We're officially five weeks into the NFL season, meaning teams are starting to identify themselves as true contenders or pretenders. This also means teams are starting to figure out what's going right or wrong with their respective teams.
Some of the teams currently struggling might even consider the 2025 campaign a lost cause. I mean, losing four or even five games in the first five weeks is pretty much impossible to come back from. With that in mind, it's getting late very quickly for these NFL head coaches or their scapegoats to prove they should stick around with their current organizations.
3) Mike McDaniel, Miami Dolphins
A win against the New York Jets in Week 4 might've saved Mike McDaniel's job as the Miami Dolphins' head coach for a little while longer, but following up that win with a loss against the Carolina Panthers might make his seat as hot as anyone's in the NFL.
The Dolphins are now 1-4 and struggling in all facets of the game. To his credit, Tua Tagovailoa played well even without Tyreek Hill, but their defense let Rico Dowdle run all over them, and De'Von Achane got nothing going on the ground for Miami.
The Dolphins entered the year with postseason aspirations, fair or not, and they're now 1-4, looking like a team in need of a full reset, especially after missing the postseason in 2024. It is almost certain that if the Dolphins decide to change anything up, the head coach will be the first to go.
I don't think this is all McDaniel's fault, as Tagovailoa is extremely limited and hard to rely on as a quarterback, but it's tough for any head coach to go beyond four years without a single playoff win. McDaniel's time in Miami has to be on thin ice, if that ice hasn't cracked after Sunday's loss.
2) Brian Daboll, New York Giants
The New York Giants won a spirited game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 4, giving them tons of momentum ahead of their road matchup against the 0-4 New Orleans Saints. Giants fans expected to see their team win back-to-back games, and in the first half of the contest, Jaxson Dart looked ready to make that expectation a reality by throwing a pair of touchdown passes.
Unfortunately, Dart and the Giants looked lost in the second half, getting outscored 10-0 and falling 26-14. The Saints were winless entering Sunday's game and beat the Giants by two scores. That is inexcusable.
I don't necessarily think that losing this game on its own is a fireable offense, but when will the next win come? The Giants' next four games are against the Philadelphia Eagles twice, the Denver Broncos, and the San Francisco 49ers. After that, they play three games against formidable NFC North teams - the Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions.
Let's say the Giants have just one or two wins on the season entering December. Does Daboll really survive that? This was one of the few easy-ish games on the schedule, and they were overmatched when it mattered most. Daboll already had a lot to prove this season, and it's hard to envision losing one of their few winnable games not coming back to bite him.
1) Zach Orr, Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens fell to 1-4 on Sunday, and they did so in embarrassing fashion, falling to the 1-3 Houston Texans 44-10. It might've been easy to predict a Ravens loss with Lamar Jackson on the sidelines with an injury, but 44-10? They only managed to score 10 points with the talent they have around Cooper Rush? More importantly, they gave up 44 points to that Texans team? That same Texans team that averaged just 16.0 points per game through the first four weeks of the season, good for 29th in the NFL? Oh boy.
This isn't all the fault of defensive coordinator Zach Orr, as the Ravens did have several star defensive players out with injury, including Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and Kyle Hamilton, but 44 points? Really? Maybe if this were a one-off, it'd be more excusable, but the Ravens had allowed 33.3 points per game entering Sunday's action, the most in the NFL.
The offense didn't do enough to win Sunday's game, but Lamar Jackson was playing at an MVP-caliber level through the first month of the season. The Ravens were scoring points in bunches, but the defense was performing as poorly as any unit in the league. Injuries might be somewhat of an excuse this week, but they weren't this banged up the first month of the year.
Orr has only been the defensive coordinator for two years, so it'd be a quick hook if the Ravens were to let him go, but what other choice do they have? What they have going on is very clearly not working.