Two NFL teams sack coaches

By BARRY WILNER

Around the NFL, it is known as Black Monday, the day after the season ends, when coaches get fired.

Yet there are 12 teams thinking only about Super Sunday and how to get to the Super Bowl.

The playoffs begin next weekend with the wild-card round. Recent results indicate teams playing on the opening weekend of the postseason have a good chance of getting to the big game. It’s happened the last four seasons, with three of those clubs winning the championship.

“We’re in the same position as last year, where we had to win the last couple of games,” Ravens running back Willis McGahee said Monday. “Once we get in there, we know we can do damage, and now we’re in there.”

Baltimore will be in New England on Sunday, followed by defending NFC champion Arizona hosting Green Bay in a rematch of the season finale, won 33-7 by the wild-card Packers.

On Saturday, the playoffs begin with two more repeats of Week 17 contests: the wild-card New York Jets at Cincinnati, followed by Philadelphia at NFC East winner Dallas.

Those eight teams are searching for that special spark that can carry them into February.

In Washington and Buffalo, it’s coaching searches that have begun, although the Redskins probably won’t be looking for long. Mike Shanahan is an overwhelming favorite to get the job Jim Zorn officially lost on Monday.

Perry Fewell and his entire Bills coaching staff were told to start looking elsewhere for employment, too.

The same could happen in Oakland, where Tom Cable guided the Raiders to a 5-11 record that some considered overachieving. He will meet with owner Al Davis next week — and no one can predict what Davis will do.

The damage on the coaching front won’t be nearly as deep as last season, when 11 coaches who began 2008 did not make it into 2009. That doesn’t mean it’s any less painful for Zorn or Fewell.