Black Monday news roundup Four NFL franchises moved on from their coaches, while two fired general managers Monday. BY CHRIS BURKE & DOUG FARRAR Mon Dec. 29, 2014 Black Monday is here. Which coaches and GMs will get their walking papers with the 2014 season in the books? • 2015 NFL Mock Draft: Top-10 picks | NFL Week 17: Complete coverage Chicago Bears Fire head coach Marc Trestman, GM Phil Emery Bears fire HC Marc Trestman, GM Phil Emery The Chicago Bears fired head coach Marc Trestman and general Manager Phil Emery Monday morning. • Tale of tape: 5-11 in 2014; Trestman was 13-19 in the regular season; Emery was 23-25 in three seasons as general manager. • What went wrong: The defense was an overwhelming debacle this season, hence the 5-11 record and 27.6 points allowed per game (second most in the NFL). At the heart of both Trestman and Emerys downfalls, though, is Jay Cutler. Trestman, off a successful CFL stint and with multiple successes as an NFL offensive coordinator, was supposed to be the coach capable of taking Cutler to the next level. Emery showed his faith in that process, first by hiring Trestman and then by handing Cutler a seven-year contract extension worth $120 million. When you evaluate a quarterback, you say, Does he have an inventory of passes? Can he make all the throws? Does he have mobility? Is he a quick decision-maker? Jay has all that, Trestman said back in January, when the deal was struck. He can do all those things. But whats most important is, is he mentally tough enough? Can he fly the plane and not be on autopilot? And I think during this process hes proven that he can do that. Fast-forward to Week 16 of this season, when Trestman benched Cutler in favor of the thoroughly uninspiring Jimmy Clausen. It was a move seen as a potential Hail Mary by Trestman -- an attempt to save his job by tossing Cutler under the bus. Obviously, the plan failed. Cutler actually wound up starting again in Week 17 because of a Clausen injury. He and the Bears lost their season finale, 13-9, another half-hearted effort to wrap a season-ending five-game losing streak. Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker will be replaced, as well, and that move probably should have happened weeks ago. While Tucker did coax a career-best 10.0 sacks out of free-agent addition Willie Young and rookie CB Kyle Fuller showed some early flashes, the Bears were laughable at times on that side of the ball. Seven times they allowed 30 or more points in a game; the Patriots and Packers hung 106 combined points on Chicago over a two-game stretch. • Roster outlook: Whether Cutler is in or out as Chicagos 2015 quarterback, the strength of this team sits on offense. Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery posted 18 touchdowns and more than 1,800 yards between them this season. RB Matt Forte topped the 1,000-yard mark on the ground and caught 102 passes of his own. TE Martellus Bennett broke through with career-best numbers: 90 catches for 916 yards and six touchdowns. Clearly, there is something to build on there. The next GM might explore his trade possibilities with Cutler, whose contract could prevent him from being moved. Otherwise, Chicago will move forward with a similar cast of characters. Defensively, it is anyones guess as to how the depth chart will shape up come next September. Longtime stalwarts Charles Tillman and Lance Briggs almost certainly have played their final games in Chicago (Tillman appears set to retire). D.J. Williams, Chris Conte (who was awful this season) and Stephen Paea are among the other impending free agents in Chicago. In a division featuring the high-powered Green Bay and Detroit offenses, plus an emerging Minnesota team, Chicago has to find a way to come up with more stops in 2015. That will be the case no matter what happens at quarterback. • Possible replacements: Todd Bowles, Darrell Bevell, Dan Quinn, Rex Ryan, Mike Shanahan, Pep Hamilton, Adam Gase. Keep a keen eye on Shanahan, who recently talked up Cutler -- the two were paired together in Denver for multiple seasons. Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard already has been linked to Chicago as a possible Trestman replacement. The Bears may not be alone if they express interest in him. Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta is another name to remember. -- Chris Burke Atlanta Falcons Fire head coach Mike Smith Falcons fire head coach Mike Smith The Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Mike Smith after 7 seasons. • Tale of the tape: 66-46 in the regular season through seven seasons; 1-4 in the postseason. Smith led the Falcons to winning records in each of his first five seasons, including two 13-win campaigns (2010 and 12), but was never able to make much noise in the playoffs, and the Falcons compiled a 10-22 record in the last two seasons. Smith is the winningest coach in Falcons history. • What went wrong: Smith was an iffy in-game manager at best, and this showed up more and more often as the teams talent base started to atrophy. But the primary issue over the last two years was that the roster choices made by general manager Thomas Dimitroff led the team in some unfortunate directions. Its also been rumored that owner Arthur Blank may want to bring in more players who skirt the edge of the character equation, and thats never been Smiths style -- hes perhaps the nicest guy in the NFL, and he wants his team to reflect a certain level of class. Dimitroff and Smith started off hot with the acquisitions of quarterback Matt Ryan, tackle Sam Baker, linebacker Curtis Lofton, receiver Harry Douglas, safety Thomas DeCoud, and defensive lineman Kroy Biermann in the same 2008 draft. That draft allowed the Falcons to immediately transcend the dregs of the Bobby Petrino era, and it was one of the more remarkable single-season transformations in NFL history (Atlanta went from 4-12 to 11-5). But over the seasons to come, the Falcons front office swung and missed on several high-ticket picks. From 2009 through 12, outside of the costly Julio Jones pick (Atlanta gave up multiple picks for that choice) and some fringe talent, Atlanta was unable to restock the teams depth through the draft, which is the most crucial way to do it. Most specifically, Dimitroffs inability to acquire the right kind of long-term pass-rusher in the draft was a major problem. • Roster outlook: As such, the Falcons have several deep holes right now. Theres still no top-shelf pass-rusher, the offensive line is an issue outside of left tackle Jake Matthews, the secondary is improving but needs some work, and the running back position is a work in progress. Julio Jones is a top-five receiver when healthy, but hes missed 12 games in the last two seasons. Time is running out for Roddy White, and the teams inability to replace Tony Gonzalez with a tight end who is even serviceable may be Dimitroffs biggest miss to date. The Falcons new head coach will have a rebuilding process ahead of him -- the teams records over the last two seasons were not a fluke. • Possible replacements: The Falcons have hired the search firm Korn Ferry to identify potential coaching candidates, which means that this process could go just about anywhere. Look for hot assistant coaches like New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase to get consideration, though its also been said that Blank may want to try to make a splash with one of the big names who turned to broadcasting, like Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. Cowher seems pretty happy with his current lot, though, and Gruden just signed a lucrative extension with ESPN. More likely, the Falcons will get one of the top assistants available. -- Doug Farrar PREV PAGE 1 2 NEXT PAGE PROMOTED STORIES
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 04:55:11 +0000