Well, season's end is just about upon us, and with that comes Black Monday. This season has already seen 3 head coaches get dumped, and three more seem almost certain to follow. There are also two coaches that are going to be closely monitored depending on today's results, and more sitting on the bubble.
The three who should be gone no ifs ands or buts are Adam Gase, Doug Marrone and Anthony Lynn. At this point, there really is no justifiable reason for any of them to keep their jobs.
Then the coaches who are out of the playoffs but are still up in the air:
Zac Taylor, Mike Zimmer, Doug Pederson, Vic Fangio, and Jon Gruden
Zimmer and Pederson's seats are probably the hottest of this group, though both also have arguments for giving them one more year. It wouldn't shock me if they both were fired, but the likely outcome is they both get a make the playoffs or else mandate for next year.
Gruden is probably the least likely to get fired due to his contract. But his name will be circulating around the hot seat list because there's certainly arguments to be made that the Raiders should be doing better than 7-8 this year, and he may get crucified in the court of fan public opinion.
Coaches whose futures could depend on today:
Matt Nagy and Mike McCarthy
No question that getting the Bears in the playoffs will extend Nagy's job, as will the Cowboys making them ensure McCarthy is kept around. The question will be whether the three late season wins for both coaches are enough to keep them alive if their teams don't make the playoffs. For McCarthy, probably since he is only in year one, and so far the Joneses seem to have his back. For Nagy, it's a little less clear. The heat may have cooled down on him a little since the 6-game losing streak, but after starting out 5-1, you gotta think the Bears ownership would expect better than 8-8 and missing the playoffs (assuming that's what happens). Plus the Bears latest wins have come against highly inferior competition.
