RAIDERS FIRE PETE CARROLL AFTER 3-14 SEASON AND WILL LOOK FOR A NEW COACH FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders fired Pete Carroll on Monday after just one year, meaning they will enter their third consecutive season with a new coach in charge.
Carroll expressed high hopes upon taking over, saying he was used to double-digit victories and he expected the same in Las Vegas. But the Raiders went 3-14, going on a 10-game losing streak before finishing with a 14-12 victory over Kansas City on Sunday.
Now the question is where the Raiders head next under the direction of owner Mark Davis, minority owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek. Davis said in a statement that Spytek would work with Brady to find the next coach.
“Together, they will guide football decisions with a shared focus on leadership, culture, and alignment with the organization’s long-term vision and goals,” Davis said.
The club could seek an offensive-minded coach to work with a young quarterback should the Raiders draft Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore with the first overall pick.
That formula worked well this season in Chicago with coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams and in Jacksonville with coach Liam Coen and QB Trevor Lawrence. Both teams are playoff bound after experiencing losing seasons the year before.
There is no one path to success, however. New England hired a defensive coach in Mike Vrabel, and he worked well with quarterback Drake Maye to helped the Patriots go from a 4-13 record to 14-3 and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs.
Carroll, 74, was the NFL’s oldest head coach, and he came to Las Vegas with the intent of winning right away. He got his wish of bringing in quarterback Geno Smith, whom he coached in Seattle. Neither got the success they expected, with Smith throwing a league-high 17 interceptions as the losses piled up.
This wasn’t what Carroll used to as a coach. He coached the Seahawks to a Super Bowl title and Southern California to two national championships.
But now Carroll has been dismissed, just as Antonio Pierce was last year and Josh McDaniels midway through the 2023 season.
CARDINALS COACH JONATHAN GANNON FIRED FOLLOWING DISMAL THIRD SEASON THAT ENDED WITH 3-14 RECORD
TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Jonathan Gannon’s once-promising head coaching tenure with the Arizona Cardinals is done following a dismal third season that started with high expectations but quickly collapsed thanks to injuries, embarrassing gaffes and a long string of losses that became increasingly noncompetitive.
Now the franchise is preparing for a rebuild — again.
The Cardinals parted ways with Gannon on Monday, one day after a 37-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams to end their season. It was the team’s ninth straight loss and 14th setback in 15 games.
Now a new coaching staff will get the chance to rebuild a franchise that will have the No. 3 overall pick in April, but has been to the playoffs just once since 2016. General manager Monti Ossenfort will return.
The 43-year-old Gannon finished his tenure with a 15-36 record, including 3-14 this season. Gannon expressed optimism in recent weeks that he would return for a fourth season, but owner Michael Bidwill had other ideas, opting to look for the franchise’s 13th head coach since moving to Arizona in 1988.
Pro Bowl tight end Trey McBride was one of many Cardinals players who voiced support for Gannon, but it wasn’t enough to save his job.
“It’s a team game — there’s a lot of things that went wrong,” McBride said shortly before Gannon was fired. “You lose a couple close ones early and then just a little domino effect from there. Very frustrating season.”
Gannon’s dismissal is a development that seemed unlikely just a few months ago.
The Cardinals had an 8-9 record last year in Gannon’s second season and the franchise appeared on the upswing. Two-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kyler Murray was in his prime and Ossenfort spent much of the offseason upgrading the defense, adding veteran pieces like Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson and Calais Campbell.
But nothing has gone as planned.
Arizona actually won its first two games of the season, though that would prove to be the high point. The Cardinals lost the next five games by a combined 13 points, including three straight on last-second field goals.
During that stretch, injuries started piling up. Murray hurt his foot in a Week 5 loss to the Titans and hasn’t played since, calling into question whether he’ll be the team’s quarterback in 2026 despite a $230.5 million, five-year contract that could run through 2028.
Starting running back James Conner missed most of the season with a foot injury while receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — who was the No. 4 overall pick in 2024 — struggled with injuries and inconsistency.
There were also some embarrassing moments that added to the tension. Running back Emari Demercado dropped the football just short of a touchdown while celebrating too early against the Titans, which started a stunning collapse that saw a 21-9 lead turn into a 22-21 defeat.
Gannon was caught on camera angrily confronting Demercado, appearing to bump the running back as he swiped his arm downward. The Cardinals fined the coach $100,000 for his actions.
Arizona was also called for a franchise-record 17 penalties in a 41-22 loss to the 49ers in Week 11. The Cardinals were 0-6 against NFC West opponents this season, losing the last four by a combined 88 points.
Gannon was hired in 2023 after two seasons as the defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, who reached the Super Bowl during his final year before losing to the Chiefs.
BROWNS FIRE TWO-TIME COACH OF THE YEAR KEVIN STEFANSKI AFTER SIX SEASONS
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have fired coach Kevin Stefanski after six seasons.
Stefanski is the fourth NFL coach fired this season, joining Tennessee’s Brian Callahan, the New York Giants’ Brian Daboll and Atlanta’s Raheem Morris.
The Browns won their final two games to finish 5-12, including a 20-18 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The 43-year-old Stefanski is a two-time AP NFL Coach of the Year and had a 46-58 overall record. He led Cleveland to playoff appearances in 2020 and 2023. The Browns’ 48-37 victory over Pittsburgh in an AFC wild-card round game at the end of the 2020 season was the franchise’s first since 1993.
“I leave with an immense sense of gratitude. A sincere ‘Thank You’ to everyone who I have been so blessed to work for and with over these six seasons,” Stefanski said in a statement released through the Browns. “I’d like to especially thank my coaching staff and the players who did everything that was ever asked of them. They fought through injury and adversity, while always putting the team first.”
Stefanski is the sixth coach fired since owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam bought the franchise in 2012. The five coaches hired by the Haslams have a 73-139-1 regular-season record, the second-worst mark in the NFL.
The Haslams are not doing a total house cleaning, announcing Andrew Berry will remain as general manager.
Stefanski met with ownership Monday morning, but Jimmy Haslam indicated the decision had already been made.
“I think those decisions tend to be made over a period of time,” Haslam said during a news conference 45 minutes after Stefanski’s firing was announced. “I don’t think there was one breaking point. I think you’ve got to look at the body of work and sometimes it’s just time for a change.”
Stefanski is credited with establishing a positive culture to a franchise epitomized by dysfunction. However, Stefanski was done in by something that has plagued the Browns since their return in 1999 — the lack of a franchise quarterback.
Stefanski had 13 starting quarterbacks during his tenure, including seven the past two seasons. Both were the most in the league.
The Browns thought they had their quarterback in 2022 when they released Baker Mayfield and acquired Deshaun Watson from Houston for five draft picks, including three in the first round.
Instead, the trade for Watson has set the Browns back for years.
Jimmy Haslam said during the league meetings last March that the Browns “took a big swing and miss” with the Watson trade and that “we’ve got to dig ourselves out of that hole.”
Stefanski was criticized during the season for his early handling of rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The fifth-round pick did not receive any snaps with the first team in practices until he came in for Dillon Gabriel in the second half of a Nov. 16 game against the Baltimore Ravens.
Sanders was the Browns’ starter for the final seven games and went 3-4. He had plenty of growing pains, including working behind a makeshift offensive line and not having his leading rusher or receiver for the final two games.
Cleveland was fourth in the league in total defense as Myles Garrett had 23 sacks, setting the league’s single-season record. However, the offense was 30th and averaged 16.4 points, second-fewest in the league.
Stefanski is expected to be a prime candidate for other openings throughout the league. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is also expected to be high on other team’s wish lists.
Schwartz has head coaching experience, leading the Detroit Lions from 2009 through 2013, and is expected to get an interview for the in-house opening.
“We’ve got to find the right head coach,” Haslam said. “We’ve got to be efficient again in free agency. We have 10 draft picks, including two number ones. We are solely focused on having a great 120 days so we can start winning games around here.”
JAYDEN DANIELS’ INJURIES AND THE WASHINGTON COMMANDERS’ POOR PLAY LED TO A BIG STEP BACK
Late in this disaster of a season for the Washington Commanders, one filled with poor play, lopsided losses and a litany of injuries — none more significant than the series of issues that affected Jayden Daniels — coach Dan Quinn was asked to offer an evaluation of his star quarterback’s second year in the NFL.
“Obviously,” Quinn said, “there’s not enough information to give you a full report on things. … But as an overall assessment, we’ve all missed the mark.”
So true.
Washington, which closed out its 5-12 campaign with a meaningless 24-17 win at the Philadelphia Eagles and their backups on Sunday, didn’t do much to impress anyone in what was a real step back after a 12-5 record and run to the NFC championship game a year ago.
And Daniels, specifically, went from the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year who appeared in all 20 of the Commanders’ games, often leading them to spectacular finishes, to someone who barely was available. Limited by knee, hamstring and left elbow problems, the Heisman Trophy winner out of LSU and No. 2 overall draft pick played in just seven games and threw for only eight touchdowns before being shut down last month.
“I wish I was out there more,” Daniels said. “That’s kind of the focus for me this offseason — rebuilding myself from the ground up.”
Daniels’ gruesome elbow injury
Among the lasting images of the 2025 season for the Commanders will be the awkward, ugly way Daniels’ non-throwing arm bent when he was tackled in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in November. Quinn acknowledged the next day that the QB shouldn’t have even been in the lineup still.
Daniels never was prone to missing time in college, or as a rookie in the pros, but he couldn’t seem to avoid it this season, raising questions about whether he needs to adjust his playing style at all or learn how to get out of harm’s way.
On the other hand, this was Daniels’ take: “I mean, I can’t really avoid the injuries that I’ve dealt with. Those are just freak accidents.”
Commanders struggled to compete
There was an eight-game losing streak that took Washington from a 3-2 record to 3-10. Within that stretch, there was a four-game span in which the Commanders dropped every contest by at least 21 points apiece.
“It’s been,” wideout Terry McLaurin said, “a long season.”
Things began inauspiciously enough way back before the games even started, when McLaurin — Daniels’ top playmaker — held out while seeking a new extension, which eventually arrived. But he, like so many other key players, then missed a ton of time while hurt.
Washington’s defense slumped
By any measure, the Commanders were incapable of stopping opponents. They allowed an NFL-worst 384 yards per game. They forced just 10 turnovers, a total better only than the New York Jets’ four. Washington gave up 26.5 points each time out; only five teams were worse in that category.
‘Bill’ was a rare bright spot
Rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, whose nickname is “Bill,” didn’t play like a seventh-rounder, ending up with 805 yards on 175 carries for a 4.6 average and eight TDs. It’s unclear whether his fumbling might make the team take it slowly with him and look elsewhere for a starter at that position.
Next steps
There will need to be a lot of evaluation to figure out what went wrong, and while Daniels needs new playmakers at receiver and tight end, the unit that requires the most analysis is the defense. One move might be to jettison Joe Whitt Jr., who had no success as the defensive coordinator this season and first was moved from the booth to the sideline on game day, then stripped of play-calling duties by Quinn. Quinn could retain that responsibility or hire a new coordinator.
General manager Adam Peters will need to reconstruct a unit that lacked talent and is in dire need of a pass rusher or two, a linebacker or two and a defensive back or two. The overall roster depth is another major concern that will need to be addressed via the draft — Washington holds six picks currently, only two in the initial four rounds — and free agency. The good news: Peters has the most salary cap space in the league.
KANSAS CITY CHIEFS FACE A PIVOTAL OFFSEASON AFTER A DISAPPOINTING 6-11 SEASON
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — What happened over the last month of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs figures to be a whole lot less interesting than what will transpire over the next few months, when a perennial juggernaut in desperate need of a reset begins work on the retooling.
Will tight end Travis Kelce retire after a superlative 13-year career, or will he come back for one more season in an attempt to wipe away the bitter taste of a 6-11 record? How will the Chiefs navigate free agency with glaring needs at several spots and precious little salary cap space? And what will they do with their first top-10 draft pick since Patrick Mahomes went 10th in 2017?
“Optimistic for the future going forward here,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “(General manager) Brett (Veach) has the controls from here with the draft, and he and his guys will do a great job in the draft, and as we work through free agency.”
There is plenty of work to do.
The Chiefs not only had a streak of 10 consecutive playoff appearances end, they also had a nine-year dominance of the AFC West shattered by Denver. Their streak of seven conference title game appearances is over, and given the way the season went, it’s almost hard to believe that the Chiefs played in the last three Super Bowls — with two wins.
But very little went right for the Chiefs this season, beginning with a loss to the Chargers in Brazil and ending with six consecutive defeats, leaving them with their worst record since going 2-14 the year before Reid arrived in Kansas City.
By mid-December, the Chiefs already had been eliminated from the playoffs.
Injuries may have been the biggest problem: Patrick Mahomes tore two ligaments in his knee, backup quarterback Gardner Minshew likewise tore his knee ligament and stars such as Rashee Rice and Trent McDuffie followed them to injured reserve.
But there also were glaring deficiencies on both sides of the ball.
“We’ve got a good nucleus of guys that are veteran players. They’ll be back,” Reid said, “and I think you want that foundation, and that’s where you start. And then you give Brett an opportunity to have the draft picks that he has and picking where he’s picking; you know he’s going to do a great job there. And then whatever happens free agent-wise, or guys we signed up — wherever that goes — you still have a long way to go to add people and do what you need. So, there’ll be a fresh start coming up.”
Kelce’s decision
The first big decision in Kansas City may lie not with the team but with Kelce, who is considering retirement. He said the choice to come back last season was relatively easy after a lopsided Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia. But with myriad interests outside football, and his engagement to pop star Taylor Swift, things have changed in his life over the past 12 months.
“I have so much love for this team, this organization and the people here,” said Kelce, who finished with 76 catches for 851 yards and five touchdowns. “I’ll spend some time with them, go through exit meetings, get close to the family and figure things out.”
Health check
Mahomes is already well into rehab following surgery to repair his knee injury, and the Chiefs are cautiously optimistic that he will be ready for Week 1 next season. Everyone else who landed on injured reserve also is expected to be ready for next season.
Free agency
Among veterans due to hit free agency are running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt, wide receivers Marquise Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, cornerbacks Josh Williams and Jaylen Watson, safeties Bryan Cook and Mike Edwards, linebacker Leo Chenal and defensive linemen Derrick Nnadi, Mike Pennel and Charles Omenihu. Several could be back on team-friendly deals.
Draft situation
The Chiefs will pick ninth overall in April, their highest since taking offensive tackle Eric Fisher first overall in 2013. They have a slew of needs on both sides of the ball, but look for them to target offensive playmakers — probably a running back — and someone who can rush the passer after finishing among the league’s worst in quarterback sacks this season.
Next steps
The Chiefs haven’t been finished this early in a season in a decade, so at least in terms of getting a jump-start on next season, the next few weeks are a novel luxury. They’ll spend it preparing for the NFL scouting combine in late February and the start of free agency.
JAGUARS COACH LIAM COEN DESERVES CREDIT FOR GROWTH OF QB TREVOR LAWRENCE AND OTHERS
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The Jacksonville Jaguars won the AFC South, in part, because first-year head coach Liam Coen and his staff got several guys to play well above expectations.
Developing talent? Unleashing potential? Pushing the right buttons? Coen prefers to call it growth, which rarely has been witnessed to this extent over the last two-plus decades in Jacksonville.
Regardless of the wording, it’s considered a key to Jacksonville (13-4) winning the franchise’s most games since 1999 and earning its third home playoff game over the past 26 seasons.
The Jaguars, the AFC’s No. 3 seed, will host sixth-seeded Buffalo (12-5) and Pro Bowl quarterback Josh Allen on Sunday. And the Jags hope to continue getting significant contributions from players who were on the verge of being written off in Jacksonville:
— Trevor Lawrence. The fifth-year quarterback is playing as well as anyone in the league. He has 24 total touchdowns during Jacksonville’s eight-game winning streak, including 19 passing and five rushing, and is making a strong case for comeback player of the year after his 2024 season ended with shoulder surgery and a frightening concussion caused by an illegal hit.
— Devin Lloyd. The fourth-year linebacker is tied for second in the NFL with six takeaways, including a career-high five interceptions that includes a 99-yard TD, and will be in high demand in free agency.
— Antonio Johnson. The third-year safety also has five interceptions, including one he returned 58 yards for a score in a 41-7 rout against Tennessee on Sunday. Three others came on final drives against the New York Jets, Indianapolis and Houston.
— Parker Washington. The third-year receiver has more catches (58), yards (847) and touchdowns (7) this season than he had in his first two years combined. He has become one of Lawrence’s most trusted targets.
Throw in left tackle Cole Van Lanen, cornerback Jarrian Jones, tight end Quintin Morris and defensive tackle Matt Dickerson — guys who were either on the bench (Van Lanen and Jones), on the practice squad (Morris) or even on the street (Dickerson) at some point this season — and Coen deserves credit for finding them more prominent roles.
Those are the kind of deft moves that should earn Coen coach of the year consideration around the league.
“It’s not always perfect, but it’s been a fun progression,” Lawrence said. “He’s a helluva coach, and I’m glad he’s here in Jacksonville and very thankful for him.”
What’s working
The Jaguars ended up leading the league in run defense for the first time in franchise history. They allowed 85.6 yards a game and became the third team since 2000 to not allow a 75-yard rusher in a single game. Indianapolis’ Jonathan Taylor came the closest, running for 74 and 70 yards in two meetings.
What needs help
Jacksonville’s ground attack slowed to a crawl against Tennessee. The Jags finished with 64 yards rushing, their second fewest of the season. They failed to top 125 yards in their last six games, a potential concern heading into the playoffs.
A shuffled offensive line has been part of the issue, but Coen suggested the need for staying on blocks longer and finding holes that are there.
Stock up
Cam Little has a big leg and probably should have been the AFC’s Pro Bowl kicker. He drilled a 67-yarder to end the first half against Tennessee, giving him the longest outdoor field goal in NFL history. He made a 68-yarder indoors against Las Vegas in early November for the NFL record. He also hit a 70-yarder against Pittsburgh in the preseason.
Stock down
Jaguars defensive tackle Arik Armstead needed 1 1/2 sacks in the finale to earn a $1 million bonus for reaching seven this season. But he played only 24 snaps and had a tackle in the blowout. Armstead doesn’t have a sack since mid-November and continues to deal with a hand injury.
Injuries
Van Lanen injured his right knee late in the game and was having more tests. The Jaguars expect RG Patrick Mekari (back) to return this week after a two-week absence.
Key number
4-1 — The team’s record in home playoff games, with the loss coming against Tennessee in the 1999 AFC championship game. The Jaguars are 2-0 since, with wins against Buffalo (2017) and the Los Angeles Chargers (2022).
Next steps
The Jaguars need to find ways to run more effectively, especially in the playoffs. They are averaging 91.2 yards a game on the ground over their last six.
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