Potential Last-Chancers: Jason Garrett, Tony Romo, Dez Bryant. You could see this coming down a tunnel at midnight with no lights on while blindfolded. Everyone will want Romo's head and Jerry Jones will have no choice but to capitulate. He'll eat some money but he's done that before. Romo's good, but other QBs can play at a high level in that offense for far less cash. So say hello to the Kyle Orton era! Garrett will be gone the day after the regular season ends (or maybe on the way to the locker room following the final game). Bryant is on thin ice with the team right now, and if he fails to produce on the field the team will say he's not worth the trouble anymore.

Potential Last-Chancers: Matt Schaub. The fact Houston is letting him play out the final year of his contract tells you all you need to know. The shame of it is if Schaub were healthy they probably go to the Super Bowl last year. But another year of falling short and it will be a different veteran throwing the football to get Houston over the hump. Andre Johnson's contract could loom as an albatross if he can't stay on the field. He's a bigger wide receiver, on the wrong side of 30, and we all know bigger players break down faster.

Potential Last-Chancers: Rex Ryan, Mark Sanchez, Santonio Holmes. When you have the personality of Rex Ryan, the clock ticks a little faster for you. Those two AFC championship games seem like 10 years ago. Another season "losing the pulse of the team" and 2012 will be Rex's last in the Big Apple. Sanchez will be hoisted up on fans' shoulders ... and carried out of the city. Holmes would follow as the team tries to restart with a locker room full of positive energy. And yes, that means Tebow will be the starter. Urban Meyer will be the new head coach, they'll trade for Percy Harvin and the new team logo will be a jet plane with a gator taking a bite out of it.

Potential Last-Chancers: Andy Reid. The team has too much money invested in its stars to walk away from them. Reid will be the fall guy if the Eagles fail to meet expectations again this season. You'll hear the same things as always. "He's been there a long time," "It was time to change the culture," "The players lost belief in him." But if an all-star team falls short two years in a row, someone has to be the collateral damage, and winds are always swirling in Philadelphia to make Reid that guy.

Potential Last-Chancers: Norv Turner. Look on the bright side: They could actually bring Marty Schottenheimer back. OK, not really, but even San Diego, who has shown a marked propensity for patience with average head coaches, will be forced to make a move after this year. Where do you go? That's the fun part. It's the Chargers, so you know they're not going to go for a big name or someone with a great track record. Is it just me, or can you see Jim Fassel in a powder blue polo?

Potential Last-Chancers: Mike Shanahan, Santana Moss, every RB on the roster. Seriously, RG3 might be the only man left standing at the end of 2012. Griffin will struggle all season, and Shanahan's offensive system will be to blame. Someone finally flags down Daniel Snyder on the interstate and tells him Shanahan isn't very good at developing young QBs. The Redskins will decide a new coach, with new weapons in the backfield and at WR, is the way to go as they try to rebuild.

Besides the aforementioned teams with championship dreams, this may be the final season for the following people in their respective cities: Leslie Frazier in Minnesota (especially if the Vikings wind up with the No. 1 pick; they'll get a new leader for the Matt Barkley era). Farewell to Kevin Kolb and John Skelton in Arizona: Regardless of what happens this year, Ken Whisenhunt will find another aging veteran to dust off and return to glory (Matt Schaub?). And woe to Sam Bradford if he regresses in St. Louis. It was already reported that the Rams assured him they weren't taking a quarterback in this year's draft. That may not be the case in 2013.