NFL Predictions: NFL Head Coaches Who Have the Most to Lose in Season Finales

It's hard to imagine that one game would actually determine a coach's future, but there's no question that the final games of the season could influence whether owners decide to keep these head coaches.

The coaches that make this list are the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Raheem Morris, Dallas Cowboys' Jason Garrett, San Diego Chargers' Norv Turner, St. Louis Rams' Steve Spagnuolo, New York Giants' Tom Coughlin and Kansas City Chiefs' Romeo Crennel.

All of these head coaches and interim head coaches are hoping that their regular season finales show their respective teams' front offices enough to keep them on staff for the 2012 NFL season.

Some of these head coaches' fates are all but sealed, while others truly have their future in the palm of their hands.

Here is a breakdown of the NFL head coaches who have the most to lose in their regular season finales.   

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Raheem Morris

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered this NFL season with a bunch of hype surrounding them and their young athletic quarterback Josh Freeman.  

A majority of NFL experts and analysts picked the Buccaneers to be one of the sleepers to watch in the NFC South.  At best, the Buccaneers can finish 4th in the South with an overall record of 5-11. 

Raheem Morris has already admitted that he takes the responsibility for Tampa Bay's disappointing season, but he shouldn't.  His players have woefully underperformed and the Buccaneers' front office didn't give him enough true talent to really help him win games.

Sure, Morris didn't win a lot of games in 2011, but he did show that he's disciplined enough to help build the Bucs future.

I doubt the Buccaneers front office will give Raheem Morris another chance at leading the young Buccaneers and that's shame because he's a talented and disciplined head coach.  

Morris' best hope for returning in 2011 is to somehow coach his team to a lopsided victory against the Atlanta Falcons in their regular season finale.  If he doesn't do that, he's almost a lock to be done next year.   

Dallas Cowboys: Jason Garrett

I know Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came out two weeks ago and told reporters that Jason Garrett's job is safe, but I think Jones' sentiments will change if the Cowboys lose to their NFC rivals the New York Giants in their regular-season finale.

If the Cowboys lose to the Giants this Sunday, which I think they will, it will mean that they will be 0-4 on the season against NFC East rivals, the Eagles and Giants.  That will prove unacceptable for Jerry Jones and he will subsequently let Jason Garrett go on his merry way.

It's not like Jason Garrett hasn't had the talent on the roster to be an above-.500 team this year.  Sure Tony Romo was banged up and they lost running back DeMarco Murray, but that still isn't enough to warrant a .500 season.

I like Jason Garrett, and I think he's a good guy, but I don't think the is the head coach that the Dallas Cowboys need.  The Cowboys need a head coach who is a little more vocal and up front with his team, a head coach like Bill Cowher.  

Jason Garrett will save his job with a regular-season win against the Giants, which will result in a wild-card playoff appearance.  If he loses, though, I don't see how Garrett would return to Dallas in 2012.   

St. Louis Rams: Steve Spagnuolo

Wait, running back Stephen Jackson was healthy for the majority of the 2011 season and the St. Louis Rams didn't make the playoffs?  Yep, and that's the main reason why Steve Spagnuolo will not be returning, nor does he deserve to return to St. Louis in 2012.

After a surprising 7-9 season last year with rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, the Rams reverted to their losing ways by earning a 2-13 record up to this point in the 2011 season.  

In his three-year head coaching career with the St. Louis Rams, Spagnuolo has amassed a pretty terrible 10-37 overall record.  Spagnuolo has proven in just three years that he doesn't have what it takes to be a head coach in the NFL.  

Steve Spagnuolo has the potential to return to the NFL next year as a defensive coordinator, because he is a defensive-minded head coach.  Even though the Rams are currently 2-13, they do have the league's sixth-ranked passing defense, and that is in large part due to the defensive mind of Steve Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo's only chance of returning to the Rams in 2012 is if he can somehow will his team to a lopsided win against the San Francisco 49ers.  Even with a big win against the 49ers, Spagnuolo might not be welcomed back, and if he isn't, it is definitely a warranted firing.   

San Diego Chargers: Norv Turner

Even though 2011 was another year, it still produced the same old San Diego Chargers team from last year.  A team that starts off strong, loses a few games in a row and then doesn't have enough games to rebound at the end of the season, ultimately missing the playoffs.

A lot of the fault for the Chargers' rough 2011 season is the inconsistent play of quarterback Phillip Rivers, but Norv Turner is undoubtedly to blame, too.

Norv Turner just can't get the Chargers over the hump of being a slightly above-average team in the NFL.

After three straight AFC West first-place finishes and just as many playoff appearances, Norv Turner missed the playoffs last year with a 9-7 record and he most likely will miss the playoffs again this year with at best a record of 8-8.

I think Turner's days in San Diego are numbered, and if he and the San Diego Chargers lose their regular season finale to AFC West rivals the Oakland Raiders this Sunday, he could ultimately be gone before the 2012 season begins.  

Turner needs a win this Sunday to save his job, especially with all the Bill Cowher rumors surrounding the Chargers head coaching job.   

New York Giants: Tom Coughlin

It wouldn't be an NFL season without speculation being made about the future of New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin.  He is a good head coach, but as of late, he hasn't been producing playoff-caliber teams like he used to.  

With a loss against the Dallas Cowboys this Sunday, the Giants can secure their third straight season without a playoff appearance, and if that happens, Coughlin's fate could be sealed.

The Giants have the reputation of being an undisciplined team, with penalties (ninth in penalty yards in the NFL) and an inability to close out games, and both of those tendencies find their way back to the head coach.

I think Coughlin has lost control of the New York Giants, and with a regular season-finale loss with everything on the line, that will be put on display.  

Coughlin can return as the Giants head coach in 2012, but he must beat the Dallas Cowboys in his regular season finale.

If Coughlin ends the season 7-9, watching the playoffs from the comfort of his own couch, he will be looking for a new job come the start of the 2012 NFL season. 

Kansas City Chiefs Interim Head Coach Romeo Crennel

Romeo Crennel has done a great job as the Kansas City Chiefs interim head coach.  He led the Chiefs to an enormous win against the then undefeated Green Bay Packers, something 14 other teams couldn't do up until this point in the 2011 season.  

More importantly than beating the Packers, especially because the Chiefs lost to the Raiders the next week, Romeo Crennel has earned the respect of the Chiefs locker room and in light of a difficult year, he has been able to unite a team that was falling apart.  

Romeo Crennel has never led a team to the NFL playoffs, and he's only recorded one winning season as a head coach in the NFL, but the Chiefs will most likely overlook all of that.

I don't think in the long run Romeo Crennel is the head coach that the Chiefs need, but because of his ability to step in after the firing of Todd Haley and do an above-average job, the Chiefs will still give him the head coaching position.  

The Chiefs' decision of whether to hire Crennel as the head coach will be made a lot easier if he is able to keep the AFC West rival Broncos out of the playoffs with a win in the Chiefs' regular-season finale.