3 NFL coaches squarely on the hot seat after Week 3

NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 3: Kevin O' Connell, Minnesota Vikings

A season ago, Kevin O'Connell led the Minnesota Vikings to the most victories they'd had in five years, winning 13 games in his first year as an NFL head coach.

But that 13-4 mark easily could have been much worse, as 11 of those wins were by eight points or less.

In similar fashion, the Vikings' first three games of the 2023 campaign have all been decided by one score. Only this year, O'Connell & Co. have been on the wrong side of victory all three times.

In Week 1, they were upset by Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 20-17. The following week, Minnesota was knocked off by the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, 34-28.

And on Sunday, despite a third straight 340-plus-yard performance by Kirk Cousins, the Vikes took a 28-24 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, who may have gotten Brandon Staley off his own hot seat with their first win of the year.

No head coach can ever take all the blame for a loss, but O'Connell certainly has to take some heat for this one, as his clock management down the stretch was quite poor.

Letting the clock run instead of getting in Cousins' ear to tell him to spike the ball as precious seconds ticked away was inexcusable, and Vikings fans certainly weren't happy about it on social media.

Kevin O'Connell's seat might not be quite as hot as those of Matt Eberflus and Ron Rivera, but it's certainly warming up with Minnesota dropping to 0-3.