KC Chiefs: 5 way too early head coaching spots for Eric Bieniemy
By Cullen Jekel
Cincinnati Bengals
Before hiring Zac Taylor, the Bengals gave Marvin Lewis 16 years to turn around this bumbling franchise. While he never won in the playoffs (0-7), he won fairly consistently with some losing seasons sprinkled in.
Taylor? He went 2-14 his first season and is already 0-2 this year even with No. 1 overall draft pick Joe Burrow at quarterback. While the Bengals have lost both games this year by no more than 5 points, the defense still looks atrocious while the offensive line is woeful.
While it’s not ideal for a young quarterback to go through multiple head coaches so early in his career, Taylor’s looking in over his head. Bieniemy’s already showed he can work wonders with one young quarterback; can he do it again?
Detroit Lions
This hire would encompass more than just a head coaching change as the team’s Executive VP of Football Operations/General Manager, Bob Quinn, fired the team’s last head coach, Jim Caldwell, to bring in the current one, Matt Patricia, with whom Quinn had a prior working relationship from his days with the Patriots.
It hasn’t gone well. Caldwell got canned after going 36-28 over four seasons with 3 winning campaigns and 2 trips to the playoffs, but he missed the postseason after a 9-7 season in 2017. Since, Patricia has led the Lions to a 9-24-1 record.
The Lions are 0-2 and underachieving this season, but they’ve still got the veteran quarterback Matthew Stafford under contract with a somewhat solid team around him. Patricia doesn’t look like the answer. Bieniemy very well could be.