Hot Seat Watch for NFL Players, Coaches After Week 12

As the NFL playoff picture continues to change down the homestretch of the season, so has the bottom of the league’s ladder, putting some struggling teams’ coaches and players on the hot seats for their jobs.

As the league’s two longest losing streaks continued through Week 12, the firings of the two head coaches involved—the Houston Texans' Gary Kubiak and Mike Smith of the Atlanta Falcons—seem more and more likely. Meanwhile, a number of quarterback situations continue to remain fluid, even for teams in the playoff hunt, with just five weeks remaining in the regular season.

Gary Kubiak, Head Coach, Houston Texans

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The Houston Texans earned the designation of NFL’s worst team, at least after Week 12, when they suffered their ninth consecutive loss, falling to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, who going into that game had stood alone with the NFL’s poorest record.

Instead of contending for an AFC championship, which they were expected to do after winning playoff games each of the past two seasons, the Texans are 2-9 and contending for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. While their early draft pick may allow the Texans to draft a much-needed franchise quarterback or other star player to help lead them back to contention, that future is unlikely to be with Gary Kubiak as Houston’s head coach.

In the "Not For Long" league, head coaches rarely survive massive collapses and losing streaks that span more than half of a regular season. And while Houston’s poor quarterback play has been a huge factor in its lack of winning, that excuse will not save Kubiak’s job with a team that should be far from having the league’s worst record.

Mike Smith, Head Coach, Atlanta Falcons

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The Texans' collapse isn't even necessarily the NFL’s most disappointing in 2013, since Houston's record is tied with that of the Atlanta Falcons, who in just one season have gone from playing in last year's NFC Championship Game to tied for the league’s worst record.

The Falcons’ season has gone from bad to worse, as they have lost their last five games. While some key injuries on both sides of the ball are partially to blame for Atlanta’s struggles, the team’s inability to rebound from such setbacks is a burden that falls on head coach Mike Smith.

Thus far, Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff has publicly supported his coach: On Nov. 10, Dimitroff responded to a media question about Smith’s future by saying Smith is a "hell of a football coach" and "going nowhere," according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com.

Smith didn’t help his case in Week 12, however, with a questionable call late in the Falcons' Thursday night loss to the Saints.

At the 35-yard line trailing by four and with less than three minutes to play, Smith decided to send out Falcons kicker Matt Bryant to kick a field goal from 52 yards. Bryant missed the kick, but even if he made it, the Falcons would have needed an immediate defensive stop against the NFL's No. 3 total and scoring offense for a chance to win the game. By the time Atlanta got that stop, it was left with just five seconds to play and 62 yards to go, and it lost 17-13.

The Falcons have been unable to turn it around, and questionable coaching from Smith certainly did not help them snap a losing streak.

Geno Smith, QB, New York Jets

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To say New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith has hit the "rookie wall" would be an understatement.

Smith has completed a single-digit number of throws in each of his last three games, while he has attempted at least 19 passes in all three of them. He has thrown for no more than 127 yards in any of those three games, while he has thrown a combined five interceptions in those starts.

All in all, Smith leads all NFL quarterbacks with 18 interceptions, has the worst quarterback rating (62.1) among NFL starting quarterbacks, has the third-worst completion percentage (55.2) among starters and has fumbled eight times.

Considering Smith is a rookie and is projected to be New York's franchise quarterback, the best choice remains to keep him in the starting lineup, which Rex Ryan said Monday the Jets plan to do for their Week 13 battle against the Miami Dolphins.

That said, Ryan was noncommittal about his starting quarterback following New York’s second straight loss Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, and it seems as though he is at least considering making a change to Matt Simms if Smith’s struggles continue.

Some analysts, such as CBS New York’s Jason Keidel, believe the move to Simms is one Ryan should make:

"

Maybe Matt Simms is the answer. Maybe he’s equally overwhelmed. Maybe he’s somewhere in between.

But starting Simms doesn’t mean ending Smith.

"

Terrelle Pryor, QB, Oakland Raiders

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Early in the season, Terrelle Pryor’s emergence was all the rage in Oakland, and it seemed he had arrived as the Raiders’ franchise quarterback.

After shaky performances in his past four starts, however, he may not necessarily get his job back from undrafted rookie Matt McGloin, who has started in Pryor’s place in each of the past two games.

Pryor missed one game with a knee injury, but was active Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and was reportedly healthy, according to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer (h/t Pro Football Talk). Still, he was McGloin’s backup.

Though the Raiders lost, McGloin was solid, passing for 260 yards and a touchdown with one interception. In his previous start, a 28-23 win against the Houston Texans, McGloin threw for 197 yards and three touchdowns. McGloin has not been spectacular, but his performance has been quite stellar for an undrafted rookie.

Pryor, on the other hand, has had a quarterback rating below 56 in each of his past four starts. He has completed less than 54 percent of his passes in each of his past four games and has thrown eight interceptions with just one touchdown in that span.

Pryor has more promising physical tools and gives the Raiders a running threat that McGloin does not, but McGloin may be a better fit as a pocket passer. Raiders coach Dennis Allen has not indicated one way or another whether Pryor will get his job back, but this certainly seems like a quarterback situation to monitor throughout the final five weeks.

Scott Tolzien, QB, Green Bay Packers

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Scott Tolzien had earned the Green Bay Packers' starting quarterback job by default after Aaron Rodgers and Seneca Wallace both went down with injuries, but it appears that run may be coming to an end after three weeks.

Though Tolzien had one of the coolest plays of Week 12 with his "circle button" touchdown run in the first quarter against the Minnesota Vikings, he was benched in the third quarter of that game after completing just 7 of 17 passing attempts for 98 yards. He was replaced by Matt Flynn, who did a better job in Tolzien’s place, completing 21 of 36 passing attempts for 218 yards and a touchdown.

Overall, Tolzien’s play has been very shaky, as he has thrown five interceptions in just 90 passing attempts.

While the decision to choose between Tolzien and Flynn is only a temporary one until Rodgers returns from a broken collarbone, it is one the Packers will likely have to make again for their Thursday game against the Detroit Lions. Packers coach Mike McCarthy said Rodgers' chances of playing this week are "slim to none," according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.

The decision between Tolzien and Flynn could go either way, but given Flynn's promising performance and Tolzien's struggles, Flynn is likely to have the upper hand.

Jermon Bushrod, LT, Chicago Bears

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The Chicago Bears do not realistically have any better left tackle options than Jermon Bushrod, and certainly no one who should convince the team to bench Bushrod and his five-year contract worth nearly $36 million.

That said, the Bears' offensive line is quickly losing the momentum it had established early this season, and Bushrod’s failure to play up to his expected value has been one reason why.

Lining up frequently against St. Louis Rams star defensive end Robert Quinn, Bushrod was absolutely horrendous in Chicago’s Week 12 loss. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) gave Bushrod an -11.1 rating—the worst that any offensive tackle in the league has received in a single game this season—after allowing one sack and seven hurries against the Rams.

The offensive tackle on the other side of the line, rookie Jordan Mills, has not played any better than Bushrod. But considering the financial investment the Bears made in Bushrod, they will be expecting the former Saints Pro Bowl tackle to bounce back quickly and improve upon his play as a pass-blocker, which has been shaky all season.

If not, the Bears may have to think about when they can get out of their contractual commitment (would be tough with $8.8 million in dead money in 2014) or consider moving Bushrod to another spot on the offensive line so as to upgrade the left tackle position.

Derek Cox, CB, San Diego Chargers

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The San Diego Chargers have been giving Derek Cox every opportunity to bounce back as a starting cornerback, but one would think his chances are on the verge of running out. Although he has started all 11 of San Diego’s games this season, Cox has been benched in three of its last four games and has been one of the NFL’s worst cornerbacks.

In a game where the Chargers allowed 38 points and 294 passing yards to the Kansas City Chiefs, Cox played just 26 snaps in Week 12, according to Pro Football Focus. In that short amount of playing time, he allowed three receptions for 75 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown by Donnie Avery, according to PFF.

Overall, PFF rates Cox as the NFL’s third-worst cornerback this season. He hasn’t made many big plays, with just seven total passes defensed, but he has given up many.

Cox’s job is expected to be up for grabs heading into Week 13, as Mike McCoy said there will be an open competition for jobs in the secondary this week, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com.

Cox has been so bad that he should immediately lose his job, but he will almost certainly lose it in 2014. According to Kevin Acee of the U-T San Diego, Cox’s four-year, $20 million contract is only guaranteed beyond this season in case of injury.

The Chargers could save $4.25 million by releasing him prior to the third day of the 2014 league year.

Pep Hamilton, Offensive Coordinator, Indianapolis Colts

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Expectations were high for the Indianapolis Colts offense with quarterback Andrew Luck going into his second season, and they became even higher when the Colts traded a first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for running back Trent Richardson.

That Colts offense has underperformed, however, especially as of late.

Week 12 was one of Pep Hamilton’s unit’s worst weeks. The Colts scored just 11 points while their offense allowed an interception return for a touchdown and had just 239 total yards, averaging just 4.3 yards per play. Indianapolis lost 40-11 to the Arizona Cardinals.

The Colts rank 14th in total offense and 17th in scoring offense, but they have scored 11 or fewer points in three of their last six points. Luck has been good but unspectacular, ranking just 19th in passing yards per game, while Richardson has been very ineffective behind a struggling Indianapolis offensive line.

The Colts' rankings have been similar to last year, when they finished 10th in total offense and 18th in scoring offense under then-offensive coordinator Bruce Arians. Nonetheless, some observers have been unsatisfied with the Hamilton's playcalling.

"Pep Hamilton still has no designs to get Luck on the move behind NFL's worst interior line," Bleacher Report's Collin McCollough tweeted Sunday.

Hamilton is unlikely to actually lose his job after one season, but for a team that has lost two of its last three games by 29 or more points, it is important for him to get the Colts' offense back on track as Indy fights to hold or improve its playoff position.