NFL Head Coaches On The Hot Seat

There are many head coaches who are on the hot seat and on the verge of being fired. The Rams and Raiders both got rid of their coaches and have been playing better of late after the dismissal of their head coach.

1) Norv Turner of the Chargers: A 3-4 record and a upcoming trip to London does not bode well for Turner. The Chargers were a popular pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl before the season started.



2) Marvin Lewis of the Bengals: The Bengals have not won a game this season. They did not have Carson Palmer for some of their games, but there is no excuse for a bad defense that gave up 38 points to the Steelers on Sunday.



3) Mike Nolan of the 49ers: Nolan might be out if the 49ers don't win next week against the Seahawks. It might be a good time to fire him after the game since the 49ers will have a bye week the week after.



4) Wade Phillips of the Cowboys: Phillips was supposed to lead the Cowboys to the Super Bowl but they are only 4-3 this season. The defense and O-Line has been shoddy. Adam "Pacman" Jones did not help out the secondary and WR Roy Williams will have to learn a new offensive system in midseason.



5) Herm Edwards of the Chiefs: How did the Chiefs beat the Broncos this season? I don't see the Chiefs beating any other teams this season. They don't have a starting QB on their roster.

6) Romeo Crennel of the Browns: Crennel's job is on the line again as his team has fallen to 2-4. Is it time to start Brady Quinn at QB?



7) Brad Childress of the Vikings: He was supposed to be an offensive guru but his team's strength is the defense and not the offense.

8) Rod Marinelli of the Lions: This coach should be fired but he is still leading the Lions onto the field every Sunday. This team is winless and their defense is just atrocious.

49ers Vs. Cardinals Recap, Stats, and Notes

The 49ers lost 23-13 to Arizona in Week 1.

The 49ers lost because they were outplayed and outcoached.

Mike Nolan refused to gamble offensively and this cost his team. Did anyone believe he would actually go for it on 4th and 1 at the end of the second quarter with his team down 10-7? 

The 49ers settled for the FG instead to tie up the game 10-10.  J.T. O'Sullivan pretended to go for it and try to draw the Cardinals offside but they were not going to fall for it.  

No team will believe the 49ers will gamble on offense as long as Nolan is the head coach.  

On the other side, Ken Whisenhunt went for it on fourth down three times and was successful twice. That was a big key to the game.  Whisenhunt clearly outcoached  Nolan.

Nolan did look better than Whisenhunt though. Nolan once again looked great in his sunglasses, white shirt, and tie.  Too bad he isn't as good with the X's and O's.

J.T. O'Sullivan played poorly and threw an interception along with two fumbles. This guy has no pocket presence whatsoever.

O'Sullivan had timing issues with his WRs as expected.  I wanted O'Sullivan to get more playing time in the preseason but Nolan insisted on playing Alex Smith and Shaun Hill more instead.

Did Isaac Bruce play? I don't know if he did or not.  

RB Frank Gore had a good game with a nice 41-yard touchdown run. 

Where are the plays to Vernon Davis?  Davis thinks he is the best TE in the league.  He is not even top five.  He might be the highest paid TE or the strongest, but he is not the best TE.  

Davis hasn't been able to show the fans much over the years but it is not all his fault. Much of the blame goes to the coaching staff for not utilizing him properly.

The 49ers defense could not stop the running game or the passing game of the Cardinals.

Anquan Bolden abused the  49ers' cornerbacks and caught eight passes in the second half.

The Cardinals dialed up  blitzes all day long on  O'Sullivan and had four sacks. O'Sullivan never saw so many different coverages in preseason.

If you watched the Bears Vs. Colts game last night, you saw how the Bears utilized their two TEs Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen.   Delanie Walker and Davis are more talented than those two TEs but the Bears used their TEs more effectively on Sunday.  

The 49ers face the Seahawks next week and Arizona takes on Miami at home.

Ten Reasons why Mike Nolan Should Be Fired

In No Particular Order

1. Having 49ers financial consultant Paraag Marathe in the booth during games - Marathe, who knows nothing about Xs and Os, communicates with Nolan throughout the game on stats and instant replay challenges. Marathe is a financial and accounting genius, but he is not a "football guy." My sources told me that Marathe makes $100,000 a year as an employee of the 49ers.
2. Getting rid of WR Antonio Bryant - Why did Nolan get rid of the best WR the 49ers had last year? A player who was passionate about the game and who often complained on the bench about Alex Smith's wild throws. Was Bryant a malcontent or was he just frustrated by Smith's inaccuracy? Watching Smith play more and more, it is definitely the latter. Bryant was a threat as a WR unlike Darrell Jackson and Arnaz Battle.
3. Hiring VP Player of Personnel Scot McCloughan - Mr.McCloughan isn't just missing an extra "T" in his first name. He might be missing some brains as well. How could he trade next year's first round pick to the Patriots in order to select OL Joe Staley in this year's draft? This is the same man that traded a fourth-round draft pick next year to get WR Darrell Jackson from Seattle. Why would the Seahawks trade a player to a team in its same division unless the player was either hurt or past his prime? The answer is they wouldn't!
   
4. Drafting Alex Smith with the number one pick in the 2005 NFL Draft - Smith was not NFL-ready coming out of Utah. Nolan said he liked Smith because he put Smith through some weird drills before the draft, and Smith never questioned him. Nolan believed that made Smith coachable. Nolan also kept on raving about Smith's intellectual ability. Smith is a NFL quarterback and not a lawyer or doctor. His 4.0 GPA at Utah won't help him on the football field. By the way, Shawne Merriman, Braylon Edwards, Derrick Johnson, and Jason Campbell were all drafted later on in the first round. In the second round, the 49ers drafted David Baas when LB Lofa Tatupu was still on the board. Tatupu is now the heart and soul of the Seahawks defense while Baas is a backup on the 49ers.
5. Calling timeouts at the wrong time in the game - Nolan has made this mistake in every game it seems. He often challenges a play also when the play was obviously called correct by the referee.
   
6. Hiring Jim Hostler as offensive coordinator - The 49ers called a timeout today on 3rd and Goal at the Falcons two yard line. After the timeout, RB Michael Robinson gets stuffed for a two-yard loss as the defense sold out on the run. Before the timeout, the 49ers were gashing the Falcons with the run and the Falcons linemen were gassed and tired. After the timeout, they were well rested and were able to tackle Robinson to force a Joe Nedney field goal. Why didn't they do a play-action pass on 3rd and Goal?
   
7. For caring more about how he looks than how the team plays - Nolan spends too much time asking the NFL to allow him to wear a suit and tie on the sidelines during games. Maybe he should try to think of ways to get his team to play better than worry about the fashion police.
   
8. For repeating the same things every week at his weekly press conference with the media - After every game and every loss, Nolan uses different words but says basically the same things. His speech to the press will go something like this - "We will get better. We will improve, I can promise you that. We will not jump ship and we will stay the course and see this thing through. No one in our division is running away with the title and we have a big game coming up in Seattle."
9. For not preparing his team to play in the beginning of each game - It seems that the team is down by 20 before the second quarter has started. The team is never prepared to play and that is the coach's fault.
10. For being conservative on offense - Nolan is way in over his head as a head coach. It appears at times that he is allergic to touchdowns,and that is why he often has his team play conservatively in the red zone and settle for field goals. Does anyone not remember last year's 4th and 1 against the Rams in Saint Louis?