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(Tuesday, December 6) - - - Part 3
Steve Mariucci was fired last week week as
coach of the Detroit Lions. While this was clearly
a panic move by a cluesless Matt Millen, Mooch
was just the first of several Head Coaches that
will not survive the aftermath of the 2005 season.
That in mind, lets take a look at some current
NFL HC's that should be updating their resumes
and how it relates to handicapping the final
four games of the season.
Mike Mularkey: Buffalo Bills
Zooms to number one with a bullet after Buffalo's
unbelievable fourth-quarter meltdown at Miami.
Mularkey had been given a vote of confidence
by Bill ownership during the week but that probably
went south with each of the Dolphin's three
scores in th final 11:35 at Pro Player Stadium.
Mularkey certainly deserves some latitude as
he was forced to play JP Losman at quarterback
when the second year man from Tulane was clearly
not ready. The Bills defense has been hit hard
by injuries and seemingly has been unable to
make a stop since Takeo Spikes wnt down.
Buffalo has been a horrendous road team of
late which until this year was attributed to
drew Bledsoe's lack of production away from
Ralph Wilson Stadium. Prior to Sunday, the Bills
were 0-5 on the road, losing by an average of
18.4 pp. The Dolphin loss is clearly on Mularkey
as the Bills final eleven Buffalo possessions
resulted in ten punts and a pick. A division
loss of this magnitude at this time of the year
is unforgiveable.
Job Status: History
Norv Turner: Oakland Raiders
The Raider's overall pathetic effort in front
of a National TV audience pretty much sealed
the deal for this offensive "Guru".
Even a win over the hated Broncos and Mike Shanahan
(no shot) would give this lifetime offensive
coordinator a reprieve.
Turner should never have been a head coach
to begin with never mind getting a second go
around in Oakland. Turner was never Davis' choice
to begin and was hired solely to save face after
their first three choices, most notably Cowboy
QB coach and Parcell disciple Sean Payton, turned
down the job.
It's been two years of the old same 'ole, same
'ole in Oakland. The Raider offense has been
addressed over the past two years with little
effect. Robert Gallery, the franchise 15 year
left tackle from Iowa taken second overall,
has been hurt from the outset. Lamont Jordan
has produced when given the opportunity but
Oakland has been slow to incorperate him in
the offense at all never mind giving hime the
ball 30 times a game. The games biggest offseason
acquisition Randy Moss has also been hurt and
veteran QB Kerry Collins is having his worst
year as a professional under Turner.
Like the swallows in Capistrano, the vultures
of Finley , and the lemmings of wherever - the
Raiders are once again in the top three in the
NFL in penalties.
Job Status: Toast
Dom Capers: Houston Texans
Last week Houston gave up ten points in the
final 26 seconds before finally losing to the
Rams on overtime. Capers called it the worse
loss in all his years in football. Sunday, the
Texans were actually decent for 58 minutes annd
52 seconds. Then they let Kyle Boller drive
67 yards in 1:02 to set up a Matt Sover winning
FG with six seconds left.
As part of the management team that put the
franchise together, Capers clearly desrves the
axe. Tony Boselli was damaged goods from the
git and not only cost the Texans not only the
first pick in the expansion draft but also more
than 20 million in bonus and cap money. Only
one player from the initial expansion draft
was still on the roster in the Texans third
year.
David Carr has not progressed to the next level.
Well yeah, he gets stapled to stadium turf six
to eight times a week every Sunday and has probably
lost 20 years of his life expectancy from the
punishment. Unless deficiencies in the offensive
line are addressed, Matt Lineart and Reggie
Bush together won't make any difference in the
Texan's future.
Several difficult decision's need to be made
in the off-season. One of them won't be whether
or not to keep Dom Capers
Job Status: Footnote in next year's
opening day program
On Wednesday and Friday I will post Coaches
on the Hotseat Parts II and III featuring Dick
Juaron, Mike Martz, Mike Sherman, Brian Billick,
Mike Tice, Joe Gibbs, and Jim Haslett. Don't
miss them.
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Jeff Allen is a documented member of The Professional
Handicappers League.
Read more of his articles and get his premium
plays here.
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