NFL Hot Seat: 5 coaches that must win Week 1
By Josh Hill
Football is back, and straight out of the gate the coals are nice and white under the hot seat.
Despite an offseason to put a gameplan together, there are coaches entering Week 1 either on the hot seat or close to being on it. Most coaches on the hot seat are having that status carry over from last season, with the heat intensifying only because they survived outstanding odds to be ousted.
Others are fine for the moment but could graduate to being in danger of losing their jobs if the season starts slow.
So let’s jump right in and see who needs to start the season out right to avoid being on the hot seat for too long.
Marvin Lewis
Head Coach, Cincinnati Bengals
Hear me out on this one. At some point, the reign of Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati is going to end. Continuity has been about the only thing Lewis has provided over his tenure, and most of that involves continuously losing in the first round of the playoffs.
The Bengals have reached the postseason seven times under Lewis; five of the last six years being one of the most impressive stretches the franchise has ever had. But it means nothing when Cincinnati has been simply a speed bump for other teams looking to reach the divisional round. Lewis has that weight on his shoulders entering this season, and a loss to a division rival in Week 1 will light the fuse on him earlier than expected.
Everything is in place for the Bengals to reach the playoffs with a team capable of a deep run. The defense has bruising brutes all over the place and Andy Dalton seems to be Joe Flacco 2.0 as far as game managing goes. Lewis has coached under the cloud of mediocrity for years now, but if the season starts slow then the talk of whether this is his last year will pick up speed early.