Welcome back to Belly Up’s Over-Reactionary Coach’s Hot Seat Scale for NFL Week 15! (Or BUORCHSS, for short.) The 2020 NFL season has presented us with the peak of weirdness. This includes two of the most unexpected upsets in recent history and it involves one team that had been on a historic slide. Just like Santa Claus on Christmas night, the hot seat can’t stop and won’t stop!
Coach-For-Life
Sean McDermott, Matt LaFleur, Bruce Arians, Mike Vrabel, Frank Reich, Brian Flores, Pete Carroll, John Harbaugh, Kliff Kingsbury, Andy Reid, Kevin Stefanski.
Congratulations to the Buffalo Bills for capturing their first AFC East title since Windows 95 was released! McDermott’s Bills laid waste to the Broncos on Saturday afternoon. You also had several teams in division races win their games, including Arians’ Bucs, Vrabel’s Titans, Reich’s Colts, Carroll’s Seahawks, and Stefanski’s Browns. Wait, the Browns? Yes, the Browns! They are now a game out of first in the AFC North following the sudden tumble of the Steelers. If you said the Browns were going to contend for a division title by Week 15 of the 2020 NFL season, you’re either a hardcore fan or a liar. Other teams (Harbaugh’s Ravens and Kingsbury’s Cardinals) are also staying in their respective conference playoff races.
Tepid
Anthony Lynn, Vic Fangio, Raheem Morris, Mike McCarthy, Darren Rovell, Romeo Crennel, Bill Belichick, Matt Nagy, Mike Zimmer, Ron Rivera, Doug Pederson, Sean Peyton, Joe Judge.
Several coaches are in this hot seat scale level after NFL Week 15 because they’ve climbed their way back INTO this level. Lynn’s Chargers and McCarthy’s Cowboys each won consecutive games. The crazy part is that the Cowboys now have an outside shot at winning the NFC East based on Rivera’s Football Team losing a tough game against Seattle. Nagy’s Bears may have figured out their woes on offense with two consecutive victories while scoring over 30 PPG.
The Bears are attempting to become just the second team since the NFL playoffs expanded in 1990 to lose six games in a row and still qualify for the postseason.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) December 21, 2020
The 2014 Panthers went from 3-2-1 to 3-8-1 to 7-8-1 and a division title.
One of those wins was against Zimmer’s Vikings, aka the Streakiest Team in the NFL.
Instant Pot
Jon Gruden, Adam Gase, Matt Rhule, Kyle Shanahan, Zac Taylor, Mike Tomlin.
Another NFL week gone, another week Gase is… wait, WHAT?!?!
Yes, your eyes do not deceive you. After 13 consecutive weeks in the Circle of Hell: Level 8, Adam Gase has climbed out of the level to Instant Pot! This comes after one of the biggest upsets according to the point spread in NFL history. The Jets were a 17.5-point underdog against McVay’s Rams. But did the victory come at a cost? The Jets were in the catbird seat for the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. This win has left one half of the Jets’ fanbase apocalyptically cross and the other elated that they’re not going 0-for the season. Even one beat writer went as far as to pity Jets fans for possibly losing out on Trevor Lawrence (though there are two weeks to complete the tank).
Man, I feel for #Jets fans. How many gut-punches can you take?
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) December 20, 2020
Another coach who climbed out of the bottom scale was Taylor. Taylor’s Bengals were a 14.5-point underdog against the Steelers and beat them by 10. The loss was the Steelers’ third in a row and now Tomlin enters the Instant Pot as well as earning this shade from the Bengals’ Twitter account.
.@Vonn knocks it out from Pittsburgh TikTok star.
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 22, 2020
WATCH on ESPN pic.twitter.com/n4BNZHcJ0J
Circle of Hell: Level 8
Doug Marrone, Sean McVay.
Now we come to the now-most comfortable coach in this hot seat scale: Marrone. The Jaguars lost their thirteenth consecutive game, tying the Jets for the longest losing streak in 2020. Marrone’s Jags suffered their seventh loss by double digits in a 40-13 thrashing to the Ravens. But the good news for the Jags is that they now hold the first overall pick in next year’s draft. Perhaps the biggest fall in the hot seat scale belongs to McVay. His Rams laid an absolute egg to the Jets in the most inexplicable fashion. One Rams beat writer was rendered speechless.
I just…………………………goodness gracious.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) December 21, 2020
(Though this loss was devastating, the Rams are still in the hunt for the NFC West title or a Wild Card spot.)
Toast
Bill O’Brien, Dan Quinn, Matt Patricia.
