Miami Dolphins | Brian Flores fired: a questionable decision

As is always the case, several head coaches received bad news at the end of the NFL regular season, which ended Sunday night with an epic game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Raiders in Las Vegas. (we come back to this later). The dismissals in question did not surprise, except one.

Miguel bujold
Press

Two teams from the North of the Nationale have chosen to change regimes. The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Nagy and general manager Ryan Pace after a 6-11 season. The team that defeated the Bears on Sunday over the Minnesota Vikings did the same, thanking coach Mike Zimmer and GM Rick Spielman.

Even though they had a lineup built to win in the short term, the Vikings have missed the playoffs in the last two seasons and in three of their last four. They certainly possessed enough talent to have a winning season in 2021, but instead ended the schedule with an 8-9 record.

In Chicago, Nagy and Pace surely haven’t been helped by the constant changes they’ve made to quarterback over the past two years. From Mitchell Trubisky to Justin Fields, Nick Foles and Andy Dalton, there didn’t seem to be any definite plans at Soldier Field.

The Bears sacrificed a lot in terms of their draft picks in order to be able to select Trubisky and then Fields. After the failure of the first four-year stint, the Bears certainly can’t make the same mistake with Fields. The choice of their next head coach will therefore be very important.

After losing their last game of the season to the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, the Denver Broncos announced the dismissal of their driver Vic Fangio on Sunday. The Broncos have missed the playoffs six years in a row since their 2015 conquest. Fangio has had three losing seasons at the helm.

If these three dismissals were not surprising, the same can certainly not be said of Brian Flores in Miami.

The Dolphins have won eight of their last nine games to beat the New England Patriots 33-24 on Sunday. That didn’t stop owner Stephen Ross from thanking Flores, who gave the Dolphins winning records the past two seasons. Before Flores arrived in 2019, the Dolphins had only had one winning season in the previous 10 …

It seemed that there was a lack of communication in the organization of the Dolphins and it was Flores who paid the price. GM Chris Grier retained his post and Ross said he really liked the group of young players that Grier had assembled. The future will tell, but I think the Dolphins had above all a very good young head coach …

Job opening with the Giants

Flores will surely get another opportunity before long. Teams like the Bears, Vikings, and even the New York Giants might be interested in his services.

Following the resignation of general manager Dave Gettleman from the Giants, announced on Monday, it will be interesting to see if head coach Joe Judge returns. The Giants had indicated that Judge would keep his job, but the chance to get his hands on a coach like Flores could be a game-changer.

Flores and Judge are two former assistants to Bill Belichick, but unlike the former, the latter still hasn’t shown he can win in the NFL. What’s more, the Giants have played with very little enthusiasm and intensity this season, and Judge has been ridiculed for a monologue he delivered last week in which he argued that the Giants are currently laying the foundations. …

In Carolina, the Panthers recently announced that Matt Rhule would be in office for a third season. But the former NCAA coach will likely need to find success early next season if he is to avoid the chopping block as Panthers owner David Tepper appears to be getting restless.

Still with the Panthers, Cam Newton said he expressed the wish to continue his career if the right conditions were met in 2022. In the eight games he has played in this season, the 32-year-old quarterback has only completed 54.8% of his passes, which is far too little to be a starting quarterback in the NFL.

The game of the year

Those who stayed up late Sunday night had the chance to see what has probably been the game of the year. The Raiders won, 35-32, against the Chargers in the last play of overtime, knocking them out in the process. The Chargers closed a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter thanks to several fine assists from Justin Herbert in a fourth down and long situation.

The Raiders made sure they got into the playoffs thanks to Daniel Carlson’s 47-yard field goal on the last play of the game, when they could well have chosen to put their knee on the ground. A draw would have given both the Raiders and Chargers access to the tournament, while the Pittsburgh Steelers would have been eliminated.

The Steelers owe it to the Raiders, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, who surprised the Indianapolis Colts, 26-11. As well as having to beat the Ravens in Baltimore, which they did 16-13 in overtime, the Steelers had to hope for a Jaguars victory and that the game between the Raiders and Chargers did not end in a tie. . They surely believed for a few minutes that the two teams would be satisfied with a draw …

A little earlier, the 49^ers of San Francisco closed a 0-17 shortfall to beat the Los Angeles Rams for the sixth straight, 27-24, another game that was uplifting and required overtime. The victory took the Niners to the playoffs. They will now fight for the victory at the Dallas Cowboys next Sunday. The Cowboys and the 49^ers have a long history in the playoffs and have notably fought for the National Championship three years in a row from 1992 to 1994.

For the first time since changing its playoff format last year, the NFL will host the sixth and final game of its first round on Monday night as the Rams host the Cardinals. The other game of the first weekend in the NFC will pit the Eagles against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. In the American, the Raiders will visit the Bengals and the Patriots will be in Buffalo to face the Bills. The Steelers will face the Chiefs.