New rule might make Sunday a make-or-break game for Fangio
Dec 21, 2021, 9:28 AM
There have been plenty of times when Broncos Country was calling for Vic Fangio’s job. A Thursday night loss to the Browns springs to mind.
But the head coach has survived. Despite going 12-20 during his first two seasons, he returned for a third campaign. And by staying mathematically in the playoff race all year long, Fangio has remained at the helm.
That could change if the Broncos lose on Sunday, however. And it won’t be just because Fangio’s team will have fallen below .500 and all but out of the postseason chase.
A new NFL rule, temporarily in place for just this season, allows teams who will have a new head coach in the following season to “pre-interview” candidates during the final two weeks of the season. It allows franchises looking to go another direction to get a jump on the competition, as most organization’s make a coaching change on the Monday after the regular season ends.
Currently, just two teams are eligible to take advantage of the new rule. The Raiders let go of Jon Gruden in October, while the Jaguars moved on from Urban Meyer last week.
It will be tempting for teams who know they’re going to make a coaching change at the end of the season to go ahead and make the move early. While it could make the final two weeks of the season chaotic, the benefit probably outweighs the negative.
If the Broncos lose to the Raiders on Sunday, they’ll fall to 7-8 and be eliminated from the playoffs for all intents and purposes. The only thing they’ll have left to play for in the final two weeks is a winning record, which would require a road win over the Chargers and ending a 12-game losing streak to the Chiefs.
Even if they’re able to accomplish that task, it would be a moral victory. It wouldn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things.
In the end, Fangio will have a losing record during his three seasons as the Broncos head coach. He will have missed the playoffs all three years. Normally, that’s enough for a franchise to show someone the door. That’s enough to motivate a team to go in a different direction.
If that’s where the Broncos are with Fangio, they surely know it now. It would be silly to suggest that the results in the final three games will outweigh the body of work he’s put forth in his first 46.
The smart thing for the Broncos would be to clean house. And given the new NFL rule that’s in place this season, the prudent time to do so would begin on Monday if the Broncos lose on Sunday.
