Black Monday Is Coming

Added on Dec 26, 2012 by Scott in

NFL

The 2012 NFL regular season comes to an end on Sunday. Twelve fortunate teams will march on for a chance to play in Super Bowl XLVII, while the other 20 teams begin the arduous process of evaluating what went wrong. Tough decisions will be made and head coaches will lose their jobs. It’s the ugly but inevitable side of pro football. Here are the coaches most likely to receive their walking papers next week.

Andy Reid (Eagles) – Owner Jeffrey Lurie issued an ultimatum last January: Another disappointing season wouldn’t be tolerated. Well, whether the Birds finish 4-12 or 5-11, it certainly qualifies as unacceptable. Reid’s 14-year tenure will conclude with a lot of victories, but no Lombardi Trophies. Many of his on and off the field decisions during the last two years proved costly. Like handing the keys to the dynamic but careless Michael Vick. A change in Philadelphia is long overdue.

Norv Turner (Chargers) – A third straight year missing the playoffs has sealed Turner’s fate. Like Reid, Turner was blessed with talented rosters, but was never able to lead them to the mountain top. Front office and draft day blunders also contributed to his failures; letting Vincent Jackson walk and drafting the brittle Ryan Mathews being two recent examples. Norv is still a solid offensive playcaller, so he shouldn’t be out of work for long.

Romeo Crennel (Chiefs) – It’s been a rough year in Kansas City. Between the Jovan Belcher tragedy and going a likely 2-14, things couldn’t get much worse. Crennel is far from the only problem with this floundering franchise, but he’ll be the first scapegoat to go. However, general manager Scott Pioli shouldn’t avoid blame. His refusal to acquire a competent quarterback has buried the team in mediocrity. And he also pegged Crennel to be his coach, which was a mistake.

Mike Munchak (Titans) – The jury is still out on Jake Locker being a franchise signal-caller, which might cost Munchak his job. Although a leaky defense and an inconsistent Chris Johnson will also play a part in his future. Getting drubbed 55-7 by the Packers last Sunday didn’t help his cause either.

Ken Whisenhunt (Cardinals) – The entire offense is a wreck and Whisenhunt is responsible. He wanted Kevin Kolb and drafted Beanie Wells and Ryan Williams. All three moves backfired big time. That Super Bowl run in 2008 seems like a long time ago.

Lovie Smith (Bears) – It’s playoffs or bust for Smith. If Chicago gets in, he probably saves his job (unless they get blown out in the Wild Card round). If they don’t make it, he’s probably gone. The defense has been stout as usual, but the offensive line woes have yet to be remedied under Smith.