Back in August, Las Vegas oddsmakers predicted that Jay Gruden would be the first head coach fired this season, which seemed like a safe bet.
"It definitely did, especially when you look at everything that transpired with the Washington Redskins," television analyst and former longtime Redskins player London Fletcher said by phone on Monday. "As a first-year head coach, Jay was under the spotlight. He made a lot of mistakes. It didn't look good."
But by making a big gamble, Gruden defied the odds.
The Redskins coach benched quarterback Robert Griffin III -- who is owner Daniel Snyder's guy -- in favor of Kirk Cousins and hit the jackpot: Cousins had a record-setting season while leading Washington to the NFC East title.