NFL Hot Seat: Nov. 14

Luke’s Pick: Matt Eberflus, Head Coach, Chicago Bears

Matt Eberflus has a 3-18 record in road games as the head coach of the Bears. That is a pitiful and sad number for a franchise with the rich history of the Bears.

Chicago has sputtered this season after a promising 4-2 start, the Bears have lost their last three and rumors of locker room discontent have floated around on social media.

The murmurs of dissent have circulated around rookie quarterback Caleb Williams. Reportedly, veteran players on the Bears have requested that backup quarterback Tyson Bagent take over the quarterback duties.

This would be the second time in Eberflus’s tenure with the Bears that a quarterback controversy has arisen.

Williams has regressed since the Bears' 4-2 start. In the last three games, he hasn’t thrown a touchdown and is averaging less than 200 yards through his last three.

While this can be looked at as a player issue, the overlying problem is that this has happened with multiple quarterbacks under Eberflus.

The Bears recently fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. But this is an attempt to find a scapegoat that isn’t Eberflus. The Bears have never fired a coach mid-season, and I would imagine that they would not look to break this fact.

The Bears are not a playoff team, and Eberflus yet again seems to be losing a locker room. With the rise of the teams in the NFC North, if the Bears want to be competitive they have to make a move and a decision very soon.

Ian’s Pick: Daniel Jones, QB, New York Giants

New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll is lucky not to find himself on this list. He has his quarterback to thank. As a lifelong Giants fan, it pains me to be putting Daniel Jones on this list, but it’s time.

The fanbase has had it, Coach Daboll has had it and the media, not just in New York, but around the league is speculating that Jones’ days as the starting quarterback of the New York Football Giants are dwindling.

The Giants recently fell to the 3-7 Carolina Panthers in Germany, and Jones' poor play may have been the reason the Giants lost this one. Jones was 22-of-37, threw zero touchdowns and two interceptions, both of which were thrown inside of the Panthers' 25-yard line. His first interception is one of the worst you will ever see, thrown right at an oncoming Jadeveon Clowney, tipped up, and intercepted by Xavier Woods.

Jones has been getting bashed on social media too. Just take a look at what LASIK’s X account posted and yes this is a real tweet, the account was mocking the 6th-year starter all game long.

Returning from a torn ACL, the 27-year-old has struggled immensely, passing at a 63.3% clip, throwing for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. The stats don’t fully show the struggles but watch him on the field, he is constantly missing simple throws, like the one he threw his second interception. Jones has a career of 70 touchdowns to 73 turnovers, which is not something that you see in a franchise quarterback.

It is safe to say that Jones was highly undeserving of his four-year $160 million contract, and if he suffers an injury and can’t pass his physical in March, the team is on the hook for $23 million, which would then make it hard to move on from Jones. Since being rewarded with his contract, he has thrown 10 touchdowns and turned the ball over 16 times.

After the loss to Carolina in Germany, Brian Daboll is non-commital to Jones, and when asked on a Zoom call this past Monday regarding the quarterback’s future Daboll said, “We’re gonna spend a lot of time here watching our tape and evaluating things, and we’ll do that as a coaching staff over the next week here”.

If Daboll indeed makes the decision to pull the plug on Jones, he has veteran Drew Lock and fan-favorite Tommy ‘Tommy Cutlets’ DeVito to choose between for the starting job in New York. With the Giants now on a bye week, both fans and media are speculating that Daniel Jones' time as the starting quarterback of the New York Giants will be over.

Tristan’s Pick: Doug Pederson, Head Coach, Jacksonville Jaguars

Doug Pederson is in his third season as the Jaguars head coach with a 20-24 record in the regular season and a 1-1 record in his only playoff appearance in 2022.

Pederson was hired after a gap year with the hope that his Super Bowl-winning experience and his history at quarterback would put Trevor Lawrence over the top and make the Jags look like a perennial contender in the AFC.

After the loss in the 2022 divisional round to the Chiefs, it has been disappointing in Duvall. The Jags started 2023 hot with an 8-3 start but lost five of their last six games and missed the playoffs.

The Jags have found themselves falling apart all around ranking 19th in yards and 27th in scoring on offense and 30th in yards and 27th in scoring on defense.

The team has been riddled with injuries with losses of Travis Etienne for a couple weeks, Christian Kirk out for the season with a broken collarbone and Trevor Lawrence missing their last game with a shoulder injury.

Lawrence was supposed to be the next generational quarterback since Peyton Manning. He was given slack for his rookie season with the mess that was Urban Meyer as the head coach.

Since 2022, including playoffs, Lawrence ranks fifth in passing yards, 10th in passing touchdowns but ranks fourth in most interceptions thrown.

Pederson has shown nothing special with his coaching ability and has shown nothing as to why he would be a great coach for Lawrence.

With playoffs being a grasp at a dream at this point, Pederson needs to start winning to give himself a shot to keep a job.

The Jags have seven remaining games and five of those teams have losing records at this point.

Ian Rothenberg is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email imr5327@psu.edu

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email tqk5432@psu.edu.

Luke Stefanisko is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ljs6415@psu.edu.