NFL Changes on the Horizon

There is a changing of the guard in the NFL. Not only are the seven new head coaches to start this season, there are also new quarterbacks ready to take over.  In addition, there are a few aging QB’s ready to step down within a few years, if not sooner.

Football NFL style is a very physical game. Careers can end with one hit.  How long can we expect to see Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers hang around? Yes, Tom Brady just said he would like to play another five years. I know the money is good but, they all likely to plenty of dough to last them the rest of their lives.  Head coaches like Bill Belichick and Andy Reed will be exiting as well one day soon.

Father Time is undefeated, so we must move on with the new crop of coaches and players that come along all the time. And it looks like we have a bunch of good ones to consider.

The QB’s like Patrick Mahomes, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield all seem to bring potential with them from their college days. We’ve already seen the impact of Darnold with the Jets in week one of the season.  Of course, not all will stick, and some will become a football in football annals. There have always been more bust outs than success stories over the years, but we can always dream of the new Brady, Brees and Rodgers showing up to light up our TV screens on Sundays.

But for some reason I am not seeing these new head coaches bringing the leadership to the head jobs. They need to both bring the best out of their players and make critical decision while under fire on game day to bring victory to their teams.

For example, with the Texans, Bill O’Brien has not inspired me or any of us Vegas bettors to support his efforts. When it comes to game time decisions he has been a flop.

Another coach I am highly critical of is obvious. Hue Jackson of Browns fame is two years away from his last victory. Just this past Sunday, his players fought back after being down by a few scores to the Steelers to tie the game. In OT both teams failed a few opportunities to score and it ended in the tie. Jackson had a chance to move his club into deeper position for a shorter field goal in what was bad weather. However, he chose to run down the clock for a final, longer field goal that missed. Whoopi, at least they didn’t lose. Why does this guy still have a head coaching job after going 1 and 31 the last two years? I feel if the Browns or the Texans are going to field a winner in the near term they will have to make coaching changes.

My final target is Lions new head coach, Matt Patricia. A defensive guru with the Patriots, he was able to land the head job in Detroit and I don’t get it. The Patriots last year made it to the Super Bowl and fell short by a hair. The Patriots defense was miserable in that game and frankly were not ranked very highly in the regular season either. Patricia replaces Jim Caldwell, who I think did a credible job with the Lions. If anything, I feel the Lions brass screwed up with that change.

It’s still early and there may be hope yet for some of these coaches, but don’t be surprised if we see changes made before week five, especially with expectations much higher for some of these teams.