Fansided

NFL coaches have 50/50 chance of being fired after London game

By Tom West

Oct 4, 2015; London, United Kingdom; General view of the British and United States flags on the field during the playing of the national anthem before Game 12 of the NFL International Series between the New York Jets against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 4, 2015; London, United Kingdom; General view of the British and United States flags on the field during the playing of the national anthem before Game 12 of the NFL International Series between the New York Jets against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

After the Miami Dolphins promptly fired head coach Joe Philbin after their loss in England to the New York Jets, coaches now face a 50/50 chance of being fired following a London game.

When the NFL comes to London each year, there aren’t normally the best teams the league has to offer on display. To make that point in a nice, succinct fashion, the Jacksonville Jaguars are the regular team appearing every year. If U.S. football fans wonder why British spectators fail to get into the sport, it’s partly because the only ‘talent’ they get to consistently watch in person is the Jaguars.

And if you can pick a team to support, who wants to pick the Jaguars?

As an Englishman myself, who watched the San Francisco 49ers effortlessly destroy the Jaguars 42-10 in 2013, it’s safe to say that some of the NFL’s less impressive teams have a hard time when they cross the pond to London.

For instance, the Miami Dolphins who faced the New York Jets at London’s Wembley Stadium on Sunday Oct. 4 stumbled to a 27-14 loss after scraping together a mere 226 yards on offense. With their London defeat, the Dolphins fell to a 1-3 record and promptly decided to fire head coach Joe Philbin.

The firing of Philbin in a matter of hours after the game in England brings up an interesting statistic, pointed out by Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports:

It’s not as though we can scientifically prove that the NFL International Series gets coaches fired, as the calibre of teams sent to London are rarely the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers of the world. However, it at least brings up an interesting concern for coaches who have to make the journey away from the U.S. for a game each year.

Perhaps one could compare this looming statistic that coaches have a 50/50 chance of being fired within the season following a London game to the dreaded “Madden Curse”:

Obviously we can’t prove that there’s something in the London air to contaminate NFL teams to get their head coach fired, but for the superstitious fans out there, it’s interesting to think that 50 percent of coaches have been fired so soon after their International Series game.

Again, if we refer back to infamous Madden Curse, just think of Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Troy Polamalu, who were all injured in the season after they were put on the cover of the game. Then there’s Peyton Hillis from the 2012 cover, whose fall from relevance was over before you could blink.

So, as for the coaches who seem to get fired at a 50/50 clip following their trips to London, it’s certainly enough to cause nightmares for any superstitious coaches taking their teams over the pond.

More from Miami Dolphins

Home/Miami Dolphins