May 23, 2024; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton addresses the media after organized team activities at Centura Health Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports Dave Canales was an expensive purchase, but owner David Tepper ain’t got time for hand-wringing in Charlotte.
It’s an 0-2 start that has this conversation percolating around the Panthers, who benched 2023 No. 1 draft pick Bryce Young after tallying 12 punts and 13 points in the first two games of the 2024 regular season.
Would Tepper pull the plug? Hell yes, he would. Check his records.
Last season, Tepper fired Frank Reich and a chunk of the offensive coaching staff (Josh McCown, Duce Staley) after Carolina started 1-10.
Canales could be forgiven for wondering what he’s walked into, but we credit Young for hammering the accountability track “every snap hit my hands, I didn’t do enough with it.”
If Tepper thinks he can pull the plug on Young and Canales, we wish him luck finding a replacement(s) worth their weight in Monopoly bucks.
Carolina has 27 losses since the start of the 2022 season.
Here are five other coaches who should be concerned entering October:
Matt Eberflus, Bears (1-1 this season, 11-25 with Bears)
Matt Eberflus source: Getty Images Maybe now or never doesn’t paint an accurate picture in Chicago, but it’s dang close. Eberflus is drawing the ire of Bears’ fans once more after saying he wouldn’t make personnel changes to protect franchise QB Caleb Williams (nine sacks in two games). The defense has been good, sometimes great. Eberflus has failed to develop a winning offense; the in-game decision-making and clock management are wobbly, and if he can’t meet expectations this season, GM Ryan Poles knows there’s only one right answer for 2025.
Sean Payton, Broncos (0-2 this season, 8-11 with Broncos)
Now that he ditched inherited QB Russell Wilson—at a cost of more than $85 million against the salary cap the next two seasons—Payton is under increased pressure to show a path toward the playoffs. That’s not happening through the first two games of the Bo Nix experiment. What might buy him time is the reputation established as a Super Bowl winner in New Orleans. The Saints won the division and double-digit games four consecutive seasons (2017-2020) before the bottom fell out.
Doug Pederson, Jaguars (0-2 this season, 18-18 with Jaguars)
source: AP A slippery slope is where Pederson finds himself three games into the 2024 season. Where does Jacksonville turn if the losses keep piling up?
Jacksonville isn’t known as one of the spendiest franchises on the NFL block. But Pederson could be the next coach to go if progress isn’t made quickly this month or next. Jacksonville skidded to the finish line last season (1-5) to cough up a playoff spot, and the Texans, Colts, Bears and Packers are among the next five opponents after this week’s game at Buffalo.
