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Five NFL head coaches on the hot seat after Week 2

More so than we have seen in previous seasons, it appears that a ton of NFL head coaches are on the hot season early in the 2016 campaign.

After firing his offensive coordinator last week, Buffalo Bills head coach Rex Ryan may be on the verge of losing his job. And despite a blowout win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Mike McCoy finds his seat increasingly hot in San Diego.

These are among the five head coaches currently on the hot seat after Week 2 of the NFL season.

1. Rex Ryan, Buffalo Bills

This one can’t be considered too surprising. Not only has Ryan lead his Bills to two less-than-inspiring performances to open the season, he’s now watching the oranization’s ownership group overreach. That’s never a good sign for an embattled head coach.

Whether Ryan actually did call the shots when it came to the Greg Roman firing doesn’t really matter here. We know the Bills’ brass is growing impatient with the head coach. This impatience has taken hold after he’s coached just 18 games in Western New York.

It’s also an organization that really can’t afford to be patient. Buffalo has not earned a playoff spot since the 1999 season. To put that into perspective, likely New England Patriots Week 3 starter Jacoby Brissett was seven years old the last time Buffalo played a meaningful January football game.

More than anything, the issue here is consistency. Buffalo’s defense played extremely well in its Week 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, the offense gained only 160 total yards and 11 first downs in the 13-7 loss.

Then, last week, Buffalo’s offense put up 31 points and nearly 400 yards of total offense. Unfortunately, the Ryan-led defense yielded 28 first downs and nearly 500 yards in a seven-point loss to the New York Jets.

Now, two games behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East, things might be coming to a head here. Ryan entered the season on the hot seat. That seat is now darn near close to burning his britches.

2. Gus Bradley, Jacksonville Jaguars

Gus Bradley

Jacksonville entered the 2016 season with the most talent the team has possessed in over a decade. It did so with playoff expectations. But much like what we’ve seen during Bradley’s three-plus years with the Jauars, it’s a slow start to the season that might be the downfall here.

After getting absolutely embarrassed by an average San Diego Chargers team by the score of 38-14 (it wasn’t that close), Jacksonville is now 0-2 on the season. This brings Bradley’s mark in the month of September to 1-13 as the team’s head coach.

That might work when you are building to something down the road, and when expectations are not high. That’s not acceptable when you are looked at as a potential playoff team.

Now in his fourth season, the Jaguars have to be losing patience with Bradley. He entered the organization as a hot commodity after performing well as the Seattle Seahawks’ defensive coordinator. He’s now looking to be a bit over his head in Jacksonville. That’s the reality of the situation.

3. Jay Gruden, Washington Redskins

How can a coach that led his team to the playoff the previous season be on the hot seat? Well, this might be more about Gruden’s mentality as head coach than his team’s on-field performance.

Following Sunday’s disastrous home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, reports surfaced that there might very well be another rift in the locker room. This time, said split is reportedly between members of the offense and “franchise quarterback” Kirk Cousins.

Does this sound familiar at all? Well, it surely should. It’s the same thing that happened in the Redskins’ locker room with Robert Griffin III in the two years prior to his release from the organization this past spring.

Jay GrudenAt some point, it’s about getting your house in order. Being able to control your players. And creating an environment of success. Maybe a culture of success. In his three-plus seasons with the Redskins, it’s readily apparent that Gruden hasn’t done this.

On the field, we’re looking at a regressive product. Washington is now 0-2 on the season and in last place in the NFC East. Cousins is struggling under center, the defense has done nothing of substance and there doesn’t seem to be light at the end of the tunnel here.

If that’s the case, Washington could very well look to move on from Gruden should the team continue to struggle on the field and show a split in the locker room. With a game coming up on the road against the first-place New York Giants next week, we’re surely going to find out more about this year’s version of the Redskins. It could also tell us a lot about Gruden’s future in D.C.

4. Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts

Chuck Pagano

It looked like Pagano was going to be out of a job following last year’s embarrassing team-wide performance. Somehow, he avoided getting his walking papers after meeting with owner Jim Irsay and General manager Ryan Grigson.

Unfortunately for Pagano, a meeting might not be able to do the trick this season.

Indianapolis is one of just seven teams with a 0-2 record through two weeks. And it’s not as much about Sunday’s loss to the defending champion Denver Broncos.

Sure the Colts played like crap. You can’t have your quarterback literally hand 14 points to the other team and expect to win against any team in the NFL, let alone a squad at Denver’s currently level.

And that right there is the crux of the situation. Ill-time turnovers and mental mistakes coupled with consistent issues within the context of in-game coaching. These are the minor things that can lead to a team continually under-performing.

More so than against the Broncos, this team’s performance at home against the Detroit Lions in Week 1 is more indicative of the struggles we’ve seen in Indianapolis.

Despite not turning the ball over a single time, the Colts lost to an inferior opponent at home. It came after Detroit absolutely shredded apart the Colts’ defense to the tune of 28 first downs and 448 total yards.

Not helping matters here were some pretty ridiculous penalties on the defensive side of the ball to help keep Lions drives going. These have been the issues we’ve seen continually under the Pagano-led Colts over the past two seasons. They could also end up being his downfall moving forward this season.

5. Mike McCoy, San Diego Chargers

Following a 38-14 blowout win over the Jaguars on Sunday, McCoy and the Chargers are seemingly riding high. It was a much-needed performance after the team blew an 18-point halftime lead to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1.

This might give fans in San Diego the false hope that their Chargers are about to turn the corner after puttin up two mediocre seasons in a row. Again, that’s false hope.

Blowing team’s out and losing close contests. This has been the MO of the Chargers since McCoy took over as their head coach back in 2013. The team boasts an 11-19 record in one-score games. In outings decided by 10-plus points, the Chargers are over .500.

When your team consistently loses the close games, it speaks to the inability of the coaching staff to perform at a high level within the confines of calling the game. It’s something we have seen from the McCoy-led Chargers throughout the past three-plus seasons. And it could cost him his job before the 2016 campaign draws to a conclusion.

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