‘Black Monday’ Arrives in the NFL

While most of us are getting ready to ring in a new year that promises to be better than the previous one, more than a handful of NFL head coaches are getting their resumes in order.

The Monday after the final week of the NFL's regular season is known as 'Black Monday' because of the mass firings around the league.  So far there have been six confirmed firings.

Philadelphia, Kansas City, Cleveland, Buffalo, San Diego, and Chicago will all be looking for new head coaches in 2013.  The most surprising firing has to be Lovie Smith in Chicago.  In nine seasons in the windy city, Lovie compiled a record of 81-63 and a Super Bowl appearance in 2007.

Despite a 10-6 record in 2012, the Bears went 3-5 down the stretch to miss the playoffs for the second straight season.  Despite massive upgrades in offensive personnel and payroll, the Bears offense was wildly inconsistent yet again.  Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall showed flashes of brilliance, but the offense was statistically lousy.  The Bears were 28th in yards per game, and 16th in points per game.  Chicago was also under 40% on third down conversions.

On another note, Tennessee's Mike Munchak and Detroit's Jim Schwartz look to be 'Black Monday' survivors.