Welcome to Belly Up’s Over-Reactionary Coach’s Hot Seat Scale for NFL Week 13! (Or BUORCHSS, for short.) Another week, another delay to the hot seat scale thanks to #CoronaSZN. But never fear! As long as the season pushes forward, like it or not, the scale will also move forward! We had a new coach enter the top tier of the scale while several coaches remain in the bottom tier after losses.
Coach-for-Life
Jon Gruden, Sean Peyton, Darrell Bevell, Kevin Stefanski, Brian Flores, Mike Zimmer, Frank Reich, Sean McVay, Joe Judge, Matt LaFleur, Bill Belichick, Andy Reid, Ron Rivera, Sean McDermott.
The theme this season is if your coach entering the season is now in the Toast level of the hot seat scale, then the interim head coach will win his first game. Darrell Bevell is no exception. His Lions won Bevell his first game as an NFL head coach and did so by flipping the script on the Bears in NFL’s Week 13. The Lions were down by 10 at the half and fought their way back to win by four. It’s a revenge game for the Lions, who blew a double-digit lead against the Bears all the way back in Week 1. So, welcome to the hot seat scale, Coach Bevell! Meanwhile, the three hottest teams in the NFC are the Saints, Giants, and Washington, who are riding winning streaks. And don’t look now, but here come the Patriots after a 45-0 blowout in Los Angeles. Fun stat from ESPN’s Mike Reiss (unless you’re a Chargers fan):
From @ESPNStatsInfo: This is the 4th time in Bill Belichick’s head coaching career he won a game by 45+ points. That ties Tom Landry for the such wins by a head coach in the Super Bowl Era (since 1966).
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) December 7, 2020
Tepid
Raheem Morris, Mike Vrabel, Romeo Crennell, Pete Carroll, Vic Fangio, Mike Tomlin, Kyle Shanahan, John Harbaugh.
After his squad got back to nearly 100% health, Harbaugh’s Ravens came out and dominated the Cowboys in NFL Week 13. The win has the Ravens a game back for the seventh spot in the AFC playoff race and moves Harbaugh into a new level on the hot seat scale. Tomlin’s Steelers finally lost a game, which means it’s time for a live shot of the 1972 Miami Dolphins:
Elsewhere, Carroll’s Seahawks were heavy favorites entering their game against the Giants. However, without the advantage of the 12th Man at Lumen Field giving the Seahawks juice, the Giants defense didn’t let Russ cook. If the playoffs started today, these two would meet at MetLife Stadium.
NFC standings
— Dugar, Michael-Shawn (@MikeDugar) December 7, 2020
NO 10-2
GB 9-3
LAR 8-4
NYG 5-7
SEA 8-4
TB 7-5
MIN 6-6
You guys told me you wanted the 5 seed….
Instant Pot
Three weeks ago, the Cardinals were 6-3 and vying for the top spot in the NFC West after their “Hail Murray” beat the Bills. Now? Things aren’t looking so good in the desert as the Cardinals lost their third consecutive game in Week 13. Granted, their two previous losses were by less than ten and they could have won those games. But in this game against the Rams, they had their lunch force-fed to them. Now, Kingsbury finds himself in the Instant Pot of the hot seat scale. Their struggles have been on offense and this game showed how bad things have been for the Cards.
The Cardinals’ 232 yards were the second-fewest of the Kliff Kingsbury era and their 21:07 time of possession was the lowest since Kingsbury took over.
— Josh Weinfuss (@joshweinfuss) December 7, 2020
(Oh, and the Cards are 0-3 since Kyler Murray tried to trademark “Hail Murray.” I don’t think that’s a coincidence.)
Circle of Hell: Level 8
Adam Gase, Matt Nagy, Zac Taylor, Doug Pedersen, Anthony Lynn, Mike McCarthy (no relation).
Gase can’t seem to find his way out of this level of the hot seat scale as he and the Jets find another way to lose a game. In Week 13, the Jets lost in the most heartbreakingly absurd fashion. How absurd was this loss? Check out this stat from ESPN’s Rich Cimini on how only the Jets could have pulled it off:
How crazy was G Williams’ call? Per @ESPNStatsInfo data (since 2006):#Jets became first team to send 6+ pass rushers in this situation:
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) December 6, 2020
Final 15 secs of regulation
Between a 4-8 pt lead
40+ yards to the end zone
Covers 251 previous pass plays. Only the Jets.
This decision eventually cost a coach his job. Unfortunately, it wasn’t Gase’s job; it was defensive coordinator Gregg Williams’ job. In the Windy City, Nagy’s Bears are officially in freefall as they lost their sixth game in a row. This time, Da Bears surrendered a double-digit lead at home to the Lions and fell to 5-7. How’s the temperature in this part of the hot seat scale after NFL Week 13, Coach Nagy?
— Kevin Fishbain (@kfishbain) December 6, 2020
Toast
Bill O’Brien, Dan Quinn, Matt Patricia.
Bye Week
Bruce Arians, Matt Rhule.
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 6:30 pm).
