Will Kliff Kingsbury survive Arizona’s late-season…

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Cardinals coach Kliff Kingbury entered the 2021 season on an obvious hot seat. Despite a 10-2 start, he could be ending it the same way.

With a 1-4 slide to end the regular season and a blowout loss to the Rams in the wild-card round, will the Cardinals make a coaching change?

It’s a fair question to ask, given the way the campaign ended for Arizona. Making the question more fair is the fact that the Cardinals have a long history of changing coaches. Despite the fact that the franchise has existed for more than 100 years, no head coach has ever lasted more than six seasons.

For Kingsbury, it’s been three. The three initial years of Kyler Murray‘s career. Now, with Murray poised to expect a second contract that will consume a much larger percentage of the team’s salary cap, it will be harder to put a team around him. This year, the Cardinals had a team around him that, through the first 12 games, looked to be the best in the league.

Now? Not. Now, the question is whether the Cardinals will stand pat with Kingsbury for the final year of his contract or move on.

It’s ultimately for the Cardinals to decide. The past six games, which would have been winless but for a win at Dallas in Week 17, complicate the decision considerably.

So what will they do? Kingsbury has gone 24-24-1, with one playoff berth and a non-competitive showing against a division rival. Will it be enough? Time will tell.