Browns Firing Freddie Kitchens, Falcons Firing Dan Quinn
The Browns are firing Freddie Kitchens and the Falcons are firing Dan Quinn.
Coming into this season expectations were relatively high for both men. In retrospect, they were too high.
Cleveland was a trendy preseason choice to be a dark horse playoff team. The addition of Odell Beckham Jr. and continued development of Baker Mayfield was supposed to create one of the scariest offensive combinations in the league.
Of course, that did end up happening. The Browns underwhelmed this season from start to finish, and coaching is right up there with poor offensive line play as far as issues for this team.
Atlanta, meanwhile, was supposed to finally get it together this year. The Falcons have been on a downward spiral ever since their infamous Super Bowl defeat to the New England Patriots. Every year since has produced worse and worse results, followed by endless excuses why.
At the end of the day, it appears as though the Falcons have simply tuned Quinn out. There is simply no excuse for a team with as much talent as Atlanta has to be this bad on a consistent basis.
Yes, injuries have hampered the organization. There is no denying that. But other teams figure out a way to work through.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks have also been hit by an endless stream of injuries. So what? The latter squad is competing for a divisional title next week and the former is still in the hunt for the playoffs despite being down to their third string quarterback.
As we keep an eye on coaches on the hot seat, this year — maybe as much as any — owners are watching how teams close it out on the field: The #Falcons (undecided), the #Jaguars (likely back, pending the finish), the #Browns (leaning back, barring a brutal end) are in focus.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 22, 2019
On Sunday, NFL Network insider Ian Rapaport reported that three coaches were on the hot seat heading into the offseason: Kitchens, Quinn and Doug Marrone of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Marrone seemed safe, but the other two were gone unless they finished the year off strong.
Kitchens clearly is not ending the season on a strong note. Cleveland has lost two in a row and not sits at 6-9 through 15 games.
Quinn is sort of ending the season on a high note, having racked off three straight wins. But is hard to see Falcons brass completely forgetting how underwhelming this team has been for three seasons now.
Barring something truly crazy happening next week, Quinn is likely going to be fired as well.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
Amazing how the title says Quinn will be fired and then and the Falcons have tuned him out when they’ve won 4 of 6! Then at the end of the article you says he’s likely to be fired! Where’s your crystal ball genius?