Jonathan Gannon shows up on list no coach wants to be on ahead of Week 7
Let's be real, the heat in the desert is getting turned up to a level that has nothing to do with the Arizona sun, and Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is the one feeling it most. After a surprising 2-0 start that had fans dreaming big with wins over the Saints and Panthers, the floor has completely fallen out, leaving the team mired in a four-game losing streak that feels like a lifetime ago.That Week 6 heartbreaker against the Colts, a 31-27 loss where they had a real shot to pull off the upset, wasn't just another L in the column; it was the kind of 'close but no cigar' game that gets coaches fired, the kind that Moe Moton of Bleacher Report specifically highlighted when he slid Gannon onto his list of the five coaches most likely to get the axe next. Think about it: the Titans already pulled the trigger on Brian Callahan, and in the NFL, these things tend to happen in waves.Gannon’s overall record with the Cardinals now sits at a bleak 14-26, and in a 'what have you done for me lately?' league, a 2-4 record in 2025 after that promising start is the kind of spiral that front offices simply cannot ignore. The situation is compounded by the glaring absence of his starting quarterback, Kyler Murray, who is nursing a foot injury and whose uncertain return date hangs over the entire franchise like a dark cloud.Last week, they had to roll with veteran Jacoby Brissett under center, and while he battled, it’s a results-based business, and the result was another notch in the loss column. Now, staring down a Week 7 home matchup against the 3-1-1 Green Bay Packers, the Cardinals are staring a potential fifth consecutive loss right in the face.And here’s the real kicker: Packers fans travel notoriously well, and State Farm Stadium might feel more like Lambeau Field West, creating a hostile environment for a team that’s already on the ropes. As Moton pointed out, if the Packers come in and absolutely embarrass them on their home turf, the writing might be on the wall before the team even hits its Week 8 bye.That bye week placement is another brutal factor working against Gannon; it’s the perfect, natural breakpoint for an organization to hit the reset button without disrupting the weekly game prep rhythm. Imagine the scenario: the Cardinals limp into the bye at 2-5, the fanbase is restless, the media narrative is in a full-blown frenzy, and the powers that be have a full week to calmly make a change and install an interim coach to try and salvage whatever is left of the season.And let’s not pretend the schedule gets any easier after that breather. They come back from the bye to face back-to-back road games in Dallas and Seattle, two of the toughest places to play in the entire NFC, before returning home in Week 11 to host the San Francisco 49ers.That’s a potential meat grinder that could easily extend any losing streak well into the depths of the season. So, the pressure isn't just about this one game; it's about the entire trajectory of the season collapsing at the worst possible time.Gannon, who was already seen as a coach on the hot seat coming into this year, has seen those preseason rumors morph into a very loud, very public conversation about his job security. Even with the mitigating circumstance of Murray’s injury, the NFL is a brutal meritocracy where 'almost winning' doesn't count for much. If the Cardinals can't find a way to pull off a stunning upset against Jordan Love and the Packers, the bye week might not be a time for rest and recalibration for Gannon, but rather the final countdown on his tenure in Arizona.
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