Sportsbooks See No Super Bowles for New York Jets
Not only do the New York Jets have the longest betting odds to win the Super Bowl 52 – shared with the Browns and 49ers – but their head coach leads the odds-boards in the race to unemployment. The Todd Bowles era got off to an auspicious start in 2015 when the Jets improved on the previous season’s 4-12 record and posted their first winning campaign since 2010 with a 10-6 record, and while they failed to reach the playoffs, the Jets were the only NFL team with a winning record to miss the postseason – in other words, they were the least worse team in the league. Things quickly began falling apart like a Chinese motorcycle in 2016, though; the Jets finished at the bottom of the AFC East with a 5-11 record and were left out of the playoffs for the sixth straight season.
Also playing musical chairs with hot seats are…
Hue Jackson
The Browns finished 2016 with a 1-15 record – the worst in team’s history – fourteen of which they lost in a row for their worst 14-game start ever; were the first team to start 0-14 since the Detroit Lions in 2008; were the first team with a 1-15 record since 2009; posted a losing record for a ninth consecutive season; failed to make the postseason for a 14th straight season; finished last in the AFC North for the sixth consecutive season [this list is so long we have to include an intermission; brought to you by your favorite USA sportsbook online]; went 0-6 within said division; did not win a road game in a season for the second time in history; set a franchise record for most straight losses (17 going back to the final three games of the previous season); extended their road losing streak to 13 games, which started in Week 7 of the 2015 season; and became the 10th NFL team to finish with 15 losses. The Browns have made some sensible moves during the offseason – which hopefully included breaking the curse someone put on their QBs – but whether keeping Jackson on the payroll was one of them, we’ll have to wait and see.
John Fox
The Chicago Bears finished 2016 with the team’s worst record since the league went to 16-game seasons, and were winless on the road for the first time in the history of the franchise. Jay Cutler retired and Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley left for the Niners (are they joined at the hip or something?) but that was probably for the best, as now Fox has a clean slate QB-wise with second overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft Mitchell Trubisky and fallen-on-hard-times Mark Sanchez.
Chuck Pagano
Pagano failed to lead the Colts to the playoffs for the first time in his tenure in Indianapolis in 2015, which coincided with QB Andrew Luck’s injury-shortened season. However, offshore sportsbooks can’t claim that Luck is Chuck’s luck, or lack thereof – the signal-caller only missed one game last season and threw for 4,240 yards and 31 TDs playing though a nagging shoulder injury, and the Colts still finished 8-8 and missed the postseason for the second straight time.
