USA TODAY International Edition
Might Joseph be one and done?
Thanksgiving is here, and NFL head coaches can be thankful that their 32man fraternity remains intact this deep into the season.
Meanwhile, sincerest holiday wishes to Mike McCoy, the offensive coordinator who unfairly took the fall Monday for the Broncos’ dreadful season. (Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton’s dismissal Tuesday was frankly less surprising.) We’d wager McCoy — and probably Norton — will land upright soon enough and will surely have plenty of company looking for work in a few weeks.
Here’s the latest installment of our weekly hot seat rankings.
1. Hue Jackson, Browns
You really have to feel for him, especially at this time of year. Monday, Jackson openly acknowledged the frustration of his 1-25 tenure as his team is again threatening to go 0-16 after barely avoiding that fate in 2016. However, he also seems to be divorcing himself from the front office’s analytical philosophy, perhaps a strategy to survive a housecleaning by ownership. “I really don’t want to get into that. I think you guys are the best judges on that,” Jackson said of the current regime’s master plan. “Obviously, with a 1-25 record or whatever it is, it has not been pretty good.” Nope. Last week: 2
2. Ben McAdoo, Giants
Beating a reeling Chiefs team on a windswept afternoon is hardly an indicator his team is on the right track, even after McAdoo belatedly decided to emphasize accountability on a 53-man scale last week. Credit his team for a winning effort Sunday — a decided improvement from Week 10’s loss to the 49ers — but it will probably take far more evidence to suggest this largely capable team can compete under the current organizational structure. LW: 1
3. John Fox, Bears
After getting a brief bump from rookie QB Mitchell Trubisky, the Bears are now mired in a three-game slide and next head to Philadelphia to face the team with the NFL’s best record. Fox’s fate will likely hinge on his relationship with general manager Ryan Pace and the progress (or lack thereof) Trubisky makes the rest of the way. LW: 5
4. Vance Joseph, Broncos
Uh, welcome to the list? It’s rare to see a rookie coach wading into hot water. It’s also rare to see a team with this many quality players lose six in a row. And it’s exceedingly rare for a general manager with a Hall of Fame résumé as a player call his club soft. Joseph, who admitted taking offense to John Elway’s assessment, is now pushing all kinds of buttons — firing McCoy, inserting QB Paxton Lynch into the lineup — in a bid to salvage a highly disappointing season. LW: Unranked
5. Chuck Pagano, Colts
There are plenty of mitigating factors for this team’s demise. What isn’t known is whether rookie GM Chris Ballard has his own guy in mind to spark a franchise that hasn’t had a winning record since it launched the Deflategate controversy after the 2014 playoffs. LW: 4