Believe it or not, but the NFL regular season is already at its midpoint, and that means a much more defined picture of which teams are truly contenders, which ones have some tinkering to do to Adam Larsson Jersey become one, and which should’ve never showed up in September.Most of the blame for those who fall in the latter category belongs to the head coach leading the respective team, and that’s simply a part of the job. Tasked with figuring out how to overcome all manner of adversity to remain in contention during the regular season, some are simply better at it than most. That could be due to experience in the league, or simply because they have the talent to build and lead a roster of 53 men to the Promised Land, while others don’t appear cut out for what comes with sitting in the big chair.And with that, let’s see who should be on red alert entering Week 9 and beyond — using the DEFCON military readine s scale to gauge the threat level to each coach’s job.12. Jason Garrett – As is usually the case with Garrett, he’s figured out a way to douse the blazing hot seat beneath him with ice water. The Cowboys were on a three-game slide in an all-important contract year for Garrett, but he galvanized the team in Week 7 and shredded the to ascend to a 4-3 record, both stopping the free fall and securing lone po se sion of the NFC East going into the second half of the season. Had Garrett lost to visiting Philly, calls for his head would’ve been loud enough to match the decibel level of a sonic boom, but his guile leads to more solid footing, and likely for the rest of the season. And by , along with , it’s clear Garrett is all-in on making sure he lands a contract extension in 2020. The last thing on the Cowboys mind now is sending him packing, and he can thank the Eagles for slicing the tires on that U-Haul.11. Mike Tomlin – Like Garrett, it seemed like the writing was on the wall as of late for Tomlin. After all, the Steelers were 1-4 to start the year and despite having signed a one-year extension in July that secures him through the 2021 season, the rumor mill surrounding Tomlin began to reach fever pitch. He’s since rattled off two consecutive wins to move to 3-4 on the season, and that’s a much more respectable look when considering he’s without , leaving Tomlin to hope can save the day. To Tomlin’s credit, the victory in Week 8 may have been over the winle s , but Miami capitalized on Rudolph’s mistakes early and jumped out to a 14-0 lead — threatening to upset Pittsburgh and sending Tomlin’s name deeper into hot seat headlines.Instead, Tomlin rallied the troops and dropped 27 unanswered points on the Dolphins to avoid being the laughingstock of the entire , and getting the Steelers to within Patrick Maroon Jersey a game of .500 in the proce s. They’re not far behind the first-place , whom they barely lost to in overtime in Week 5, and the fact there’s still time and a chance to steal the AFC North is why Tomlin is safe from harm. 10. Kliff Kingsbury – Count Kingsbury in as a guy who’s turned his fortunes around in 2019, and the level of difficulty for him has been sky-high when considering he’s a first-time NFL coach leading a Cardinals team that has a rookie quarterback in , and no true wide receiver threat outside of the timele s wonder that is . The hype surrounding what Kingsbury would bring Jari Kurri Jersey to the league offensively hit a patch of ice early and continues to struggle freeing itself, with the Cardinals ranking 20th in overall yardage per game (342.9) and 22nd in points scored weekly (21.2). Following an opening day tie and three lo ses that followed, it looked like Arizona made a mistake by placing their bet on Kingsbury.While the jury is still out on the decision, things have improved in the desert with the Cardinals having won three of their last four games. That helps Kingsbury’s security in a league that isn’t nearly as forgiving for first-year coaches as it is more experienced ones — see Garrett, for example — but his mettle and talent will truly be tested when he battles the undefeated twice in the next three games. , or at least Kingsbury better hope it does.9. Matt Nagy – This isn’t supposed to be happening in Chicago in 2019, but here we are discu sing the reality of Nagy’s poor decision-making that’s put the Bears in a problematic spot going forward. Easily capable of being the most dominant defense in the NFL, as it was a season ago, the Bears can’t get out of their own way — mostly due to the ineptitude of the offense. Look no further than the inconsistent and underwhelming play of former second-overall pick Mitch Trubisky, who has a 3-3 record in the six games he’s played this season, while having thrown for only 1,092 yards and five touchdowns to three interceptions. Granted, it wasn’t Nagy who opted to draft Trubisky — seeing as the former arrived one year after the latter — but his insistence on attaching his fate to the struggling quarterback has both threatened the Bears season and his job going forward. There was no move made to acquire help at the position ahead of the trade deadline (), leaving them to hope Trubisky can find a way to stack wins in an unforgiving second half schedule. If things get worse in Chicago, Nagy could find himself in big trouble soon.8. Brian Flores – DolphinsOn Benoit Pouliot Jersey one note, it appears the Dolphins are actually trying to avoid going 0-16 in Flores’ first year as NFL head coach. Then again, on yet another, they could simply be good at trying to appear they’re trying when really they aren’t. In their 27-14 lo s to the Steelers, they flew out of the gate like a team determined to shed the rumors of them tanking, but then apparently remembered that’s exactly what they’re actually doing, and mailed it in the rest of the way to land at 0-7 on the season. In the meantime, they’ve traded away key pieces like — who helped their efforts to lose in Week 8 — and Kenyan Drake, and have now placed All-Pro cornerback on injured reserve with a knee injury that’s reportedly not extreme.If Flores’ plan is to torpedo the season with the hopes of landing a windfall of premium draft picks to rebuild the Dolphins in his own image, he’s right on schedule. The problem is draft picks don’t always pan out, and rarely do they become superstars at the NFL level, which threatens Flores’ plan. He’s likely safe for 2019, a suming the front office in Miami is in on the joke, but he’s playing a risky game that could blow up in his face in the future — as the torpedo changes course and aims itself at the guy who launched it. 7. Vic Fangio – Woof…Things have gone from promising before the season, to worrisome at Ryan Smyth Jersey the outset, to an absolute tailspin with only eight regular season games left to play. Fangio was brought in this year to replace Vance Joseph, who himself was fired after a short stint as head coach, and the hiring came attached to a decision by John Elway to trade for ; and that was supposed to finally resolve the ongoing uncertainty at quarterback while pro…