NFL hot seat: 5 coaches likely to get fired by the end of 2018

Unlike the Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have more than enough offensive pieces to suggest they could be a high-flying offense.

San Francisco 49ers

Remember 2017? That was the year the Bucs were supposed to be a Cinderella story — a team that had been flying under the radar, only to finally turn the page and take command of what ended up being a tough NFC South.

It didn’t happen, though, and Tampa Bay stumbled all the way to a 5-11 record.

In fairness to then-second-year head coach Dirk Koetter, the Buccaneers were riddled with injuries on both sides of the ball. Quarterback Jameis Winston was out for a good chunk of the year, which led to backup QB Ryan Fitzpatrick shouldering much of the load.

Fitzpatrick and the Bucs got off to a hot start in 2018 while Winston was serving a three-game suspension, and that temporarily kept Koetter off the NFL hot seat. But that all changed in Week 3. Fitzpatrick ended up being benched in favor of Winston, and now the Buccaneers face five road games over their next seven contests.

That should be a true test to see whether or not Koetter’s job remains safe.

If Tampa Bay elects to see Koetter retained, it will have to focus on two things — landing a capable quarterback (yes, moving on from Winston) and making some serious upgrades to the defense.