NFL Power Rankings: Ranking head coaches on the hot seat after Week 14

We just made it past Black Friday, but Black Monday is looming in the NFL as well. The playoff chase is heating up, but for a lot of head coaches around the league, so is the hot seat. And for some coaches, the seat is so hot they can barely sit down after Week 14.

In our latest weekly NFL Power Rankings, we're going to take a look at the head coaches around the NFL after Week 14 who are likely in the worst shape when it comes to keeping their jobs beyond this season. For some of these coaches, the writing is probably already on the wall and plans are already being made behind the scenes.

For some of these coaches, their jobs going forward might revolve around whether or not their teams can actually make a push to the playoffs in the near future. Let's rank the head coaches we believe to be on the proverbial hot seat after Week 14.

NFL Power Rankings: Zac Taylor's seat heating up; Doug Pederson as good as gone

5. Zac Taylor, Bengals

Disappointment is really the theme of the last couple of seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals. Obviously, Zac Taylor bought himself some time when his team quickly ascended from picking 1st overall in 2020 (Joe Burrow) to making the Super Bowl by the end of the 2021-22 season. It was a rapid ascent thanks to the development of Burrow and the ability to draft Ja'Marr Chase in 2021.

But has it ever felt like Zac Taylor was anything but along for the ride? With all due respect to Taylor as a head coach and offensive mind, it feels like this Bengals team might need a change at the top. And even after a win on Monday night, I think we could see them make a major change with how horrible this season has been overall.

4. Mike McCarthy, Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have been nothing if not loyal to Mike McCarthy through the years. And McCarthy has brought them plenty of regular season success. With that being said, the Cowboys' ineptitude in the playoffs has had fans in Dallas calling for McCarthy to be fired for years at this point.

McCarthy's contract is up after this year, so there won't be anything unceremonious or embarrassing about the Cowboys' ultimate decision, but can you imagine extending McCarthy after this season? There's only so much you can control when it comes to injuries, and those aren't McCarthy's fault, but the way this team was playing pre-Dak Prescott injury is evidence enough that there was a major falloff.

3. Antonio Pierce, Raiders

Anytime a team is going to make a major change at the quarterback position, you can't help but wonder if they might just make wholesale changes to the coaching staff as well. If you're the Raiders, you're in a great position to be able to make a major change in the head coach spot this offseason with the excuse of needing to find a long-term solution at QB.

Say you keep Pierce again in 2025, you pick a quarterback, and things go terrible. All of a sudden, you're resetting at head coach in 2026 and possibly compromising the best fit at head coach for someone to work with the QB you drafted. You need to have the head coach on board with the long-term QB plan, so this is the perfect offseason for the Raiders to make that move.

2. Brian Daboll, Giants

If the New York Giants continue to roll with the combination of Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll in the general manager/head coach roles respectively, then we will know definitively that it was upper management that pushed for Daniel Jones to be re-signed when he was. The Giants' decision to cut Jones this year put this team firmly in the offseason QB carousel and frankly, it was overdue.

If it was Schoen and Daboll who pushed for Jones, then these guys are going to get canned. Sticking with Jones set this team back. Remember, the Giants were in the playoffs just a couple of years ago. They overachieved and proved they could win games with the roster they had, but the decision to keep Daniel Jones around was a fireable offense. And if it came from the top, then Daboll is going to get a shot to pick the guy he wants, not the guy he inherited.

1. Doug Pederson, Jaguars

The writing is really just on the wall with this one. The Jaguars appeared to be on the right trajectory as of 2022 when Pederson had this young roster in the playoffs and competing in Kansas City with the Chiefs. They started the 2023 season hot as well but the collapse in the middle of the 2023 season followed by the utter disaster that has been 2024?

That's going to cost Doug Pederson his job. Trevor Lawrence's regression is probably the most staggering thing out of everything with the way the Jaguars have performed the last two seasons. We're going to get some fresh eyes in Jacksonville again this offseason, and the attractiveness of the job will be based on what candidate really think of Lawrence.