Three coaches have already been canned this season and more could be on the way. Let's take a look at who could be next on the chopping block.
Coaches On the Hot Seat nominees: Wade Phillips, Cowboys -- Dallas has all the ingredients for a coaching change. They have woefully underperformed, players are openly complaining, there is a highly-paid replacement on the staff and they have an owner who demands results. The Cowboys have already lost more games this year than they did all of last year and run the danger of not getting into the playoffs. This was a ridiculous thought five weeks ago.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Most Likely to Cheat nominees:
Bill Belichick, Patriots You know the saying, "I know you're lying because your lips are moving"? I'm pretty sure that was coined by somebody in the Jets front office when Belichick was trying to weasel his way out of that head-coaching gig in 2000. He's since gone on to illegally videotape opponents, club baby seals in his spare time, and have players killed who didn't fully embrace the cult lifestyle.*
* Two of these are not true. I'll leave it to the reader to decide which two.
Eric Mangini, Jets Mangini learned at the knee of Bill Belichick, the guy who perfected cheating before pupil exposed teacher, and everything went to hell. Once known as Manboobs Mangenius, Mangini lost a ton of weight, and at 1-8, it's kinda hard to call him a genius. Which makes you wonder how, exactly, the Jets made the playoffs last year. Hmm. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Least Valuable Player of the Half-Season nominees:
David Carr, QB, Panthers Carr must have been an awful person in his previous life, I don't know how else to explain an NFL career that can best be described in four words: sacks and bad decisions. Through five-plus seasons, Carr has been sacked 261 times. That's about 250 more times than Peyton Manning and Tom Brady over that same period. After the Texans released him last off-season, Carr signed with the Panthers where he has battled poor play, concussions and Vinny Testaverde for playing time. That Carr can't beat out a 43-year-old guy with a Jheri curl automatically qualifies him for this list.
Larry Johnson, RB, Chiefs Johnson his coming off back-to-back 1,700-yard rushing seasons, and last year, Kansas City head coach Herm Edwards looked like he was going to run LJ until his legs fell off. Johnson had 416 carries in 2006, making him the honorary Curse of 370 spokesperson this off-season. Through eight games, LJ is averaging just 69.9 rushing yards, at 3.5 yards per pop. And after injuring his ankle against the Packers next week, it's not clear when he'll return to the lineup. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Darnell Dockett, DT, Cardinals: With eight sacks this season, Dockett is fifth in the league -- and first among defensive tackles. He has as many sacks as Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, without the benefit of getting to go up against Winston Justice.
Roddy White, WR, Falcons: After two seasons being called a first-round disappointment in Atlanta, White already has career highs this year in catches (36) and yards (585). Football Outsiders says White has been the ninth-most productive receivers in the NFL this season. The eight receivers who rank ahead of him have Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Carson Palmer, Tony Romo or Derek Anderson passing to them; White has Joey Harrington and Byron Leftwich.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Biggest Baby on the Ravens nominees:
Brian Billick, head coach If Billick spent as much time finding a competent offensive coordinator as he did making excuses for why the Ravens have yet to master the forward pass, he'd be a lot less likely to lose his job in, oh, say, eight weeks. Baltimore makes the turn at 4-4, even though they had the league's easiest schedule. Now they'll face the Chargers, Colts and Pats in the second half of the season, before a Week 17 matchup with the team that did this.
Ray Lewis, linebacker Here's what Lewis told the media following the 38-7 shellacking at the hands of the Steelers on Monday night:
"The beautiful thing is that we lost to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh at their home ... Big deal. You are supposed to win those games at home. Bottom line, now those same teams have to come to Baltimore. For me, football season is just getting started."
Uh, didn't the Ravens win 13 games last season with basically the same personnel? Now losing on the road in the division is acceptable. Way to raise the expecations, Ray-Ray. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular. Worst Old Face in a New Place nominees:
Travis Henry, RB, Denver Broncos Henry's statistics haven't been terrible but its hard to imagine that Mike Shanahan couldn't have found similar production somewhere else. The dual embarrassments of Henry's abundant spawn and pending yearlong drug suspension say the Broncos would have been better off if he did.
Darrell Jackson, WR, San Francisco 49ers The Niners sent a fourth round pick to Seattle for Jackson and have been rewarded with a whopping 20 catches. Jackson's acquisition was supposed to help a moribund passing game. The Niners rank last in the league in passing yards per game and another season is on its way to being lost by the Bay.
Tatum Bell, RB, Detroit Lions The Lions have had a great season but Bell has had nothing to do with it. He ran for 182 yards in five games before Kevin Jones reclaimed the starting role and hasn't played in the last three games. If that wasn't bad enough he sulked about it and asked for a trade. As if anyone would want him. Joey Porter, LB, Miami Dolphins The Dolphins haven't had anything go right this season but nothing's gone more spectacularly wrong than the Porter signing. He can't get to the QB -- one sack in eight games -- and can't keep his mouth shut even as Miami gets its butt whipped on a weekly basis. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular. Best Old Face in a New Place nominees:
Randy Moss, WR, New England Patriots It's hard to believe now that people actually thought trading a fourth rounder for Moss might backfire and ruin the Patriots season. Quite the opposite as Moss has 56 catches for 924 yards and 12 touchdowns, numbers which any team would be happy to have for an entire season. Wes Welker, WR, New England Patriots Welker carves teams up underneath and has 61 catches to show for it. The Dolphins got a second and seventh round pick in return for Welker but when you take his 11-yard average on punt returns into account he'd have been a bargain at twice the price. Jeff Garcia, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jon Gruden churns through quarterbacks like a quiting smoker through Nicorette but he found a winner when he signed Garcia to a two-year contract this offseason. He's led the Bucs to a 5-4 record with a 95.5 quarterback rating and has had just one bad game all season.
Eric Steinbach, G, Cleveland Browns The surprise team of the AFC has had great success whenever they run behind their new left guard. And Derek Anderson could make the Pro Bowl because of the way the Browns line secures his pocket. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Rookie of the Half-Season nominees:
Adrian Peterson, RB, Vikings Minnesota took Peterson with the seventh-overall pick in April, and that's starting to look like a Tom Brady-in-the-sixth-round type steal. Through eight games, Peterson has 1,036 yards on 158 carries, good for a eye-popping 6.6 average. But it gets better: Peterson has only started five games, has five times rushed for more than 100 yards, and twice rushed for more than 200 yards (including last week's 296-yard effort against the Chargers).
Marshawn Lynch, RB, Bills Buffalo was in the market for a franchise running back after sending that fraud Willis McGahee to the Ravens for draft picks. In hindsight, Marv Levy comes off smelling like roses on that deal. Lynch has been the starter from Week 1, rushing for 690 yards on 117 carries (3.9 average), including five touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown against the Bengals, but I don't know if that's more sad than impressive. Lynch would likely lead the Rookie of the Year voting if not for Purple Jesus up above. Sorry, No Photos
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Best Coach of the Half-Season nominees:
Bill Belichick, Patriots: Cheater or not, you can't take away from the way Belichick has prepared his team, week in and week out, to play exceptionally well. They're undefeated and have only been close to losing once. It doesn't get much better than that.
Tony Dungy, Colts: There's no letdown at all for the defending Super Bowl champions.
Wade Phillips, Cowboys: Under Bill Parcells, the Cowboys were one of the better teams in the NFC, but not the best. Under Phillips, they're the best by a large margin.
Mike Tomlin, Steelers: He's one of the NFL's most inexperienced head coaches, but Tomlin has this year's version of the Steelers playing better than the 2005 team that won the Super Bowl. Sorry, No Photos
NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular: because handing out awards at the halfway point in the season seemed like the right thing to do.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
Every NFL team has now played eight games, meaning the season has reached the halfway point. So this week we're presenting our NFL FanHouse Midseason Midtacular.
