This has been a rough season so far for the NFL. After a shaky start that forced the cancelation of the preseason action because of COVID-19, it didn’t take long for the injuries to start piling up. The San Francisco 49ers, although not the only team, saw the brunt of the damage, losing nine players in two weeks. There have also been a couple of outbreaks of COVID-19 that have continued to cause problems, already forcing a handful of games to be rescheduled. This has not only impacted the normal flow of games in the season, but has also caused NFL odds to see plenty of last-minute changes. Despite all the setbacks, the league continues to push forward to try to keep things on track. There are a few teams, however, that might prefer to be given a couple weeks off so they could regroup. For the first time ever, almost a third of the teams in the league are sitting on one win or less in the season.
Ten out of the 32 teams in the NFL are looking at embarrassingly low win percentages this year. Of all the franchises, the New York Jets are still without a single win, racking up six straight losses so far. The Atlanta Falcons were running neck and neck with them, but pulled out a win in Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings to save themselves from complete humiliation. In addition to these two teams, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Houston Texans, the Washington Football Team all have 1-5 records, while the LA Chargers are 1-4 and the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles are 1-4-1.
NFL Management Changes
Franchise owners aren’t holding back, either, holding head coaches accountable for the poor performances. The Texans didn’t waste any time getting rid of head coach Bill O’Brien after the team recorded four straight losses, and the Falcons followed last week when they dumped Dan Quinn and GM Thomas Dimitroff after Atlanta went 5-0. With the Jets starting at a 0-6 record, there’s no shortage of chatter about head coach Adam Gase being next to be ousted.
NFL reporter Tony Pauline thinks Gase will be gone soon. He asserts, “In the short-term, I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later for Adam Gase [to be fired], from what I’m hearing. Sooner doesn’t mean in a week; sooner means, as far as I’m concerned, probably by the beginning of November. I’m told he’s starting to lose the locker room. There are a lot of players that are turned off and tuning him out… I think we’re at a point in time where Gase is only being kept around because Christopher Johnson, who hired Gase, has to save some face. It’s going to be sooner rather than later. Unless somehow they win the next four or five games, which isn’t going to happen, I’ll be surprised, if by the end of the first week of November, Gase is still the head coach of the New York Jets.”
Anthony Lynn, the head coach of the Chargers, is now in the spotlight, as well. ESPN analyst Ryan Clark believes his time has come, and that he could be handed his walking papers following the team’s loss last week against the New Orleans Saints. Since taking over for the Chargers in 2017, his overall record is 27-26, and this year isn’t going to help his job security.
Coaching Changes Lines
Oddsmakers haven’t wasted any time putting up the lines on the various possible firings, either. Gase is getting -150 to be the next coach to go, while Matt Patricia, the head coach of the 2-3 Detroit Lions, is looking at odds of +250. The exit of Jags head coach Doug Marrone is only slightly longer at +275, while Lynn seems to have a little better shot at remaining with the Chargers. Oddsmakers are giving him +900 to be the next coach to be sacked.