One game doesn't define a season, but a couple of them might, and five weeks into the 2022 NFL campaign, a few head coaches are struggling to elevate their respective teams. Much like quarterbacks, coaches often get too much credit when they win and too much criticism when they don't. At the end of the day, however, a staff is built -- or torn down -- based on results.
With that in mind, here's our ranking of coaches currently on the hot seat:
Happy Trails: Already dismissed
Matt Rhule, Panthers (1-4): It was inevitable in Carolina, where the former Temple and Baylor coach swung and missed on every quarterback gamble he took, resulting in an 11-37 record despite a relatively promising defense.
Hot seat rankings
11. Mike Tomlin (Steelers)
Season: 16th | Record: 1-4 | Total Record: 155-89-2 (8-9 playoffs)
His remarkably steady track record ensures he'll survive this first season post-Ben Roethlisberger, but he's never had to navigate such a youth- and injury-ridden roster before. With each passing week, Pittsburgh looks more and more like a team checking out until 2023, when new QB Kenny Pickett will hopefully have a reliable supporting cast.
10. Brandon Staley (Chargers)
Season: 2nd | Record: 3-2 | Total Record: 12-10
As long as Justin Herbert is under center, Los Angeles will be too competitive to justify dumping its 39-year-old whizkid. But he's now been the biggest question on a would-be contender for some time. The numbers may back up his ceaseless aggression as a play-caller, but common sense does not always agree.
9. Zac Taylor (Bengals)
Season: 4th | Record: 2-3 | Total Record: 18-35-1 (3-1 playoffs)
As the shepherd of their magical 2021 Super Bowl bid, he's automatically got a long leash. But Taylor's predictable play-calling has increasingly hurt Joe Burrow and the Bengals' elite weapons more than it's helped. Lest we forget that this man went a combined 6-25-1 before Joe Cool's MVP-caliber emergence last year.
8. Dennis Allen (Saints)
Season: 1st | Record: 2-3 | Total Record: 2-3
New Orleans operated this offseason as if it was still a playoff-caliber team, which makes the Allen evaluation difficult: how was he ever expected to deliver with the injury- and turnover-prone Jameis Winston returning at QB? From the get-go, he's felt like something of a stopgap hire -- respected enough internally to get a full year on the job, but easily expendable if a bigger-name Sean Payton successor comes around.
7. Nathaniel Hackett (Broncos)
Season: 1st | Record: 2-3 | Total Record: 2-3
He may be the butt of all jokes related to in-game decision-making, and/or his inability thus far to call a competent offense with Russell Wilson under center. And if Russ continues on a Tim Tebow-esque trend of spirited but erratic production, perhaps the new ownership group will make a quick change. But after such an investment in this QB-coach pairing, he's probably good for at least a full season at the helm.
6. Kliff Kingsbury (Cardinals)
Season: 4th | Record: 2-3 | Total Record: 28-30-1 (0-1 playoffs)
Is it Kyler Murray, or is it Kliff? The fact the question is still being asked, four years into their pairing, is proof of the problem. Both men just got lucrative extensions in Arizona, but Kingsbury's name is on the entire team, which is on pace to miss the postseason for the third time in his four years -- with a scattershot offense, no less.
5. Dan Campbell (Lions)
Season: 2nd | Record: 1-4 | Total Record: 4-17-1
How much goodwill can locker-room energy buy you? Campbell feels invincible as a Detroit spokesman thanks to consistent investment from his players, and the offense has undoubtedly improved this year. But at some point, you just need to win. Best-case scenario, he follows a Zac Taylor track in which the losses pile up until a true franchise signal-caller shows up to help.
4. Frank Reich (Colts)
Season: 5th | Record: 2-2-1 | Total Record: 39-30-1 (1-2 playoffs)
His even-keeled leadership has arguably been the one constant during the Colts' chaotic last half-decade. General manager Chris Ballard probably deserves more blame for the construction of Indy's lineup, which saddled an aging, declining QB with a declining O-line and virtually barren receiving corps. But owner Jim Irsay watched as Reich vouched for -- and failed to revive -- Carson Wentz prior to the Matt Ryan experiment, and he's still struggling to stay ahead of a wide-open AFC South.
3. Lovie Smith (Texans)
Season: 1st | Record: 1-3-1 | Total Record: 1-3-1
Reich may be more likely for an in-season dismissal because of the Colts' downward trend, but Smith, like David Culley before him, feels like a virtual lock to be one-and-done. Houston has shown fight in every game this year, but team brass would almost assuredly prefer an ascending offensive mind, not an aging defensive one, for the long haul. Put it this way: if/when it's time to reset at QB, they figure to turn elsewhere.
2. Josh McDaniels (Raiders)
Season: 1st | Record: 1-3 | Total Record: 1-3
It's not all his fault he's been saddled with a shoddy offensive line, but owner Mark Davis was eyeing even bigger names before hiring McDaniels for his second try as a head man. Wins are tough to come by in the AFC West, and the ex-Patriots assistant has failed to oversee even an efficient unit on his preferred side of the ball.
1. Ron Rivera (Commanders)
Season: 3rd | Record: 1-4 | Total Record: 15-23 (0-1 playoffs)
Washington feels indebted to Rivera for his role in turning around the broader team culture, but the results on the field have been consistently lackluster. The once-heralded defensive mind last led a winning record in 2017 with the Panthers, and the units he's entrusted to Jack Del Rio the last two years have been porous. More than that, he's failed, like Rhule, to identify an adequate short- or long-term answer at QB. He may be beloved as a man, but Rivera's days as a coach look numbered.
