3 NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 12

3 NFL coaches on the hot seat after Week 12: Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have been hot and cold with Kliff Kingsbury since hiring him in 2019. They have had strong starts, and tripped over themselves when trying to cross the finish line. The Cardinals were able to make the playoffs for the first time under Kingsbury last season, albeit after losing four of their final six games since returning from their bye week. The Cardinals were then blown out by the eventual Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams in the first-round.

Despite their early exit, the Cardinals rewarded Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim with contract extensions that carried through the 2027 season. Entering Week 12, they were 4-7 on the season. They then added another L to their record on Sunday evening.

The Cardinals actually carried a 24-17 lead over the Los Angeles Chargers with under two minutes remaining in regulation. However, they punted the ball back to the Chargers that went for just 38-yards. Arizona surrendered a one-yard touchdown reception to running back Austin Ekeler with 15 seconds remaining. Instead of going for the tie, Chargers head coach Brandon Staley went for the two point conversion. The Chargers were successful after a pass from quarterback Justin Herbert to tight end Gerald Everett to give them a late 25-24 lead. Arizona couldn’t even gain yardage on their final two plays, both of which were incomplete passes by quarterback Kyler Murray.

A playoff berth for Arizona is looking less and less likely by the week. Kingsbury needs to win out just to have a record over .500. Considering there’s talk of Sean Payton being interested in coming out of retirement to coach the Cardinals, Kingsbury needs to have a great end of the season to sell that he can lead the team to success.

That may be a hard sell for the Cardinals fanbase, even if they win all of their remaining five games.