As the 2018 NFL regular season winds down, a handful of contenders have locked themselves into premier playoff position, from the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC to the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans Saints in the NFC.

Most of the playoff picture, however, has yet to be decided. Between both conferences, there are a plethora of postseason hopefuls in -- or on the brink of -- wild-card contention.

The Baltimore Ravens. The Pittsburgh Steelers. The Los Angeles Chargers. The Indianapolis Colts. The Miami Dolphins. The Tennessee Titans. The Minnesota Vikings. The Carolina Panthers. The Philadelphia Eagles. Even the Green Bay Packers. All of them have chances -- some more probable than others -- of getting into the playoffs over the final three weeks of the season.

Quite a few teams, however, are also just disappointing enough that big changes could be on the way if they end up watching January football from home.

On Wednesday's edition of the Pick Six Podcast, CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora joined Will Brinson to break down the problems troubling one of those teams, the Steelers, and forecast which coaching situations could be affected by wild-card fallout.

Among the biggest takeaways: Ron Rivera, who led the Panthers to a Super Bowl just three seasons ago, looks like a likely goner.

Asked if the veteran coach might warrant more time by leading Carolina into the playoffs despite a five-game losing streak, La Canfora suggested that absent a deep postseason run, Rivera could be axed. Even if they "backdoor in," he said, a playoff berth may not save Rivera, and there's a "pretty decent sense out there that this is seen as maybe the best job by a lot of (candidates)."

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Brinson agreed that Rivera is on a short leash and offered his reasoning for a change.

"I think that Ron Rivera is going to get fired, if he does gets fired, because the defense is bad," he said. "Not because Cam Newton is hurt or all this stuff ... Like, you're in charge of the defense. If it was just middle of the road, this is a playoff team pretty easily."

Around the NFL, specifically the NFC, La Canfora also eyes potential changes for the defending Super Bowl champions.

If the Eagles can't make the playoffs, which appears to be likely with the Rams and Houston Texans on the team's docket, he said he "would be looking at both coordinators there and saying there could be changes."

Catch the full discussion on Pittsburgh's woes and potential coaching changes around the league on the podcast: