Eight NFL head coaches fighting for their jobs

Poor planning, poor decisions and poor overall play by their respective teams have some high-profile NFL head coaches on the proverbial hot seat.

Some of these men have been at the same job for a long time, while some are relatively new still. But all of them are failing their teams and therefore should be fighting for their jobs the rest of the season.

These are the coaches who are either on the precipice of losing their jobs, should be fired or should have been fired a while ago.

John Fox, Chicago Bears 

John Elway and the Denver Broncos saw Fox as expendable and upgraded to Gary Kubiak, who won a Super Bowl in his first year with pretty much the same group of guys.

The Bears, needing someone to come in and stabilize the franchise after a failed experiment with Marc Trestman, happily hired the grizzled veteran.

Now a year-plus into this excursion, it’s clear the Bears are going nowhere fast. Partly due to a continued trend of failed high draft picks and partly due to a defense that just has no teeth, the Bears finished last in the NFC North with just six wins last year and have just one victory in 2016.

Jay Cutler is clearly already gone. The Bears are content with Brian Hoyer, who has actually been magnificent thus far. But he’s nothing more than a stopgap at the quarterback position.

In order for Chicago to truly make any strides in a positive direction, new blood is needed at the top of the food chain. Fox isn’t a bad coach. But he’s not the guy to change the fortunes of this once-great franchise.

Gus Bradley, Jacksonville Jaguars 

We’ve covered in detail how Bradley has failed to elevate the Jaguars since he joined the franchise back in 2013 (read more about that here).

In short, Jacksonville has not only failed to become better under Bradley but has actually gotten worse. More troubling still is the fact that the defense remains a big issue, despite a heavy financial commitment to bring in free agents and the team’s efforts in the draft.

Bradley, being a defensive-minded head coach, should have made a positive impact. That has not happened.

Offensively, it’s troubling that quarterback Blake Bortles has taken a significant step backwards this year. He has regressed badly and needs help in the worst possible way. That means bringing in a highly-regarded offensive-minded head coach, who could then bring in a defensive coordinator to fix what Bradley could not.

Mike McCoy, San Diego Chargers 

Don’t let the Chargers’ Thursday night win over the Denver Broncos fool you. Despite the fact that McCoy’s players are still fighting hard for him, beating Denver (on a short week that also included hitting the road without head coach Gary Kubiak) isn’t a sign this franchise is ready to turn things around.

So far this year, the Chargers have won two games — one against the Jags at home and the one on Thursday night against the Broncos.

In the other four games, San Diego has found ways to lose. This isn’t a new trend, either. Dating back to last year, the Chargers have lost 14 one-score games. Consistently, McCoy’s decision making gets more conservative (and quite frankly, just worse) as games tighten up.

Since he took over for Norv Turner in 2013, the Chargers have consistently gotten worse. From making the playoffs in 2013 to barely missing them in 2014 to falling all the way down to 4-12 last year to now, things are not improving for San Diego.

At best, this team might work its way back to .500. But that seems unlikely.

There was a report (which general manager Tom Telesco did not deny) that McCoy’s job was on the line heading into Week 5. It would be a shame if a win over the Broncos on Thursday night is what saved it.

Chuck Pagano, Indianapolis Colts 

How bad do things need to get for the Colts before owner Jim Irsay comes to grips with the reality that general manager Ryan Grigson and head coach Pagano are the two biggest reasons his team stinks?

Now 2-4, in last place in the AFC South behind the Jags after having lost to both the Jags and the Houston Texans, Indy is a dumpster fire. Like the Chargers, who haven’t a single impressive win, the Colts have beaten San Diego and Chicago — the weak beating up on the weak.

And every time you think maybe they might actually start stomping out the flames, the Colts do something like we saw on Sunday night.

Up by 14 points against AFC South rival Houston, Indy’s defense had Brock Osweiler (who is not good) on the ropes and should have issued the knockout blow. Instead, the Colts’ defense folded like a broken lawn chair, letting Osweiler engineer a 17-0 run to win in overtime.

The only good thing that the Colts have done right since Pagano and Grigson arrived in 2012 was draft Andrew Luck. And they’re in the process of ruining one of the most-talented young quarterbacks that has entered the league since Peyton Manning.

Grigson has failed to stock the roster, but Pagano is just as culpable. He has failed to develop young players. They both need to go, like yesterday.

Todd Bowles, New York Jets 

When it was clear to the Jets’ brass that Rex Ryan needed to leave, the franchise brought in one of the hottest defensive minds in football to continue building its star-studded defense.

Bowles was that guy. As the defensive coordinator for the Arizona Cardinals in 2013-14, his defense ranked No. 7 and No. 5 in the NFL in points allowed. An aggressive play caller, he was known for creating turnover chances and extra opportunities for the offense.

And in his first year, it appeared Bowles had the Jets on the right track. They won 10 games and barely missed the playoffs.

Then the whole Ryan Fitzpatrick contract fiasco happened. He missed the entire offseason program and showed up with a deal right as training camp began. Not surprisingly, the offense has struggled without the chemistry those offseason workouts help develop.

But offensive struggles aside, the Jets have defensive personnel — especially up front — that should lead to at least a .500 ball club. That obviously has not happened. Not only has New York failed to dominate on defense, it has been downright inept at defending the pass.

It would be unfair to say Bowles deserves to lose his job at this point, even with a record of 1-5. But it things don’t get straightened out soon, it might be time to go there.

Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals

Bengals owner Mike Brown probably will not fire Lewis, even if the Bengals continue to struggle this year. But he should strongly consider it if he isn’t already.

It’s amazing Brown has stuck with Lewis this long, who had his job longer than anyone in the NFL besides Bill Belichick.

This franchise has been consistently just good enough to make the playoffs since 2009, barring the 2010 season. Six out of seven years since then, the Bengals have been ousted in one game, more often than not in blowout fashion.

And unlike those winning seasons, 2016 is looking like it could turn into another 2010, when the Bengals won just four games.

The offense is struggling to put points on the board, and despite a dynamic front four, the defense has been torched. As such, through six games the Bengals have a minus-36 point differential.

When the same thing keeps happening and changes are not made, it’s insane to think the outcome will somehow change in the future.

Making things worse the past couple of years is the fact that Lewis lost key offensive coaches in offensive coordinators Jay Gruden and Hue Jackson. He also lost defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer, who is working his magic in the land of a 10,000 lakes.

While Lewis has done a bang-up job of providing his assistants with head-coaching opportunities, we’re pretty sure the goal in Cincinnati isn’t to become a head coaching farm.

Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers

Let’s be clear, at this point McCarthy’s seat is merely warm. There is no immediate threat of losing his job.

But for years, the Packers have won games, made the playoffs and even won a Super Bowl, despite a disturbing trend of in-game decisions by McCarthy, who has been gifted with coaching two of the NFL’s legendary passers — Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers.

Now the Packers’ offense is falling apart at the seams. Rodgers is struggling, completing barely 60 percent of his passes and going for just 6.5 yards per attempt — good for No. 27 in the NFL.

On top of the offensive issues that are prevalent right now McCarthy continues to make mind-boggling decisions that are costing his team wins.

Take Sunday’s game at Lambeau, for example. Back as the team’s play-caller this year after relegating those duties to focus more on the big picture for most of the 2015 season, he still seems to have no feel for what to do in key situations.

McCarthy also called timeouts during Dallas’ 97-yard drive that ended with a touchdown right before halftime. The funny thing about that? The Dallas Cowboys were planning to run the clock out, ESPN’s Todd Archer reports. But after McCarthy used two timeouts after Ezekiel Elliott runs, they decided, “what the heck, let’s go for points!”

“We felt like we needed to make a first down on that third down, and when you make a big play on third down that says, ‘OK, let’s go get some points,’” coach Jason Garrett said.

Time management has long been an issue McCarthy fails to grasp with both hands. It was always tolerated because the team continues to win.

But now, after being pummeled at home by the Cowboys, it’s clear McCarthy needs to take extra measures to ensure his job security and a winning campaign for his team.

Ron Rivera, Carolina Panthers 

How does a head coach go from being mere plays away from winning a Super Bowl to landing on a list of coaches fighting to keep their jobs?

Well, to answer that question, here’s a visual picture for you: Rivera’s team, which was at the top of a mountain before being defeated by the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, is now hurtling down that mountain at breakneck speed towards a hidden chasm as if it had been chucked by Zeus in a fit of rage.

After being humiliated by the New Orleans Saints, the Panthers fell to 1-5 on the season. They lost just one game last year in a season in which every ball seemed to bounce their way.

Now, with nothing going their way and their only win coming against the San Francisco 49ers at home, it doesn’t exactly feel like things will get better any time soon.

Now, we’re not suggesting that Rivera is going to be fired any time soon. But we are saying that the coach needs to figure out a way to get his team back on track to finish with a respectable record to ensure that doesn’t become an option at the end of the season.

After all, the Panthers have experienced more losing seasons than winning ones during Rivera’s tenure. If they end up finishing as one of the bottom 10 teams in the league and miss the playoffs, it might be time to look elsewhere for leadership.