30-7. They scored 16 in the fourth, but still lost by 17 and now Zimmer is certainly in a bad spot. For the fifth consecutive game, McCarthy’s Cowboys allowed over 30 points and lost by 28. Even though this is McCarthy’s first year in Big D, it might as well be his last if they continue to allow over 30 per game. And like last week, I ask on behalf of all Jets fans: why is Gase still head coach of the Jets? Here’s a telling statistic on how inept the Jets offense is:
The Jets had 13 more plays than the Dolphins, led in time of possession and won the turnover battle and lost by 24. That is crazy.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) October 18, 2020
Brilliant. Offensive. Genius.
Toast
Bill O’Brien, Dan Quinn.
Will additional coaches be added to this NFL hot seat scale following Week 6? We’ve got 11 more weeks to find out.
N/A: Jon Gruden, Sean Payton, Anthony Lynn, Pete Carroll. All their teams were on their respective bye weeks.
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).
