Head coaching changes are relativity unusual during the NFL season. However, if such drastic moves are going to be made, the best time could be during a bye week.
Oakland and Minnesota head into bye weeks after today’s games. If there are any changes during the middle of the season, league-wide speculation points to those teams.
Oakland seems the most likely candidate. The Raiders are 0-3 heading into a home game today against Dallas. The Raiders haven’t been terrible, and they have had their chances in all three games. But if the Raiders lose big to Dallas, coach Norv Turner could be in trouble. Remember, Al Davis has made an in-season move before. Mike Shanahan was let go as Raiders coach after four games in 1989.
The Vikings took some pressure off coach Mike Tice with a 33-16 home victory over New Orleans last week, bouncing back from an 0-2 start. Unless the Vikings have a horrendous effort in Atlanta today, the team’s new ownership probably will not make a change at this point.
Done deal?
Arizona: Expect the Cardinals to pull the trigger on a trade for Minnesota tailback Michael Bennett before the Oct. 18 deadline. Arizona has been talking to the Vikings about the deal, and coach Dennis Green reportedly wants Bennett to agree to a long-term contract with the Cardinals. Bennett is scheduled to become a free agent after this season.
Arizona wants Bennett and will offer him a chance to do well. Plus, he knows Green, who as Minnesota’s coach drafted him in the first round in 2001. The day Green was fired, Bennett watched the coach’s farewell news conference in tears.
Bennett doesn’t fit in Minnesota anymore, and that’s why all the Vikings want in return is a sixth-round draft choice. Bennett, a good change-of- pace back, has great speed.
Big blow for Bills
Buffalo: Overshadowed by the highly publicized season-ending injuries of the Patriots’ Rodney Harrison and the Jets’ Chad Pennington was the injury that shelved Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes for the year. He plays in the obscurity of Buffalo, but Spikes is one of the top linebackers in the NFL.
Buffalo, trying to find a way to get into the AFC playoff hunt, will miss Spikes, a leader on and off the field.
Just do it, Jake
Carolina: The Panthers, a popular preseason Super Bowl pick, have started 1-2. While the season is young, the Panthers have to improve quickly because they play in the same division as Atlanta and Tampa Bay.
Jake Delhomme must become a more consistent quarterback. He is far from perfect and has made critical mistakes, but Delhomme used to be a big part of coach John Fox’s team concept. In some regards, Delhomme was a poor man’s Tom Brady two seasons ago. He was a guy who worked within the system and didn’t make many mistakes. He didn’t win games, but he didn’t lose them.
Carolina can’t overcome a lot of mistakes by its quarterback. If Delhomme doesn’t turn it around quickly, the team’s Super Bowl hope will fade.
O’Neal earning stripes
Cincinnati: Deltha O’Neal, a former Broncos cornerback, could be going to the Pro Bowl. The former first-round flameout is a big reason the Bengals are 3-0 for the first time since 1990.
O’Neal has four interceptions. This is the player Denver traded in the spring of 2004 after he failed to make the transition from cornerback to wide receiver. With the trade, Denver moved up seven spots in the 2004 draft to take linebacker D.J. Williams.
O’Neal still is limited in coverage, but has become a great ball hawk.
Playing head games
Dallas: Veteran guard Larry Allen has taken flak for nearly tearing the helmet – and head – off Jose Cortez last week after the kicker missed an extra point in the Cowboys’ 34-31 victory over San Francisco. Many observers said Allen shouldn’t treat a teammate like that in public.
Allen’s action was harsh, and he shouldn’t make a habit of it, but word is coach Bill Parcells wasn’t overly upset by it. Parcells wants to see emotion from his 2-1 team, especially after it blew a game against Washington in Week 2.
Allen is a Hall of Fame-type player, and Cortez could be gone in a couple of weeks. Guess who the coach is going to side with. Allen’s show of emotion could be a good thing in the long run for Parcells’ team.
Harrison could be done
New England: People close to Rodney Harrison are concerned the safety’s career could be over after he suffered a major knee injury last week.
Players often don’t lose a step when they come back from one torn knee ligament, but Harrison severely damaged two other knee ligaments on the season-ending play against Pittsburgh.
Players who suffer injuries to all three knee ligaments often need up to two years to return to the field, with such injuries ending some careers.
Harrison will be 33 in December, so a comeback may be a longshot.
Draft success all relative
New York Giants: Many snickered when Giants coach Tom Coughlin selected his son-in-law, Chris Snee of Boston College, with the No. 34 pick in the 2004 draft.
But Snee has developed into a starting guard for the Giants and many consider him a potential Pro Bowl player. Suddenly, nepotism looks like good scouting by Coughlin.
Look past Pennington
New York Jets: Word inside the organization is the Jets may seriously look at taking a quarterback in the first round of the draft next spring.
Because of Chad Pennington’s second rotator-cuff injury, the Jets might look elsewhere even if Pennington’s latest injury isn’t as bad as previously thought. Pennington never had a strong arm anyway, and this setback won’t help.
With Pennington at quarterback, the Jets thought they would be title contenders for several years. They thought their quarterback position was solidified for the long term in 2002 when Pennington, drafted in the first round in 2000, took over as the starter. Now, the Jets may have to start over.
Seasons on the brink
Raiders coach Norv Turner and Vikings coach Mike Tice are the top candidates to be replaced during the season. Here’s a look at their year-by-year performances as NFL head coaches:
TURNER
(Year Team Record)
1994 Washington 3-13
1995 Washington 6-10
1996 Washington 9-7
1997 Washington 8-7-1
1998 Washington 6-10
1999 Washington 10-6
2000 Washington 7-6
2004 Oakland 5-11
2005 Oakland 0-3
TICE
(Year Team Record)
2001 Minnesota 0-1
2002 Minnesota 6-10
2003 Minnesota 9-7
2004 Minnesota 8-8
2005 Minnesota 1-2
