National Football League

NFL Hot Seat: 5 coaches who must win in Week 7

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

With the NFL season in full swing, these five head coaches desperately need a win in Week 7 if they want to keep their jobs after the 2016 season.

NFL head coaches have one of the hardest jobs in professional sports. When everything goes right, they’ll get some credit, but when things go poorly they become the target of an entire city’s rage and frustration.

It doesn’t seem fair to put so much pressure on head coaches this early into the season, but if these five guys can’t get a win on Sunday, then the hot seat is going to be cranked up and could lead to them being canned at the end of the 2016 season.

Oct 9, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson during warmups before the game against the New England Patriots at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Patriots won 33-13. Mandatory Credit: Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports

Hue Jackson

Cleveland Browns

It almost doesn’t feel fair to put Hue Jackson on this list. The Cleveland Browns are expected to lose every single game this season, and even though this is only the first season for Jackson as the team’s head coach, he’s going to have a hard time keeping his job if they go 0-16.

This week, the Browns have a relatively tough test against the Cincinnati Bengals. Then again, any game is a tough test when you’re the Browns and you’re starting Cody Kessler at quarterback.

This is an important game for Jackson, who was on the coaching staff in two different stints with the Bengals. He obviously has ties to head coach Marvin Lewis and would love an upset win over his old boss.

No one is expecting the Browns to make any noise this season, but if Jackson wants to get a chance to coach in 2017, he’s going to have to at least put up a couple of wins this year.

Oct 16, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell during the second quarter against the Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Caldwell

Detroit Lions

How long can a head coach keep his job if his team continues to be mediocre? That’s a tough question to answer, but for the Detroit Lions, they might need to think about a change sooner than later if they struggle again in 2016.

Head coach Jim Caldwell has done a respectable job as the head coach during his time with Detroit, going 11-5 in his first season with the Lions before going 7-9 last year and starting 2016 with a 3-3 record.

While 3-3 isn’t a bad start for a team that lost Calvin Johnson, the team needs to be able to win prove-it games. The Washington Redskins aren’t an elite franchise, but they’re a respectable enough one that the Lions need to beat to prove to the rest of the NFL that they’re for real this year.

If the Lions lose on Sunday, they’ll go into a tough four-game stretch that includes two games against the Minnesota Vikings with the possibility of coming out of that stretch with a 4-7 or 5-6 record. That kind of mediocrity isn’t something you want from your team in its third year under a head coach.

A loss to Washington on Sunday isn’t going to doom Caldwell, but this is definitely a game that management could look at by the end of the year to determine whether they want to move forward with their head coach.

Oct 13, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy looks on from the sideline during the first half of the game against the Denver Broncos at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Mike McCoy

San Diego Chargers

Somehow, some way, San Diego Chargers head coach Mike McCoy is finding a way to hold onto his job. A win over the Denver Broncos on Thursday Night Football was a big one for the Chargers and helped take some pressure off of McCoy.

Despite the win, McCoy shouldn’t be let off of the hook quite yet. Yes, the Chargers are dealing with a ton of injuries this season, but there are tons of teams around the league that are also playing without key contributors. Nowadays, injuries just aren’t a good enough of an excuse to keep your job.

McCoy isn’t out of the woods just yet. At 2-4, his next two games are against the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday and then the Broncos once again the day before Halloween. The schedule lightens up after that, but a 2-6 start will all but kill the Chargers chances at making any noise this year.

In his three and a half seasons as the Chargers head coach, McCoy has gone just 24-30 with one playoff appearance that ended in a loss to the Broncos in the divisional round. This is a franchise that had a lot of success before McCoy took over, and they are dying to return to their former glory.

The Falcons are playing like one of the best teams in the league, and although the Chargers aren’t expected to win, McCoy desperately needs to have his team show up if he wants to stay off of the hot seat.

Oct 9, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second half of their game at Heinz Field. The Steelers won, 31-13. Mandatory Credit: Jason Bridge-USA TODAY Sports

Todd Bowles

New York Jets

Congratulations, Todd Bowles. You just made one of the gutsiest moves in the NFL so far this season by naming Geno Smith your starting quarterback for this week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Sure, Ryan Fitzpatrick has played like a walking dumpster fire with 11 interceptions on the year, but how much better can Smith be? In his two seasons as the Jets starter in 2013 and 2014, Smith threw 34 interceptions in 30 games. He’s only thrown six passes in 2016 and already has another pick.

If this decision backfires, Bowles is as good as gone. The Jets are already an extremely disappointing 1-5 with their only win coming in a 35-31 shootout over the Buffalo Bills. Since then, they haven’t come within single digits of an opponent, most recently getting blown out in a 28-3 loss to the Cardinals.

After showing so much promise last year, the Jets are completely falling apart. They need to right the ship quickly, or else there’s almost no chance that Bowles will return to coach this team next season.

Oct 16, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano on the sideline during the second quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Chuck Pagano

Indianapolis Colts

Do you see that face? That’s the face of a head coach who is watching his entire world burn to the ground around him. The Indianapolis Colts are quickly becoming one of the biggest disgraces in the NFL, and he knows it.

But don’t tell Colts owner Jim Irsay that! He still has complete confidence in Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson and even claims that they’d be 6-0 if the ball rolled differently.

That’s about as delusional as you can get.

This is a team that is almost completely devoid of talent outside of Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton. Vontae Davis hasn’t looked like the elite corner we’ve seen flashes of and the next best player on that defense is a 7,000-year-old Robert Mathis.

Grigson deserves a lot of blame for building a roster like this. At the same time, Pagano isn’t doing his team any favors with his game management. Just this past week, the Colts were up 23-9 with three minutes remaining and completely fell apart before eventually losing in overtime.

It’s unfortunate to see the Colts falling apart because Pagano is such a likable guy. Unfortunately, that’s not going to save him if the Colts miss the playoff for the second straight season.