Sucked Into the NFL’s Black Hole, Week 17

↵Marinelli, Mangini, Crennel’s Tenures. Rod Marinelli, Eric Mangini and Romeo Crennel are all either officially out or reportedly out as the head coach of their respective teams (Lions, Jets, Browns). None of these should come as much of a surprise -- all three coaches have a losing record during their three, or in Romeo’s case, four, year stints.
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↵But if these three had to go, then so too should Wade Phillips, whose performance in Dallas this season was just as egregious as anything done by the dearly departed. Sure, Marinelli managed to win exactly zero games, but his team was awful to start with. Phillips, however, displayed a special kind of ineptitude, leading a Super Bowl favorite to a nine-win, playoff-less season. Despite what Jerry Jones said before yesterday’s game, don’t expect Phillips to make it to the New Year as the Cowboys head coach.↵

↵Job Opening in San Fran. On the flip side of the ugly coaching performances mentioned above is the work Mike Singletary did in the second-half of the season for the 49ers. He took over a 2-5 team and turned it around, winning four of his last five after beating the disappointing Redskins in a meaningless finale yesterday. San Fran finished 7-9, which matches its best season since 2002, when they won 10 games under Steve Mariucci. Singletary was rightfully rewarded for his work with a four-year, $10 million deal as the team’s next head coach.↵

↵Denver, Tampa Finishing Strong. Lost in the epic failure of the Cowboys yesterday were the complete collapses of the Broncos and Bucs. Needing to win just one game over the last three weeks to lock up a playoff spot, neither team could get it done, losing out and finishing on the outside looking in. The common thread between the two: the Oakland Raiders, who beat Denver in Week 12 and Tampa in Week 17. Five wins may seem disappointing to Raiders fans, but essentially ruining the season for two teams is quite an impressive feat. The next best thing to actually making the postseason yourself is helping to keep others out. ↵

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