The painful but seemingly inexorable march toward head coach unemployment took another significant step in the careers of Brian Schottenheimer and Shane Steichen on Sunday.
Both coaches are headed to similar dismissals which are deserved and the only reason it hasn’t happened already is because the owners of the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys are eccentric and perhaps arrogant enough to believe what is an obvious lost cause can still be redeemed.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said after Sunday’s come-from-in-front overtime loss to the Arizona Cardinals that Schottenheimer remains the Cowboys’ coach and firing him is not a looming move.
“We’re not going to get into anything, that’s not in my mind at this time,” Jones told the usual gaggle of reporters he entertains after home games. “The main thing that’s in my mind is we tee it up for those kind of spots to win it. We really do want those situations. Call for it. Bring it on.”
The Cowboys got the situations they wanted, leading 14-3 at halftime and 17-10 after three quarters against the Cards. And they blew the game.
The upstart Cardinals rallied behind Gardner Minshew throwing to Michael Wilson or handing it to Tyler Allgeier, who rushed for 147 yards against Dallas after gaining 64 yards the previous three games.
Jones saw his team lose at home for the third time in four games.
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He saw his team fail to string together consecutive wins for the third time this season. Indeed, winning streaks are foreign to the Cowboys under Schottenheimer, because they have won consecutive games only once in his tenure.
And out of all this, after losing to a roster that is less talented and slightly less experienced, Jones blamed practically everyone except Schottenheimer.
“A lot of people let Brian down today,” Jones said. “And so for whatever criticism we want to have of Brian, we can all get in line. To use a cliché, that was a total team effort out there for us. And we have to be, for our fans, we have to be better than that when we got our hands on a win and then drop the ball.”
So, Jones is staying the course for now. But that doesn’t answer the fundamental question why?
The Colts were similarly trying to find answers to their continued problems after Sunday’s blowout 42-7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Colts have lost four consecutive games, fired their general manager, traded multiple star players, are on the verge of also trading running back Jonathan Taylor, and Steichen was somehow searching for reasons he’s got problems.
“I’m going to evaluate everything, every position going forward,” Steichen said at one point when someone asked if Daniel Jones would remain his starting quarterback.
Earth to Steichen: Where was this evaluation of Jones before you and deposed GM Chris Ballard agreed to give the quarterback a two-year extension in March?
The coach who was all in on Jones in the offseason seemed suddenly willing to get out on Sunday. And that seems to be the prevailing culture in Indy.
Owner Carlie Irsay-Gordon has quit on the season by firing the GM, and ordering the systematic trading of top talent to the highest draft choice bidder.
Steichen has been seemingly picked up on that and turned on Jones. And some players are turning on the season as seen by them letting the Jaguars tear through weak tackle attempts to the tune of 183 rushing yards and three passing TDs by Trevor Lawrence.
Because of all this, it would not really surprise if Irsay-Gordon soon turns her quitting on Steichen. As early as Monday. With the coach’s ouster.
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Should that guillotine not fall on Monday or this week, it would merely be a temporary stay and not a permanent sign of confidence.
But if the ax falls, the Colts can hand the interim head coach job to defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo or offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter – both of whom have interviewed for NFL head coach vacancies in the past.
Either way, change has come to the Colts and it will not be long before it claims Shane Steichen.