2026 NFL hot seat: Coaches and quarterbacks under the most pressure after Week 4

Week 4 of the 2026 NFL season is nearly in the books, and my goodness things are looking rough for quite a few teams. 

I’m not in the business of saying who should or shouldn’t be fired or benched, but I can look at results across the league and say, “Wow, this team needs more from this player or coach.” 

Which NFL coaches and quarterbacks are under the most pressure after Week 4?

I think based on what we’ve seen so far through four weeks, the following coaches and players are under a ton of pressure over their final 13 games.

DeMeco Ryans

The Texans shook off an 0-3 start to the 2025 season to finish 12-5 and reach the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Ryans and co. will need to be even better down the stretch in 2026.

Houston is 0-4. The team’s offense was bad in Weeks 2 and 3 with Nico Collins out. In the two games with Collins, the Texans’ offense was great – 30.5 points per game – but the defense, which was No. 2 in scoring defense last season, gave up 70 points. Ouch. 

It’s good that CJ Stroud and Collins have thrived together. It’s too bad Collins had to miss two games with a hamstring injury. It’s also too bad that the Texans appear to have no rhythm offensively with Collins off the field, and the run game continues to be an issue as David Montgomery is averaging 2.7 yards per carry. 

Ryans is a great head coach who has overachieved in Houston thus far. In Year 4, things appear to have taken a step back. This is a situation where the Texans won’t be worrying about Ryans as the team’s leader moving forward, but there are major issues with this year’s squad. Just one team in NFL history has made the postseason after an 0-4 start. Houston has winnable games moving forward, but it’s now or never for this year’s Texans squad. 

Todd Bowles

The Buccaneers had an epic collapse in 2025. They started 6-2 but wound up 8-9 and missed the playoffs in the NFL’s weakest division. There was a strong case for Tampa being the best team in the NFC South this year given it was the most veteran squad. Instead, the Buccaneers are 0-4, and Todd Bowles’ seat is getting hot. 

You could have argued Bowles had the hottest seat of any coach entering 2026, but this start hasn’t helped. The team had five turnovers in a Week 1 loss to Cincy, lost a close one to Cleveland in Week 2 and then had no answers offensively in Week 3. Losing to Green Bay in Week 4 was expected given Baker Mayfield was out, and it looks like Mayfield may not return until November. 

Simply put, this isn’t a very good Tampa Bay team. This is now Year 5, and the team only appears to be getting older and worse. Bowles needs this team to show more signs of life moving forward. That’s tough with Mayfield out, but that’s the truth. If the Bucs can get a few wins before Mayfield returns, this is a manageable enough division where Tampa Bay could make a late-season surge and get into the postseason. But things are fading fast in Tampa, and Bowles can’t be feeling comfortable right now. 

Nick Sirianni and Jalen Hurts

We’re putting both Sirianni and Hurts here as both are more than worthy of criticism. The Eagles are 2-2 after blowing a winnable game to the Rams in Week 4. That’s two straight losses, the first of which was by 20 points to a Bears team on their third quarterback. Ouch.

It feels like Sirianni is always mentioned in hot seat conversations despite just winning a Super Bowl in 2024. But Philly is a notoriously tough place to coach and play, and a flop year could result in major changes for the Eagles. 

Hurts completed 44.4% of his passes on Sunday. He’s now completing 59.6% for the year and has 713 yards, seven touchdowns and three picks. Hurts isn’t connecting on deep throws like he used to, the offense continues to look out of sorts – yes, there are injuries of note to Saquon Barkley and DeVonta Smith – and Hurts just does not look like the same guy he was from 2022-24. 

Hurts has two years left on his deal, so this is an important time for him when it comes to any sort of extension talks that may or may not be on the table. I think Hurts will be safe as far as heading into 2027 as Philly’s QB1, but when it comes to 2026, being 2-2 right now just isn’t good enough. The Eagles are the most talented team in the NFC East, and if Hurts plays like he has the rest of the year, there are going to be some really tough conversations once the season wraps up. 

Jim Harbaugh, Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert

Few teams have disappointed more than the Chargers. This is another playoff team from a year ago that’s 0-4. The addition of Mike McDaniel as offensive coordinator had people buzzing, but the offense has really been lackluster overall to begin the year. 

Herbert led the Chargers to 23 points against Seattle in Week 4, but he had two interceptions and lost a fumble. Herbert has four touchdowns to six interceptions this year. Herbert gets a lot of flack from NFL fans given his lack of accomplishments compared to his talent level, and he’s not playing up to his caliber at all this year. The Chargers have to feel comfortable with Herbert moving forward, but he needs to play better the rest of the way. 

McDaniel is an easy target for criticism as his offense has really underwhelmed this year. The run game has been odd, the mixing and matching of running backs hasn’t worked and the offense desperately needs more playmakers to emerge in the passing game. 

Harbaugh has never had a losing season as an NFL head coach, but he’s well on his way to ending that streak in 2026. His Chargers are 0-4 and have a brutal stretch of games upcoming. There’s a real chance that L.A. is 0-9 to begin the year. 

If the season continues as expected, something will have to change. My guess is the offensive coaching staff would be the first domino to fall there. I think the Chargers are more than OK with the Herbert-Harbaugh marriage heading into 2027 and beyond, and an awful lot of teams would love one or both of them on their squad. But if this is just a complete flop of a year in 2026, then Harbaugh and Herbert will enter 2027 in the crosshairs. 

Matt LaFleur

The Packers are 2-2, but they’re not a very good 2-2 team. 

The lack of a run game is the most noticeable thing here. Not having Josh Jacobs obviously impacts that, but the offensive line is not very good, and the team’s season-high in rushing yards was 86 in Week 4.

Speaking of Week 4, the Packers barely beat the Bucs 17-14. Tampa Bay, as noted earlier, is without Mayfield, so undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels had to start. Green Bay’s defense was good here, but the offense, which is LaFleur’s baby, had another rough go. 

Jordan Love has had to throw it a lot this year due to the lack of a rushing attack, and that has overexposed him. With LaFleur being both the head coach and offensive play caller, it’s up to him to really get things right. 

I was fading the Packers heading into 2026, but I didn’t think the offense would look this bad overall. LaFleur has been a very good head coach since taking over in 2019, but the team has been a bit stagnant in recent years. I think a lot of other teams would welcome LaFleur as their head coach if he came available, and I don’t think we’re quite at “is LaFleur coaching for his job?” types of talks just yet. But until the offense starts to show more signs of life, LaFleur’s status will be more and more interesting to watch.

This is another one where, barring a complete collapse, I think LaFleur is coaching not to keep his job, but to avoid any sort of “hot seat” talks until next year at the earliest. 

Jacoby Brissett

Onto the quarterbacks. 

Brissett and the Cardinals are 1-3. It’s not really his fault they’re 1-3. The veteran quarterback has played well enough, but he’s coming off a three-pick game in a Week 4 loss to the Giants, including a game-ending pick-6 when the Cards were in the red zone with a chance to take the lead. Overall, Brissett has a 67.8% completion rate, six touchdown passes and four interceptions. The Cardinals have given up 31+ each of the last three weeks, so there’s only so much Brissett can do. 

But this is a young Arizona team that has a lot of firepower on offense. Jeremiyah Love was the No. 3 overall pick. Tyler Allgeier is a very good back. Michael Wilson had over 1,000 yards last year. Trey McBride is the NFL’s best receiving tight end. It’s also too early to give up on Marvin Harrison Jr. 

That’s a good place to start. The defense is a mess, but if the Cardinals are picking early in April, all eyes will be on the quarterbacks. 

The other wrinkle is the Cards drafted former Miami and Georgia QB Carson Beck in the third round. Even if Brissett continues to be solid as the team loses, wouldn’t it stand to reason that the Cardinals see what they have with Beck ahead of an NFL Draft that has a lot of potential first-round picks at quarterback? 

I think Brissett will lose his job at some point, even if it’s not necessarily his fault. But if he can play well and lead the Cardinals to a few more wins than expected, he may extend the leash. 

Cam Ward

We’re in Year 2 of the Cam Ward era in Tennessee, and it continues to be a rough showing. 

Ward, the No. 1 pick in last year’s NFL Draft, has three touchdown passes to two picks this year and has seen his completion rate increase by over 3% from last year. But the Titans are 0-4, and the offense feels very limited with Ward under center. 

While it may seem like a stretch to consider Ward’s future in just his second season, there are a few important factors to note. First, the 2027 NFL Draft is expected to be deep at quarterback. Second, new head coach Robert Saleh and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll were not with the Titans when they drafted Ward. And third, Ward is among the worst qualified quarterbacks in the league for the second year in a row. 

Now, the Titans’ GM, Mike Borgonzi, did draft Ward, so he has some internal backs in that building, no doubt. But how Ward plays the rest of the year will be very, very important to watch. It’s a results-driven league, and quarterbacks don’t get as much time to develop as they likely should. The Titans moving on from Ward as their starter after two years would be notable, but it wouldn’t be that surprising. Ward is under a ton of pressure when it comes to how he plays over the Titans’ final 13 games.