Who's Hot, Who's Not After NFL Week 12?

As far as the Green Bay Packers are concerned, Aaron Rodgers can't come back soon enough.

The Packers need Rodgers so that they can heat up just to make the playoffs, forget win the Super Bowl.

Several teams would like their starters back, as their replacements aren't quite up to snuff.

In other cases, the replacement has been better than the starter.

Momentum is a fickle thing, and many of the players on this list are trying to build it as we approach the playoffs.

Others are just trying to keep from completely falling apart.

Who is heating up? Who is cooling off?

Let's take a look.

All stats referenced from ESPN.com and NFL.com unless otherwise specified.

HOT: Josh Gordon, Cleveland Browns

Jason Miller/Getty Images

One of the best performances of Sunday was also one of the quietest, since it happened in a blowout loss.

The Pittsburgh Steelers destroyed division rival Cleveland Browns 27-11, but they had no answer for wide receiver Josh Gordon. His 14-catch, 237-yard, one-touchdown day was a dominating performance, spanning two quarterbacks and a complete lack of production from anyone else in the offense.

Sunday’s huge game comes on the heels of a five-catch, 125-yard effort with a touchdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 11.

In a dismal season filled with quarterback injuries and poor play, the Browns can hang their hat on the fact that Gordon, while occasionally immature, is a fantastic receiver and someone to help this franchise rebound in 2014.

NOT: Bobby Rainey, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Leon Halip/Getty Images

We shouldn’t be shocked that regression nailed Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bobby Rainey. Especially considering he was going up against a tough Detroit Lions run defense after a soft Atlanta Falcons defense.

Everything we liked about Rainey—his tough running between the tackles, the strength which belied the size, the overall speed—was all invisible on Sunday.

His yards per carry was a horrible 1.9 average and he just looked like a different back.

The Lions hit him early and often and the Bucs offensive line didn’t open running lanes as they did against Atlanta.

It’s not going to get better against the Carolina Panthers in Week 13. The No. 3-ranked run defense in the league, the Carolina Panthers throttled the Miami Dolphins’ ground attack this weekend.

Rainey could have a second quiet week in a row.

At the end of the day, Rainey isn’t as bad as he looked against the Lions. He’s just also not as good as he looked against the Falcons.

HOT: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings

Tom Lynn/Getty Images

If Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson can run the ball 32 times for 146 yards and a touchdown with a groin injury, opposing defenses should be scared what he’d do if he were 100 percent healthy.

The Green Bay Packers aren’t a great run defense, but they were often blown backwards at the snap by the Vikings offensive line, and Peterson was his usual impossible-to-tackle self.

Once Peterson got going, he was difficult to slow down. He gashed the Packers defense multiple times in key moments during the second half, and though the Vikings defense choked the lead away, Peterson helped keep the ball moving when the team needed him to.

Now if they could only find a way to keep him healthier.

NOT: Geno Smith, New York Jets

Rob Carr/Getty Images

There are a lot of issues with the New York Jets that have nothing to do with rookie quarterback Geno Smith. The wide receivers are awful, the offensive line play has been dreadful and the play-calling has sometimes been brutal.

Of course, that’s not to say none of his struggles are on Smith, merely that it’s not just him.

That said, his 9-of-22 passing, 127-yard and two-interception outing was terrible, and many of the throws he made were inexcusable.

It’s hard to completely write off Smith 11 games into his career, but Jets fans should worry that if he plays this badly to close the season, the focus might be on what’s wrong with the quarterback and not what’s wrong with everything else.

After the game, head coach Rex Ryan wouldn’t commit to Smith as his starter for Week 13.

That doesn’t bode well for his chances as we close the season.

HOT: Eddie Lacy, Green Bay Packers

Tom Lynn/Getty Images

The Green Bay Packers couldn’t get much going offensively on Sunday, save for rookie running back Eddie Lacy.

Lacy got good blocking for once and was able to rip up the Minnesota Vikings defense for some long runs. He really hammered at the defensive front all day, slowly wearing them down.

His 110-yard total marked the third time he has rushed for 100-plus yards, and he has also scored a touchdown five out of the last six games.

Lacy has had a tremendous rookie season, especially considering how many different quarterbacks he has played with and how often he has seen stacked fronts of seven or eight men.

The Packers haven’t had a consistent run game in a long time. Lacy has brought one with him from Alabama and used it to carry the Packers through some bad quarterback injuries.

NOT: Case Keenum, Houston Texans

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Let’s try not to sprain our ankles jumping off the Case Keenum bandwagon.

It’s moving slow enough to step off it and not hurt ourselves.

The Houston Texans struggled on all levels in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but it was Keenum’s bad day which probably sunk them.

Keenum was off all day, often overthrowing his receivers. More than once, he nearly got his receivers killed by stringing them out with an inaccurate pass.

If you think things are bad in Houston, try to picture it without receiver Andre Johnson.

It’s hard to know which way Houston head coach Gary Kubiak goes for Week 13. It’s not like Keenum looked worse than Matt Schaub. Will we see T.J. Yates?

Regardless, Keenum had a bad game, as undrafted free-agent rookies will do.

He has been hot, but this week he was not.

HOT: Tiquan Underwood, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Not only did Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tiquan Underwood catch three balls for 108 yards and a pair of touchdowns in the win over the Detroit Lions—he also has the best hair in the NFL.

Underwood hasn’t made a ton of noise this season, with only one touchdown and no 100-yard games to his credit before Sunday’s action.

His 85-yard touchdown reception showed off some great speed and route running as he slipped behind the defenders on the catch, giving his team the win.

He was the right target, in the right place, at the right time.

NOT: Lamar Miller, Miami Dolphins

Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

There are times when Miami Dolphins running back Lamar Miller looks like a tremendous running back, running with power and vision, flashing speed and elusiveness.

This past Sunday was not one of those times.

In his defense, the Carolina Panthers boasted the third-best run defense in the NFL heading into Monday’s game. So it shouldn’t surprise us that the Dolphins’ ground game faltered.

Still, Miller has looked shaky for three games straight—all since his 105-yard performance in Week 9 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

There are a lot of issues with the Dolphins on both sides of the ball and they certainly domino on one another—Miller isn’t struggling just because of his own issues.

But right now he’s certainly adding to the hardships.

HOT: Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

In a game with massive divisional and conference repercussions, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers had a tremendous day, capped off by a seven-play, 78-yard touchdown drive to win the game with 58 seconds left.

It’s been said before in this piece, but it bears repeating—new Chargers head coach Mike McCoy has worked magic with Rivers. After several years of increasingly bad play, Rivers has had what amounts to a career rebirth.

While he has had some off games, he’s had far more incredible games.

After Sunday's game he has thrown for 3,381 yards, 22 touchdowns with just eight interceptions.

The Chargers needed him to be just about flawless if they were going to beat the Kansas City Chiefs—and he was. Especially on that last drive, during which he threw for two first downs and then fired off a perfect pass to receiver Seyi Ajirotutu, which was about the nicest pass you will see.

The Chargers aren’t out of the playoff race yet, and a lot of that has to do with Rivers.

At this point, he’s one of the hotter quarterbacks in the NFL.

NOT: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This actually makes three disappointing games in a row by Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck.

Against St. Louis he threw for 353 yards, but also tossed a trio of interceptions. Then, in Week 11, he avoided any picks but threw for no touchdowns and just 232 yards (he did run a touchdown in, however).

Luck had the worst of both worlds against a solid Arizona Cardinals defense, which all but obliterated the Colts offense from the word “go.”

When the offense is struggling and the defense follows suit, the Colts need more than 163 yards, a touchdown and an interception from Luck.

Sunday was just a day he couldn’t deliver it.

The Colts have a favorable schedule to close the season and they’ll need Luck to heat up again if they want to make some noise in the playoffs.

Andrew Garda is a member of the Pro Football Writers Association. He is also a member of the fantasy football staff at FootballGuys.com and the NFL writer at CheeseheadTV.com. You can follow him at @andrew_garda on Twitter.