Six teams had head-coaching changes heading into the 2017 season. And after two games, five teams could be headed for head-coaching changes in 2018. Just how hot are the coaching seats in New Orleans, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York and Indianapolis? Our NFL Nation reporters break it down.
Career record: 128-114 (9-25 in Chicago)
Playoff record: 8-7
Analysis: Fox is in trouble. The Bears — 0-2 for the third consecutive season — have Pittsburgh and Green Bay up next on their schedule. The Bears realistically could be 0-4 after the first quarter of the season, and if that happens (as many expect), Chicago would have almost no shot of reaching the playoffs. The Bears brought Fox to Chicago to build a winner and that hasn’t come close to happening. Player health has been a major problem during the Fox era. The Bears entered Week 2 with three starters already on injured reserve, and three more starters left Sunday’s loss to Tampa Bay and did not return. It’s hard to picture this getting any better for Fox or the Bears. — Jeff Dickerson
Career record: 118-105-3
Playoff record: 0-7
Analysis: Lewis is entering the final season of his contract after he and the front office couldn’t come to terms on a new deal. Things have gotten off to a terrible start this season, with the Bengals falling to 0-2 and firing offensive coordinator Ken Zampese. They have yet to score a touchdown. Prior to the season, Lewis said, “[Owner Mike Brown] and I have a great working relationship. Sometimes you don’t want to start that over again, but sometimes you need to. And I’m prepared to do that. It doesn’t affect me one way or another.” If the Bengals can’t climb out of this hole, it’s very possible it could be Lewis’ last season in Cincinnati. While Lewis has been the Bengals’ most successful coach in franchise history, his 0-7 record in the playoffs has been like a cloud over his coaching career. They took a step backward last season by missing the playoffs and have shown regression instead of improvement since the 2015 season. The Bengals need to at least show they’re heading in the right direction this year for Lewis to merit a new deal. Right now, the angry fan base and rudderless team say otherwise. — Katherine Terrell
Career record: 94-68
Playoff record: 6-4
Analysis: It’s hard to label Payton as “on the hot seat” since he is obviously held in high enough regard by Saints owner Tom Benson and general manager Mickey Loomis that they gave him a new five-year extension worth more than $9 million last year that runs through 2020. And if they ever decide to start over with a new quarterback (they almost drafted Patrick Mahomes II this year), Payton is the kind of quarterback guru they would want to tutor him. At the same time, however, even Payton readily would admit the Saints can’t keep putting the same product on the field year after year and expecting different results (7-9, 7-9 and 7-9 over the past three seasons, and now 0-2). The defense, which has been historically bad over the past seven years, has been even worse than usual the first two weeks of 2017. And there is a real chance the Saints could start 0-4 heading into the bye week, with games upcoming at the Carolina Panthers and versus the Miami Dolphins in London. It would be a shocker to see Payton get fired midseason, but a mutual parting of ways in January is a realistic scenario if the Saints don’t show major signs of progress by then. — Mike Triplett
Career record: 49-33
Playoff record: 3-3
Analysis: The water is boiling in the pot for Pagano. The Colts were unprepared and thoroughly embarrassed in their 37-point Week 1 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Then they showed their inability to close a game, blowing a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and losing to Arizona in overtime on Sunday to fall to 0-2 for the fourth consecutive season. And to put into perspective how bad things are for Pagano and the Colts, the Cleveland Browns have opened as 2.5-point ROAD favorites in the Week 3 game between the two winless teams. This is as close to rock bottom as they’ve been since Pagano became coach in 2012. Owner Jim Irsay is preaching patience, but a loss to the Browns in which his team isn’t competitive might not sit well with Irsay. Indianapolis never has opened a season 0-3 under Pagano. He has survived back-to-back 8-8 seasons in which his team missed the playoffs, but the clock is ticking on him if the Colts continue to find ways to lose games, with or without injured QB Andrew Luck. — Mike Wells
Career record: 15-19
Playoff record: 0-0
Analysis: Bowles is in a weird — and precarious — position. Third-year coaches often find themselves in playoffs-or-bust situations, but that’s not the case with Bowles. The 0-2 Jets are in the first year of a full-blown rebuild, with ownership saying there’s no playoff mandate for Bowles. They have one of the worst rosters in the league, so it would be ridiculous to hold him to that standard. He will be evaluated on how the team progresses throughout the season, according to ownership. If the team remains competitive, develops its young players and stays unified, Bowles will have a good chance to return in 2018. But he needs to win some games — anything worse than 4-12 would be tough to stomach. — Rich Cimini
