NFL Hot Seat: 5 Coaches who must win in Week 12

As the NFL regular season starts to wind down, these five head coaches need a win in Week 12 to avoid the hot seat.

It has been a tough season for a lot of reputable NFL franchises, and that means that there are a handful of head coaches who are at risk of losing their jobs at the end of the year.

Teams like the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals have had some disappointing seasons so far. However, these five head coaches desperately need to get a win in Week 12 if they want to still be with their respective employers for the 2017 season.

I still feel like it’s not exactly fair to put a head coach who took his team to the Super Bowl a year ago on the hot seat. However, the NFL is a “what have you done for me lately?” league, and the final few weeks of the regular season could have a major impact on Ron Rivera’s future with the Carolina Panthers.

The Panthers barely squeaked by the New Orleans Saints with a 23-20 win last week on Thursday Night Football, but they are still just 4-6 on the year. The playoffs are still a possibility for this team, but with three of their next four games against the Raiders, Seahawks and Redskins, it’s not going to be an easy path.

This week’s game against the Raiders is almost a must-win. Oakland is firing on all cylinders thanks to Derek Carr’s Pro Bowl-caliber season, and the Panthers have had few answers for good quarterback play thanks to a secondary that’s without Josh Norman.

A loss this weekend could carry over for the rest of the year, and if the Panthers wind up missing the playoffs, Rivera is going to at least have to have a tough talk with the front office and ownership. He probably won’t be fired, but he’ll be put under the microscope in 2017.