by AAA Sports
Monday, Oct 30, 2023Two months into the NFL season, and it’s about time to start talking about what coaches should be are on shaky ground. If history is a guide, just about every coach will make it to Black Monday, which this season falls on Jan. 8. Here are the first-to-be-fired favorites right now to start cleaning out their offices:
RON RIVERA, Commanders (+200) – Rivera rode Cam Newton’s 2015 NFL season to contracts with Carolina and Washington, but the burden of not having a top-flight QB in today’s game is taking a toll on him. Rivera’s teams are 11 games under .500 since that season.
BRANDON STALEY, Chargers (+250) – The former Rams defensive coordinator looked like a perfect fit for the Chargers when they hired him as their HC to fix a leaky defense. Instead, things have gotten worse. This year’s D is ranked 30th, and has a habit of giving up big play after big play.
JOSH McDANIELS, Raiders (+400) – McDaniels’s second bite of the head coaching apple isn’t going much better than his first. If the Raiders make a change, McDaniels can look back at the Week 7 blowout loss to the lowly Bears as the straw that broke his back.
MATT EBERFLUS, Bears (+600) – Five wins in two seasons doesn’t get it done, and it’s never good when you’re the HC attached to a 14-game losing streak. The Bears' defense has actually improved since giving up a combined 106 points in the first three games, but that might not be enough.
MATT LaFLEUR, Packers (+900) – Will not getting it done in one bad post-Rodgers season be enough for the Packers to pull the plug on LaFleur? In a recent poll, less than 20 percent of Packer fans want to see him stay on.
-
Then there’s New England, where talk of owner Robert Kraft pulling the plug on GOAT HC Bill Belichick has grown louder and louder. So much so that someone in the Pats front office (or maybe even Belichick himself) leaked that grumpy Bill had signed a contract extension. That, plus NE’s stunning Week 7 win over Buffalo, had the desired effect – cooling talk that BB’s job was in danger despite six Super Bowl titles in nine appearances.
MLB LONG SHOTS COME THROUGH
Both Arizona and Texas ended the weekend just three wins shy of winning the World Series, so it’s easy to forget how long the odds were of them just getting there.
The Diamondbacks began the year 125-1 to get to the World Series, one of the longest of long shots ever. Most oddsmakers had their Over/Under win total for the year in the 75.5-76.5 range. Expectations for the Rangers were a little better, with a projected win total of 82.5 and 50-1 to be playing in late October.
Texas’s unexpected post-season run should fatten the team’s bank account to make a run at prized free agent Shohei Ohtani this winter. The pitch-hit unicorn will be hit-only in 2024 after recent Tommy John surgery but plans to do both again in 2025. The Angels are the chalk at +145; Texas is +800. Any team needing to juice attendance might be willing to break the bank for him.
PRESIDENTIAL MONEY IS STABLE
Betting on the presidential race has been remarkably stable of late as bettors appear to be waiting on the outcome of Donald Trump’s myriad court cases. The PredictIt site still favors Biden (43-37) – pretty much the same range it has shown for months.
The top alternative appears to be Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom (10 percent). Interestingly, the one Republican who polls show can actually beat Biden (former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley) is getting no play at all.
PredictIt bettors got it right on 48 of 50 states in 2020, missing on Georgia and Arizona. Biden won the Electoral College vote by 306-232. Even if Trump had won those states, Biden would have squeaked by at 279-259.
RON RIVERA, Commanders (+200) – Rivera rode Cam Newton’s 2015 NFL season to contracts with Carolina and Washington, but the burden of not having a top-flight QB in today’s game is taking a toll on him. Rivera’s teams are 11 games under .500 since that season.
BRANDON STALEY, Chargers (+250) – The former Rams defensive coordinator looked like a perfect fit for the Chargers when they hired him as their HC to fix a leaky defense. Instead, things have gotten worse. This year’s D is ranked 30th, and has a habit of giving up big play after big play.
JOSH McDANIELS, Raiders (+400) – McDaniels’s second bite of the head coaching apple isn’t going much better than his first. If the Raiders make a change, McDaniels can look back at the Week 7 blowout loss to the lowly Bears as the straw that broke his back.
MATT EBERFLUS, Bears (+600) – Five wins in two seasons doesn’t get it done, and it’s never good when you’re the HC attached to a 14-game losing streak. The Bears' defense has actually improved since giving up a combined 106 points in the first three games, but that might not be enough.
MATT LaFLEUR, Packers (+900) – Will not getting it done in one bad post-Rodgers season be enough for the Packers to pull the plug on LaFleur? In a recent poll, less than 20 percent of Packer fans want to see him stay on.
-
Then there’s New England, where talk of owner Robert Kraft pulling the plug on GOAT HC Bill Belichick has grown louder and louder. So much so that someone in the Pats front office (or maybe even Belichick himself) leaked that grumpy Bill had signed a contract extension. That, plus NE’s stunning Week 7 win over Buffalo, had the desired effect – cooling talk that BB’s job was in danger despite six Super Bowl titles in nine appearances.
MLB LONG SHOTS COME THROUGH
Both Arizona and Texas ended the weekend just three wins shy of winning the World Series, so it’s easy to forget how long the odds were of them just getting there.
The Diamondbacks began the year 125-1 to get to the World Series, one of the longest of long shots ever. Most oddsmakers had their Over/Under win total for the year in the 75.5-76.5 range. Expectations for the Rangers were a little better, with a projected win total of 82.5 and 50-1 to be playing in late October.
Texas’s unexpected post-season run should fatten the team’s bank account to make a run at prized free agent Shohei Ohtani this winter. The pitch-hit unicorn will be hit-only in 2024 after recent Tommy John surgery but plans to do both again in 2025. The Angels are the chalk at +145; Texas is +800. Any team needing to juice attendance might be willing to break the bank for him.
PRESIDENTIAL MONEY IS STABLE
Betting on the presidential race has been remarkably stable of late as bettors appear to be waiting on the outcome of Donald Trump’s myriad court cases. The PredictIt site still favors Biden (43-37) – pretty much the same range it has shown for months.
The top alternative appears to be Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom (10 percent). Interestingly, the one Republican who polls show can actually beat Biden (former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley) is getting no play at all.
PredictIt bettors got it right on 48 of 50 states in 2020, missing on Georgia and Arizona. Biden won the Electoral College vote by 306-232. Even if Trump had won those states, Biden would have squeaked by at 279-259.
