NFL coaches are always under the magnifying glass. But, as we approach the midway point of the season, the implement is now an electron microscope.
This is when the launch sequence begins for teams contemplating a coaching change, and patience around the league has worn thin. What's more, the gap between the haves and have-nots has narrowed this season, nudging make-or-break decisions by coaches to center stage.
In each of the seven weeks, at least one game has gone to overtime. That had not happened since the overtime rule was put in place in 1974.
Sixty games have been decided by one score (eight points or fewer) through Sunday of Week 7, tied for the second-most in league history.
Is it getting warm in here? Because coaches are unbuttoning at the neck and nervously adjusting their collars.
Again, coaching decisions are always going to be debated and scrutinized. So the talk will swirl about Jason Garrett's conservative decision on a missed field goal at the end of Dallas' 20-17 loss at Washington; or Tennessee's Mike Vrabel making an ill-fated decision to go for two in a 20-19 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers in London _ and how the Titans did it, opting to pass instead of run; or Dirk Koetter nailing it for Tampa Bay by letting Chandler Catanzaro kick a 59-yard field goal in overtime to beat Cleveland 26-23. The Browns have gone to overtime four times in seven games.
Some coordinators already have been shown the door, whether it's offensive coordinator Mike McCoy in Arizona or defensive coordinator Mike Smith in Tampa Bay. Quarterbacks have been benched _ Blake Bortles in Jacksonville, Nathan Peterman in Buffalo, Sam Bradford in Arizona _ and FitzMagic feels like it happened five years ago.
This week's games features Cleveland at Pittsburgh, a rematch of teams that played to a tie in Week 1. It's New Orleans at Minnesota, a rematch of last season's divisional playoff game that ended with Case Keenum's miraculous touchdown pass to Stefon Diggs. And London is getting a Philadelphia-Jacksonville game that once looked spectacular _ the Eagles won the Super Bowl; the Jaguars almost made it that far _ but now is just a couple of 3-4 teams still searching for an identity. (There has yet to be a London game featuring teams with winning records.)
