Hot Seat Watch for NFL Players, Coaches After Week 13

As people across America heated their ovens to cook turkeys on Thanksgiving and burned through their wallets shopping on Black Friday, the heat continued to rise on some struggling players and coaches during the NFL’s holiday weekend.

From one head coach getting himself in hot water with his gamesmanship, to another’s team reaching double digits in its losing streak, some coaches may wish to forget Week 13.

Meanwhile, a number of players who came into the season with high expectations, or had built them up through previous impressive play, saw their playing time diminish or their play exposed.

In the following Hot Seat Watch, we take a look at three coaches and five players who may be feeling the pressure to perform and concern over how much opportunity they have to atone for their mistakes after each had a rough week.

Gary Kubiak, Head Coach, Houston Texans

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With the Houston Texans on a 10-game losing streak, you can count on head coach Gary Kubiak remaining on this list at least until the Texans win another game (and quite possibly longer).

After back-to-back seasons with playoff victories, the Texans currently stand alone as the NFL’s worst team, the only team in the league with just two wins.

While Houston does have some significant holes on its roster, especially at the quarterback position, Kubiak still has little excuse for his team to be playing as badly as it is.

The roster still includes arguably the league’s best defensive player (defensive end J.J. Watt), one of the NFL’s best wide receivers (Andre Johnson) and other stars including left tackle Duane Brown and cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson. It has underperformed at an unacceptable level.

The future of the Houston Texans beyond 2013 may well include current Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. That future probably will not include Kubiak, however, given the team’s stunningly bad collapse.

While the Texans have not displayed any public disapproval of Kubiak yet, many who follow the team closely, including Jerome Solomon of the Houston Chronicle, believe he will ultimately be fired.

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Kubiak might be a great offensive mind, but he is not getting the job done right now and even he doesn’t know why.

Look, Gary Kubiak is a big boy. He can handle the heat. He knows he has done a terrible job this season. And he knows that in the NFL, when you don’t get the job done, you don’t usually keep the job.

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Mike Tomlin, Head Coach, Pittsburgh Steelers

Yes, it would still come as a massive surprise if the Pittsburgh Steelers were to fire head coach Mike Tomlin, but it would also be surprising if the internal pressure from the organization on him to perform is not rising.

At 5-7, the Steelers’ playoff hopes are in serious jeopardy, and his controversial behavior in Pittsburgh’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Thursday night could be consequential to the franchise.

Tomlin made national headlines when he interfered with a third-quarter kickoff return by Jacoby Jones, which appeared destined for a touchdown, by standing on the edge of the field as Jones returned the kickoff up the same sideline.

Though he hopped out of the way as Jones approached him, it may have been Tomlin’s presence that slowed Jones enough for Steelers cornerback Cortez Allen to catch Jones.

And video evidence, especially this angle from KDKA-TV, makes it seem as though Tomlin knew what he was doing.

Though the incident did not ultimately affect the outcome of the game, the Steelers could face a six-figure fine and the loss of a draft pick, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported.

The Steelers brain trust is unlikely to be pleased if Tomlin’s behavior costs them financially and resourcefully, which will increase the pressure on Tomlin to not only keep Pittsburgh in contention down the stretch this season, but get the Steelers back on track in 2014.

If he does not do that, his seat will only get hotter.

Geno Smith, QB, New York Jets

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The idea that the New York Jets should bench rookie quarterback Geno Smith seemed an overreaction a few weeks ago, but the only reason it seems like a bad decision now is that the New York Jets do not have a better option.

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

After completing at least 15 passes for 159 yards or more in each of his first eight starts, he has completed single-digit passes for 127 yards or less in his last four starts with a completion percentage below 40 and six combined interceptions.

The Jets have lost three straight games after a 5-4 start, and Smith’s struggles have been a big reason why.

Unfortunately for the Jets, the No. 2 option is not any better.

After taking over for Smith in the second half of Sunday’s loss to the Miami Dolphins, Matt Simms completed just 9 of 18 passing attempts for 79 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Not exactly reason to be optimistic about Simms as a starting option.

One may not have guessed that the Jets would be missing injured former starting quarterback Mark Sanchez, and they will really have lost confidence in Smith if they turn to veteran David Garrard. But if the Jets have any chance of salvaging their season and earning the AFC’s sixth playoff spot, they need their quarterback play to get immediately better.

If it does not, Smith might remain on the hot seat going into 2014, just one year after New York invested a second-round pick in him.

While Smith’s potential to be a franchise quarterback remains high, the Jets should at least look to add more promising competition this offseason unless Smith can turn his faltering season around drastically in the next four weeks.

Christian Ponder, QB, Minnesota Vikings

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The Minnesota Vikings have only won three games this season, and they have all ended with second-stringer Matt Cassel leading the offense at quarterback.

As has been an issue for Christian Ponder since his collegiate years at Florida State, the Vikings starting quarterback has had trouble staying healthy. That was the case again Sunday, when he left Minnesota’s game against the Chicago Bears with a concussion in the second quarter.

The Vikings won after Cassel took Ponder’s place in the game, just as they did when Cassel took over for an injured Ponder in Week 10. Cassel was the starter in Minnesota’s first win of the season, a 34-27 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Correlation does not equal causation, and it is a stretch to say Cassel has made the difference between winning and losing.

But it’s not as if Ponder has played well when he has been healthy. His 77.9 passer rating ranks 29th among quarterbacks who statistically qualify as NFL starters.

Cassel hasn’t been much better.

His quarterback rating in limited action is only 84.6, while both quarterbacks have a 63.6 completion percentage. Nonetheless, as Ponder continues to bounce in and out of the lineup with injuries while failing to finish any games with victories, he continues to be on the hot seat for his starting job with Cassel applying the pressure.

The Vikings’ starting quarterback job has been open from week to week all season long, and it continues to be that way going into Week 14.

Head coach Leslie Frazier has not yet named a starter for Minnesota’s game Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, ESPN’s Ben Goessling reported Monday.

Stevan Ridley, RB, New England Patriots

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Coming off a 1,263-yard, 12-touchdown season in 2012, expectations were high for New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley as he entered his third season.

But he got off to a sour note when he lost a fumble in New England’s season opener against the Buffalo Bills, and it has gotten much worse in recent weeks.

Although Ridley was benched after his Week 1 fumble, he returned to the lineup and was performing decently as a runner for the rest of September and October. He lost a fumble in all three of New England’s November games, however, and now appears to be squarely in the Patriots’ doghouse.

After fumbling for the third consecutive game against the Denver Broncos in Week 12, he was benched and did not return to the game.

The Patriots took it one step further Sunday for their game against the Houston Texans, placing him on the inactive list as a healthy scratch.

Ridley appears to have lost his job as the featured back, and only because of his own turnovers, as neither LeGarrette Blount nor Brandon Bolden has been particularly inspiring in Ridley’s place.

He is the most talented between-the-tackles runner in New England’s backfield, but he is likely going to have to earn his way back on the field, and furthermore, to remain part of the team’s long-term plans beyond this season.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is notoriously intolerant of fumbling, and if he does eventually give Ridley a significant role in the offense, he is unlikely to give Ridley many more chances.

His starting job may have been lost, but the hot seat is on for him to continue being part of New England’s roster.

Trent Richardson, RB, Indianapolis Colts

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Like Ridley, Indianapolis Colts running back Trent Richardson was benched for his poor performance in Week 13.

But at least Ridley has shown that fumbling aside, he can be a significantly productive player for his team’s offense. Richardson, on the other hand, has been incredibly disappointing since the Colts traded a first-round pick to acquire him from the Cleveland Browns earlier this season.

Richardson has only lost one fumble—his problem has been picking up yardage. He is averaging just 3.0 yards per carry this season.

As a result of his poor play, the Colts benched Richardson in favor of Donald Brown and gave Richardson just five touches on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.

If Richardson is going to earn his job back, he is going to have to show an ability to pick up yardage that has been virtually nonexistent in his time with the Colts.

If not, the Colts may have to consider moving on from their investment after just one season, as his play must improve for him to realistically be considered a worthy part of the team’s long-term plans.

Marcus Cooper, CB, Kansas City Chiefs

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For a six-week span, it appeared the Kansas City Chiefs had stolen a gem when they claimed cornerback Marcus Cooper off waivers prior to the start of the season.

But in the past three weeks, Cooper’s play has been much more fitting of a seventh-round rookie cut by the team who drafted him (San Francisco 49ers).

From Weeks 4-9, Cooper made an outstanding impression as he became thrust into the top trio of the Chiefs’ cornerback depth chart, at times starting in place of an injury-riddled Brandon Flowers.

Although targeted frequently, he took advantage of his opportunities, breaking up a whopping 14 passes in those six weeks.

In his past three games, however, he has simply been picked on.

This was never more true than it was Sunday against the Denver Broncos, a game in which his coverage allowed seven receptions for 180 yards and two touchdowns according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

In total, PFF has recorded Cooper as allowing 19 receptions for 454 yards in his last three games, after allowing just 15 catches for 207 yards in the previous six games. He has gone from a spark to the Kansas City defense to an utter liability, as teams have exposed his weaknesses and picked on him repeatedly.

While it seemed for a time that it would be hard for the Chiefs to keep Cooper off the field, even with a solid set of starters in Flowers and Sean Smith, it now seems problematic for the Chiefs to keep Cooper on it.

The Chiefs should not abandon Cooper’s potential, which he has shown plenty of this season and even on Sunday with his third interception of the year.

It would seem the best move for Kansas City at this point in the season would be to replace Cooper as the No. 3 cornerback with veteran Dunta Robinson.

Robinson’s experience, even if his game has deteriorated, should at least make him a temporary upgrade over the reeling Cooper.

Dom Capers, Defensive Coordinator, Green Bay Packers

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The Green Bay Packers have not won a game since Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone against the Chicago Bears in Week 9.

The loss of their star quarterback has certainly been a primary factor in their collapse, but another big reason for Green Bay’s winless streak has been the play of its defense.

The Packers have allowed at least 26 points in each of their last six games, and have allowed 415 or more total yards in four of their last five. Overall, the Packers rank 23rd in the NFL in scoring defense with 25.4 points allowed per game and 24th in the league with 376.4 yards allowed per game.

From defensive lineman B.J. Raji to linebackers Clay Matthews and A.J. Hawk and defensive backs Sam Shields and Morgan Burnett, the Packers have significant talent at all three levels of their defense but have greatly underperformed.

This has prompted some Packers fans and NFL media analysts alike to call for defensive coordinator Dom Capers to be fired.

The Packers defense had its worst performance of the season Thursday against the Detroit Lions, allowing 40 points and 561 total yards, both season-highs against Green Bay.

Matt Stein, who covers the Packers for B/R, wrote Thursday that he believes Green Bay should be considering an immediate change.

“The fans know it, the media knows it and the statistics clearly point to the fact that Capers has worn out his welcome in Green Bay,” Stein wrote. “With the defense getting worse with each game that passes, it's hard to imagine where this team will be if Capers sticks around until Week 17.”

Dan Hope is an NFL/NFL draft Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Follow @Dan_Hope