WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK FIVE

BY ADAM GREENE

We had an eventful and very LONG “weekend” of NFL football to learn from in Week Five. After games from Thursday to the following Tuesday, here’s what we need to talk about as he prepare for, hopefully, a Week Six without issue.

But what are the chances of that?

THE AX MAN COMETH

For the second week in a row we saw a head coach and general manager fired out the closest available airlock. This time, at least, it was two different guys as the Atlanta Falcons parted ways with head coach Dan Quinn and GM Tomas Dimitroff after the most embarrassing 0-5 start in franchise history. And this isn’t a franchise with a rich one. The Falcons’ first season was in 1966. They didn’t post a winning record until 1971 and didn’t make the playoffs until 1978.

Quinn’s head coaching career wraps with a 46-44 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the playoffs. He’s the owner of the worst collapse in Super Bowl history that replayed twice this season before he was unceremoniously shown the door.

With Quinn and former Houston Texans head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien both hitting the bread line, the spotlight falls on who’s next. We certainly have contenders.

No. 1 in the sure to be fired head coaching power rankings is undoubtedly the New York Jets Adam Gase. Gase’s Jets have been the worst team in the league this season with one of the worst rosters. That roster has just gotten worse as they released running back Le’Veon Bell Tuesday night, a player that Gase never wanted in the first place.

New York has been in one game this season, a loss to the then winless Denver Broncos who were starting their third quarterback of the year. If Gase goes, GM Joe Douglas should as well as the entire organization needs an overhaul and, frankly, owner Woody Johnson should sell the team. In spite of playing in the NFL’s biggest market, what coach is going to want this job? What players will want to sign there?

Will Gase get fired this week? If his team loses to the Miami Dolphins, he should be. The Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans are much better jobs than the Jets, so this franchise can’t let those two teams get too far ahead of them in the coaching search. New York will not get their first choice, or their second. They’re going to have to steal an up and coming coordinator a year or so too early. Somebody like the Los Angeles Chargers’ Shane Steichen.

Only there’s a problem there. After seemingly being heat proof, Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn has found himself feeling the burn as it were. The lone bright spot on the team is the performance of rookie quarterback Justin Herbet. He’s the only reason they’re competitive and Steichen is a big part of that. If LA decides to move on from Lynn, Steichen could be the man they tab for the job.

Who else? The Detriot Lions’ Matt Patricia is right behind Gase and only because his team managed a win over the Cardinals and has at least been competitive in two of their other games. A loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars this weekend would probably doom him as well and, frankly, that game might be a pick em.

Speaking of the Jaguars, head coach Doug Marrone could be protected by his own team tanking and the fact that he dragged them to the AFC Championship game three seasons ago when he had a halfway decent roster.

Lastly, a guy that probably won’t get fired, but should is obviously Mike McCarthy of the Dallas Cowboys. McCarthy should have never been hired to begin with and should serve as an example for teams like the Falcons, Texans, Jets and Lions to not even give so much as a side-eye glance to this latest group of disgraced unemployed coaches. And if some owner or general manager brings in Jeff Fisher for an interview he should be hit in the head with a shovel. Twice.

McCarthy had already ground the Cowboys into the dirt this year before losing quarterback Dak Prescott with a season-ending ankle injury. This team is unquestionably worse because he’s its head coach and no one can make an argument against it. Now they’ve got to take the field with Andy Dalton and try to somehow match the record they had last year, 8-8, and hope it’s enough to win the NFC East. And it might be.

OLD QUARTERBACKS STRUGGLING

Drew Brees final stat line may not look that bad, but he and his fellow elder NFL statesmen had issues over the weekend. Brees finished 33 of 47 for 325 yards, a touchdown and a pick, but the sheer number of completions it took to get there should tell you his issues attacking downfield continue.

Tom Brady not only didn’t look good against the Chicago Bears, but literally forgot what down it was at the end of the game, taking a shot downfield on fourth down to secure his team’s second loss of the year. It was a rookie mistake in a game where he barely crossed 50 percent passing going 25 of 41 for 253 yards and a touchdown. At least he didn’t throw a pick six.

But the worst performance of the weekend goes to Indianapolis Colts QB Philip Rivers, whose arm looked downright shot in a 32-23 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Rivers finished 21 of 33 for 243 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns. The picks were bad choices, late throws with little on them. It’s the kind of thing that can get a guy benched if he does it a couple of weeks in a row. It’s certainly made the Colts glad that they just took the one-year flyer on Rivers and kept Jacoby Brissett in the offseason.

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