We shouldn't expect anything less from the NFL, but to say it's been a wild three weeks to open the season would be putting it mildly.
The drama has been intense, and it's only going to keep intensifying as the season goes along.
We learned a lot in Week 3, and not only in isolation, but we're learning a lot through the first three weeks of the season. Things are obviously going to continue changing and evolving as the season goes along, but after the month of September, we need a little stock report on some head coaches around the league.
Which coaches are making the right kind of waves, and which coaches are quickly wearing out their welcome?
NFL head coach stock report, Week 4: Nick Sirianni stock down, Klint Kubiak stock up
Nick Sirianni, Eagles -- Stock DOWN
Yes, the Philadelphia Eagles are 2-1 to start the season, but it's fair to say it's a rather unimpressive 2-1 start to the season. The Eagles won in Week 1 with just 10 first downs as a team. They have clearly struggled offensively in the first few weeks of the season, and everything boiled over on Monday night against the Bears.
If Jalen Hurts isn't the problem (he's definitely part of it), we have to trace the Eagles' struggles back to the source, and it starts with the head coach and GM.
Sometimes there are tangible ways you can quantify that a head coach has worn out his welcome, and then there are intangible ways you can quantify it.
Sirianni let his emotions get the better of him on a play in which Hurts was injured on Monday night. Tangible. The Eagles lost to a third-string QB on Monday night. Tangible.
And even beyond the tangible things you can point to, there is just an intangible feeling that Sirianni may have worn out his welcome, or that things are trending in that direction. The Eagles won a Super Bowl in 2024, but have not looked even remotely like the same team in the two years since then.
Was Sirianni more responsible for that championship run, or has his success in Philly been more due to his coordinators?
Klint Kubiak, Raiders -- Stock UP
The 3-0 Las Vegas Raiders have been one of the best stories in the entire NFL this year.
Head coach Klint Kubiak is pushing all the right buttons, and his team is playing some seriously inspired football. And there are times when you can tell that a team with a new head coach has some type of adrenaline carrying them, or maybe they're getting "lucky" on a little winning streak to start the season.
This does not feel like that.
This feels like the Raiders might have legitimately taken four or five steps forward as a team this offseason, when we were all assuming they would take a couple of baby steps. Obviously, the roster is imperfect (what NFL roster isn't), but the Raiders have simultaneously been playing above their means and executing like a really good team.
Essentially, that is just a long-winded way of saying that Klint Kubiak is proving early on to be a very good head coach.
We're going to get to see what he's really made of in Week 4 as the Raiders take on the Chiefs.
3. Ben Johnson, Bears -- Stock UP
At this point, I'm not sure Ben Johnson's stock could even possibly be higher as a head coach.
We've not only seen the incredible value he's brought to the Chicago Bears, but we've also seen how drastically different the Detroit Lions are in his absence.
On Monday night, Johnson's Chicago Bears absolutely smacked around the Philadelphia Eagles, and they did it with Case Keenum at the quarterback position. With all due respect to Keenum, that is a situation that should have put the Eagles at a major advantage, even playing on the road.
Johnson put together an incredible game plan, and the Bears bounced back after their tough loss in Week 2 against the Vikings, which was obviously impacted by the weather but also by the Caleb Williams injury.
Even if head coaches are not actually on the field making plays, it's abundantly clear that Ben Johnson is one of the biggest advantages in the NFL right now.
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