SI.com ranks Rivera in "Hottest of Hot Seat" Tier

[CRA]

Rivera is the NFC's Marvin Lewis. We're also stuck with him through this season and almost definitely through next because of his contract extension and roster moves.

Lewis has been in Cincy for freaking 12 years.

Rivera has been here 3 and in his fourth and was coach of the year last season....and his roster had huge holes. This year his FO pretty much gave him the middle finger....horrific OL, all new WRs (rookies and JAGs), and zero secondary talent. No coach should win with that.

[Lumps]

I'd be ok with Rivera staying, although I don't like the game managing mistakes he makes, nor his conservative ways, I think with a proper team he can create a contender.

I also think Gettle needs more time, he's made mistakes but I'm going to reserve judgment until it's time to sign players like Cam and Luke. Can't blame him for Hardy. I can't say it was a risk I wouldn't have taken.

I really think Shula needs to be replaced and of corse a new owner would be refreshing, but that won't happen.

[unicar15]

yep. Ron will win his usual December games to make it a less crappy season, but Shula will be ushered out as soon as possible. JR's not going to fire a last year's Coach of the Year after he just extended him. Anyone remember JR refusing to fire Fox and how that played out?

As pathetic as it is..winning a bunch of games in December could still put us in position to win this division.

[Guest]

As pathetic as it is..winning a bunch of games in December could still put us in position to win this division.

For us to win this division we need to go at least 5-2 for our last seven games. That would put us at 8-7-1. Meaning the Saints would have to go 3-5 or 4-3-1 for their last eight games to finish worse or the same as us. I'm not sure they'll post a losing record for their last eight games...

Remaining Schedule

-Panthers: @ Eagles, vs Falcons, @ Vikings, @ Saints, vs Buccaneers, vs Browns, @ Falcons

- Saints: vs 49ers, vs Bengals, vs Ravens, @ Steelers, vs Panthers, @ Bears, vs Falcons, @ Buccaneers

For us to get past them we need to win the seven games. That will mean the Saints can go 6-1-1, 6-2 or worse and finish behind us. It's a lot to ask, but I guess with our team going on a run wouldn't be too surprising, though I'm not convinced we'll win more than 5 of our remaining games at best.

---

As for Rivera. If we finish this season poorly, with a losing record, he could be gone. The team has lost talent and all that jazz, but the inconsistency and poor performances has been something we've dealt with for most of his tenure. Only thing that might save him is his extension, but even that only gives him so much leeway.

[Sloth]

Lewis has been in Cincy for freaking 12 years.

Rivera has been here 3 and in his fourth and was coach of the year last season....and his roster had huge holes. This year his FO pretty much gave him the middle finger....horrific OL, all new WRs (rookies and JAGs), and zero secondary talent. No coach should win with that.

 

And he's the same guy. Solid, predictable, unimaginative, focuses on the defense, only gets into offense if something has gone horribly wrong. He's got horrible clock management still in his 4th year. He usually takes a quarter to a half of a season for him to actually start winning games. His players are almost always unprepared for any pressure games, after time off, and to start the season. He shuts the offense down (or approves of his coordinator doing so) the moment we go up by a touchdown. Tell me one time you've watched a game and thought "man we've got good coaching!".

 

He got his "riverboat" moniker (and only winning season) in one year where he was pretty much considered an auto-fire once it ended and had nothing whatsoever to lose. Once the heat was removed, he went right back to the same guy he was in his losing years (i.e. every year except last one).

 

I mean, we have a guy whos ceiling is Mike Smith in ATL. He's steady and might win a playoff game if just about everything bounces his way but his team is generally going to get it's doors blown off against top teams.

[CRA]

And he's the same guy. Solid, predictable, unimaginative, focuses on the defense, only gets into offense if something has gone horribly wrong. He's got horrible clock management still in his 4th year. He usually takes a quarter to a half of a season for him to actually start winning games. His players are almost always unprepared for any pressure games, after time off, and to start the season. He either shuts the offense down (or approves of his coordinator doing so) the moment we go up by a touchdown. Tell me one time you've watched a game and thought "man we've got good coaching!".

He got his "riverboat" moniker (and only winning season) in one year where he was pretty much considered an auto-fire once it ended and had nothing whatsoever to lose. Once the heat was removed, he went right back to the same guy he was in his losing years (i.e. every year except last one).

I mean, we have a guy whos ceiling is Mike Smith in ATL. He's steady and might win a playoff game if just about everything bounces his way but his team is generally going to get it's doors blown off against top teams.

Some of the "best coaches" are predictable, not very creative in fans minds, defensive focused etc.

NFL is a talent driven league. Not a league where coaches take slop and win.

You give RR an OL and well rounded defensive talent...and he will easily sail to the postseason.

[Sloth]

Some of the "best coaches" are predictable, not very creative in fans minds, defensive focused etc.

NFL is a talent driven league. Not a league where coaches take slop and win.

You give RR an OL and well rounded defensive talent...and he will easily sail to the postseason.

 

Which "best coaches" are you referring to?

[dunnlx]

Lewis has been in Cincy for freaking 12 years.

Rivera has been here 3 and in his fourth and was coach of the year last season....and his roster had huge holes. This year his FO pretty much gave him the middle finger....horrific OL, all new WRs (rookies and JAGs), and zero secondary talent. No coach should win with that.

I would rather have Lewis

[Anybodyhome]

The only difference between this season and the 2011 lockout season is a pie chart.

 

In both instances, the front office blew up the roster with little intention of improving. All the while claiming Cam Newton is the franchise QB, yet doing the exact opposite of what most teams would do for their franchise QB- surround him with talent.

[Sam Mills Fan]

What I funny about these kinds of threads is that most people say Rivera shouldn't be fired or that Rivera isn't on the list of our problems while also not disagreeing with me that he's the worst gameday coach in the league. Um.....

[Snake]

Solid can win a Super Bowl. And I think Rivera is good enough to win, he just needs better players to work with. It's easy to look at blowouts and blame the coach, but any owner is going to look at the overall picture for reasons before deciding to dump a guy he just signed to a multi-year contract (without that extension, we would likely be having a different conversation). And I think even a novice evaluator can look at this team and see that our OL is destroying any chance for our offense to be effective (IMO, they are historically bad). Also, the defense has had some significant problems, which have lead to the blowouts...most of them completely out of the control of coaches. Nobody could have anticipated the Hardy situation (and despite some posters attempt to lay the blame on the team, it is clear this was a league directive). While Rivera is not blameless, he is far from the main reason for our problems.

Sometimes we have to look at the reasons for problems, and not just try to lay blame on the most convenient person.

As for Shula, I actually think he could be an ok coordinator for a power oriented conventional team with all the pieces, but he is not good at working with an offense with holes that has a unique guy at QB that needs to have a gameplan designed to take full advantage of his abilities. So, IMO, we need to move on and bring in a guy that can design a creative scheme. For comparisons sake, what would Seattle's offense look like if they tried to run a conventional scheme with Wilson trying to stay in the pocket? It would probably look just as bad as ours. But they knew that they had to create a scheme that maximized what Wilson does in order to be successful...unlike Shula who seems to think the read option is the pinnacle of creativity.

We are ways apart on our opinions so I'm going to agree to disagree.

[Snake]

What I funny about these kinds of threads is that most people say Rivera shouldn't be fired or that Rivera isn't on the list of our problems while also not disagreeing with me that he's the worst gameday coach in the league. Um.....

That's the real reason I think he should be gone. Blowout could have been avoided if he has any idea of how to manage a game.

[PiratePanther189]

There are many organizations in the NFL that would fire Rivera if this season's current trend continues.

 

This organization is not one of them.

[CRA]

I would rather have Lewis

Lewis - 1 winning season in first 6 years, 0 playoff wins going on year 12