With each passing week the NFL becomes clearer, especially as star players continue to freshly populate injury reports. There are lessons to be learned each Thursday, Sunday and Monday. Here are a few of them.
The Eagles might have life
Starting the season 0-3 is a position no team wants to be in, but after stealing a victory on the road against the suddenly-decent New York Jets, the Philadelphia Eagles are primed to make a decent little run here before a Monday night match-up with the New York Giants.
Next week the Eagles play at the Washington Redskins, which they should win easily, then the they host the New Orleans Saints, a team everybody will get the chance to beat up on. Coming into that Monday night contest, the Eagles have every reason to believe they’ll be 3-2 and battling for the lead in the NFC East. Nothing like facing a couple of crappy teams to fix your season.
The Rams may be moving to Los Angeles, but Jeff Fisher may not be
Two weeks of pitiful offensive showings doomed the St. Louis Rams to consecutive losses after a huge 34-31 overtime win over the Seattle Seahawks. The Rams followed that epic win with an epic bed-crapping, losing 24-10 at the Redskins. Last Sunday, even after knocking Ben Roethlisberger out of the game, couldn’t manage more than two field goals, losing 12-6.
The problem for the Rams is their stretch of horrible opponents is too far away. They play the undefeated Arizona Cardinals at Arizona next Sunday and then travel to Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay Packers. There’s no reason, certainly not any the Rams have given, to see those games as anything other than guaranteed losses. By the time the Rams host the Cleveland Browns right before Halloween, they could be sitting at 1-4 and Jeff Fisher could be picking out condos in Miami.
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The Clock is already ticking on multiple coaches
Jeff Fisher is definitely one, but there are multiple coaching regimes currently circling the drain and we’ve not even gotten a month into the season. Early favorites to be fired Joe Philbin in Miami and Mike Pettine in Cleveland have done nothing to help themselves in the first few weeks. But we’ve got some surprise names showing up on the list with Chuck Pagano in Indianapolis and Andy Reid in Kansas City.
In Indy, Pagano is in an open battle with Colts’ general manager Ryan Grigson and if the team can’t continue putting some wins together, the feud may doom them both. In Kansas City, Reid is wasting another talented team with his hapless gameday coaching and crunch time decision-making, leading the team to a 1-2 start and not a lot to feel good about on the horizon. With a trip to Cincinnati on the docket they could be looking at their third consecutive loss.
In San Diego, Mike McCoy’s team is on a skid, but their schedule works out well for them to pull out of it with games coming up against the Browns, Roethlisberger-less Steelers and Raiders. The Chargers could end October 4-3 and be in fine shape for the final two months of the season.
And then there’s Jim Caldwell, my old friend. Sitting at 0-3 with the Lions with the Seahawks and Cardinals coming down the pipe, there’s little hope now for even a .500 season in Detroit.
Reid and Pagano have no Super Bowl ring like John Harbaugh does in Baltimore to bail them out. Both those rosters are more talented than they’ve shown on the field, and a coaching change might make all the difference. Especially with a guy like Mike Shanahan sitting out there next to the phone.
And Caldwell, well, Subway is about to get itself one hell of a new sandwich artist.
The next hot head coaching prospect has already taken center stage
And he’s done it in prime time in consecutive weeks. Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements not only moved to the top of the line for open head coaching jobs, he crossed the line and is sitting in a lawn chair waiting for the rest of the guys to finish.
Clements has taken an already potent Packers attack and made it nearly unstoppable, all with his team’s best wide receiver, Jordy Nelson, out for the year. Now, granted, Tom Clements has Aaron Rodgers back there running the show, but there’s already no comparison to the Packers’ previous offenses run by Mike McCarthy, including the one that won the Super Bowl. Clements is next year’s Dan Quinn.
