WHAT WE LEARNED: NFL WEEK 6

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s time to look at the week’s report cards and see who needs to bring in mom and dad for a parent-teacher conference.

IT’S TIME TO REALLY START THINKING ABOUT FIRING SOME COACHES

With Jon Gruden breaking the seal on the head coach ejector seat, it’s high time to start thinking about the other teams that can (and should) be looking for alternatives to the men currently wasting a season leading their franchises.

There’s usually a good 5-6 head coaches canned every year. The 2020 season saw seven head men get fired down the garbage shoot, which probably means we’ll make up for it with a low yield season for head coaching catapult ammo. Who are our contenders, considering we already have put one over the castle walls?

Well, the obvious answer is Urban Meyer. It wouldn’t have been obvious in the preseason as the odds of getting fired after a single campaign are low. It’s certainly happened before, especially when a team has real talent and a guy is available that can make the most of it. The Arizona Cardinals composted Steve Wilks after 2018 to bring in Kliff Kingsbury. The Cleveland Browns did the same thing to Freddie Kitchens in 2019 to hire Kevin Stefanski.

Both those moves yielded very positive results, with the Browns making the playoffs (and winning a Wild Card game) in Stefanski’s first season. The Cardinals are currently the only undefeated team left in the NFL this year and are almost certain to make the playoffs if not contend for the Super Bowl.

Meyer took a little heat off by picking up a 23-20 win over the Miami Dolphins in London last Sunday and by using a gutsy pass playcall with very little time on the clock to do it. But the reports are he’s still lost the team and he’s been publicly called out by Jags owner Shad Khan. With the schedule ahead for Jacksonville, this could very well be a 1-16 team (or 2-15 if they can knock off the New York Jets) and with the head coaching candidates coming onto the market, can the Jaguars afford to screw around?

Outside of Meyer, Joe Judge of the New York Giants looks like a dead man walking. Daniel Jones, who probably shouldn’t have played last week against the Los Angeles Rams, is having a pretty good season in spite of Jones and his inept staff. In the Giants’ five losses, they were only competitive in one, a 30-29 defeat at the hands of the Washington Football Team. Every other loss has been by double digits.

This is Judge’s second season, and while Jones has grown, there’s no indication the coach has and he’s certainly not got the team on a positive track. They’ll be underdogs the rest of the season and, at best, finish 3-14.

My preseason favorite to be the first head coach shot out the airlock was Mike Zimmer of the Minnesota Vikings. And while that ship has sailed, Zimmer still doesn’t look safe to me and, if I’m the Wilf family, I’m looking for a complete rebuild of this team from the ground up.

Outside of those guys, Matt Rhule with the Carolina Panthers has a season left to try to keep his job as does Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio. I’m thinking a winning record would do it, even without a playoff berth, but anything under .500 probably means renting a U-Haul and updating the resume.

THE RAMS DEFINITIVELY WON THE MATTHEW STAFFORD FOR JARED GOFF TRADE

Back in March, when the Los Angeles Rams and Detroit Lions swapped quarterbacks, with the Rams sending a 2022 first round pick, a 2023 first round pick and a 2021 third round pick, many NFL pundits thought this was an all or nothing move by the LA franchise. That the only way the trade would be worth it is if the Rams made and won the Super Bowl.

No one really feels that way anymore.

The NFC is loaded. There are currently six teams with a 5-1 record or better in the NFL. Five of them are in the NFC. The Rams are one of them, which means they’re a contender, but by no means have they locked in the Super Bowl. They aren’t even currently leading their division, the NFC West. The 6-0 Arizona Cardinals claim that spot. They’re the league’s only undefeated team and that one loss on LA’s record, was delivered by those same Cards.

Stafford is completing a career high 69.5 percent of his passes. He’s at or near the top of every QB statistical category and holds a 116.6 quarterback rating and a 77.5 rating from Pro Football Focus. Stafford has thrived in Los Angeles and the team’s offense is thriving because of him.

Detroit doesn’t look nearly as good. The Lions are the league’s last winless team, sitting at 0-6. Goff hasn’t tossed a TD pass in two weeks and holds an 86.9 QB rating and a 60.9 grade from PFF.

The Rams would not be 5-1 and a legit contender with Goff still at the helm. The Lions would not be 0-6 if Stafford was still their QB. No one would dispute those two statements. It doesn’t matter what Los Angeles gave up to get Stafford on the team and ship Goff out of town, it was worth it.

Not only were they not going to win a Super Bowl with Goff. They weren’t even going to be in the conversation. Those two first rounders look like they will be, at best, somewhere in the 28-32 range.

Meanwhile Detroit, thanks to restructuring Goff’s contract, are likely stuck with him at least another season. With a suspect rookie group of QBs coming out of college, this doesn’t look like a problem that can be solved anytime soon.

And to make it worse, the Lions travel to LA Sunday to face the Rams at SoFi Stadium. They are currently +15 underdogs. It’s only getting uglier.

The NFL season is rolling along and the Week 7 Schedule is up and taking bets at BetOnline.AG.

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