3 NFL head coaches on the hot seat after miserable Week 3 losses

We are still so far away from any of these head coaches getting canned, but every year, nearly a quarter of the league moves on from its former head coach in favor of hiring a new one. The NFL is every bit a "what have you done for me lately?" league. And just because a head coach finds himself on the hot seat now, does not mean that they will finish the season sitting on it, or even out of a job.

This is all about the NFL being a league driven by parity. The best teams are punished with worse draft picks, while terrible ones are picking near the top every single spring. Sometimes all it takes is for a new voice to enter the building. Top to bottom across the NFL is not as vast as top to bottom in any Power Four college football conference. Wholesale changes are sometimes micro-adjustments.

So what I want to do today is outline a trio of NFL head coaches who may have some explaining to do after some tough early-window losses in Week 3. It is not the end of the world, just more pressure to perform in the weeks down the line. Again, I don't envision all of these guys getting the ax at the end of the season. One or two might, but probably not all three. Of course, I am no Nostradamus either.

Let's start with a well-respected coach having to navigate a tough situation at hand at quarterback.

3. Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski

This feels a bit harsh, but the Cleveland Browns are 1-2 and just lost at home to a previously winless New York Giants team. In a way, this game was a referendum on the quarterback play in Cleveland. Deshaun Watson got outplayed by Daniel Jones on Sunday. Admittedly, this may have been one of Watson's better games in a Cleveland uniform, but it still was not good enough to get the victory.

I don't know how much of this falls on head coach Kevin Stefanski. He may be the best thing that has happened to the Cleveland football team in years, but this team is going nowhere fast with the quarterback leading the way. Some of that falls on ownership, some of it falls on Andrew Berry for building the team, but some of it also falls on the head coach making the decision to start Watson.

No, I would not fire Stefanski after this season. That would be foolish for the Browns to do. However, it is in the organization's nature to do chaotic things out of pure reactionary. A last place finish in the AFC North could be enough to entice impulsive owner Jimmy Haslam to pivot off Stefanski for some dumb, unbeknownst reason. No, please don't fire Stefanski, but I'm not the one sitting in the big chair.

Cleveland needs to push for .500 and maybe another playoff berth to take some heat off Stefanski.

2. New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen

It may have been a bad matchup for the New Orleans Saints, but scoring only 12 points at home vs. the Philadelphia Eagles is not acceptable. Philadelphia was coming off one of the most embarrassing losses in recent NFL memory to the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Had the Birds lost this one, Nick Sirianni would be sitting atop a most flaming hot seat. He is still feeling the heat, though...

What troubles me about this loss for the Saints is they looked completely different offensively than from what they were earlier this year. The Saints were putting up points like there is no tomorrow. It is a testament to the change at the helm of offensive coordinator in going from Pete Carmichael Jr. to Klink Kubiak. This was a defensive-minded game the Saints need to win, and Dennis Allen just blew it.

Yes, he has a tremendous shot at redemption next week when the Saints travel to the arch rival Falcons' place for another early afternoon kickoff. To potentially go from 2-0 to 2-2 would take all of the positive momentum out of this team's sails after four weeks. If the Saints fail to make the playoffs, Allen will be the one who will be let go. This was a winnable game that Allen needed to have so badly.

It is hard to put a head coach who is 2-1 on the hot seat, but this has been multiple years now.

1. Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus

The McCaskeys did what they seemingly always do and put their beloved football team in an awful spot. Moving on from Justin Fields in favor of Caleb Williams was not exactly controversial, but it wasn't easy either. The one thing that I keep going back to was the notion that Matt Eberflus would be the right head coach to coach the No. 1 overall pick coming out of USC. This team feels a bit listless.

The Chicago Bears are 1-2, but are riding a two-game losing streak and their lone victory on the year came back in Week 1 to the still-winless Tennessee Titans. Even though the offense did look marginally better, they were going up against a desperate Indianapolis Colts team that was staring down the barrel of 0-3. Simply put, Eberflus is going to get thrown under the bus if Chicago falters.

It is all about alignment in trying to get a downtrodden program turned around. Eberflus and Ryan Poles may still be in lock step, but I am afraid Eberflus is not the right head coach to get the most out of Williams' talent. Given who Williams is coming out of USC, every success and failure quarterbacking the Bears in Chicago will be magnified. It's hard to see Eberflus making it through this.

With how well the Minnesota Vikings have played to start, this really does put pressure on the Bears.