Hot-Seat Watch for NFL Players, Coaches After Week 10

As the weather grows colder and the calendar creeps toward December, the NFL playoff picture starts to materialize, and some teams can begin to dream of potential Super Bowl glory.

But for others, widespread changes are on the horizon in the wake of horrific campaigns, and coaches, general managers and players find themselves squarely on the hot seat.

Every man on this list will wake up this morning in danger of losing his job—whether in the near future or at season's end.

The criteria for this list is simple: If the coach, general manager or player is struggling mightily, and the team is bad and not going to make the playoffs, then it's fair to say that he is on the hot seat. And the speculation of their job status can officially begin.

Here is the hot-seat watch for NFL players, coaches and general managers after Week 10.

Marc Trestman, Head Coach, Chicago Bears

Steven Senne/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: To call the 2014 Chicago Bears a dumpster fire would be an unforgivable insult to dumpster fires across the world.

No, no. These Bears are in a loser's class all by themselves.

2014 was supposed to be a great year for the artists formerly known as the Monsters of the Midway. Instead, the wheels appear to have completely come off, and the team is spiraling out of control—and fast.

And the majority of the blame must be placed at the doorstep of coach Marc Trestman, who is currently wearing the face of a beaten man.

After Chicago's Week 7 home loss to Miami, there was a well-documented locker-room brouhaha that centered around mercurial receiver Brandon Marshall. In the wake of that defeat, it seemed that the Bears had no choice but to pull themselves together and beat the New England Patriots the following Sunday.

Instead, they allowed 51 points in humiliating fashion.

Then, they had the bye week to lick their wounds and prepare for a must-win divisional showdown against rival Green Bay. And after an extra week of preparation, the assumption was that the Bears would come out ready to play and potentially save their season.

Right? Wrong.

Instead, the Bears allowed over 50 points (55) for the second straight game, becoming the first team to do so since the immortal 1923 Rochester Jeffersons. Read that last sentence again and let it sink in.

Defensive coordinator Mel Tucker is clearly in over his head and should and will lose his job, but don't get it twisted: The offense has also been atrocious, and that's supposed to be Trestman's baby. He hasn't coaxed consistent play out of erratic quarterback Jay Cutler, and his message appears to be falling on deaf ears.

In the wake of Sunday night's emasculating loss to Green Bay, Trestman (predictably) had no answers, telling the news media (h/t Mike Wilkening of Pro Football Talk), "Based on what I saw this week, I was confounded to see the type of play we had tonight. And again, our coaches did a tremendous job preparing our guys this week, and our guys did a tremendous of preparing, but none of it, none of it translated to the game tonight.”

OK, so the coaches did a tremendous job, and the players did a tremendous job, and the Bears still lost 55-14. Man, we'd hate to see what they'd do on a bad week of preparation. 

At this point, it's hard to imagine Trestman surviving for a third season. He seems powerless to stop the downward spiral his team is mired in, and this is quickly degenerating into yet another lost season in the Windy City.

Prediction: Trestman will be fired.

When Will It Happen: on Black Monday

Josh McCown, Quarterback, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

David Goldman/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Simply put, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown hasn't played very well since being signed by the team as a free agent this past offseason. He's looked every bit the 35-year old journeyman that he is, tossing four touchdown passes against six interceptions in four starts (all losses). 

After Tampa Bay's latest loss—a 27-17 home defeat to the lowly Atlanta Falcons—McCown was emotional in the locker room, visibly sobbing in front of the media. Suffering Buccaneers fans also surely wanted to cry as well, but it was because they were forced to watch McCown and Co. stink up the joint for three hours.

McCown told Mark Didtler of The Associated Press, "When you're 35 years old, you know that the clock is ticking. You don't want to let these moments slip away. I think that's why it hurts because it got away."

That is the quote of a man who knows he's finished as a starting quarterback in the NFL. It's only a matter of time before the Bucs hand the reins back over to Mike Glennon, who hasn't exactly evoked memories of Brad Johnson in his time as the starter.

The McCown experiment was doomed from the start, and now the 1-8 Buccaneers are feeling the consequences. 

Prediction: McCown will lose his starting job (again) to Glennon.

When Will It Happen: Expect embattled Bucs coach Lovie Smith to stick with McCown for another two games. After the Bucs lose both (at Washington, at Chicago), he'll return to Glennon for their November 30 home game against Cincinnati.

Lovie Smith, Head Coach, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: It's hard to quantify just how big a disaster year one of the Lovie Smith Era in Tampa Bay has been, but at 1-8, it's currently at the Chernobyl-level.

Smith looks nothing like the coach who manned the Chicago sidelines for nine seasons and led the Bears to Super Bowl XLI. He now appears overmatched and incapable of pulling his team out of its extended malaise.

After yet another disappointing performance (a 27-17 home loss to the terrible Falcons), Smith's Buccaneers are 1-8 and have been brutal throughout the campaign.

It's been a season featuring head-scratching personnel moves (McCown over Glennon at quarterback, anyone?) and grotesque errors in game management (deferring the football after winning the coin toss in Week 4 against the Falcons was atrocious; in a related story, Tampa lost that game 56-14). 

Think it's too early for Smith to be on the hot seat, given that he hasn't even completed one full season in Tampa Bay? ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas wrote a column last week detailing Smith's potential to lose his job, and that was before Sunday's home defeat to Atlanta.

The Buccaneers are a bad team and have been poorly coached, and when surveying their remaining schedule, it's hard to find one victory. Fans can only hope that the team ends up with a draft pick so high that even Smith (and overmatched general manager Jason Licht) won't be able to screw up the selection of the next franchise quarterback.

That is, of course, assuming Smith makes it to next year.

Prediction: Bucs ownership will retain Smith for a second season, but his seat will be doused in kerosene from the jump.

When Will It Happen: The Bucs will announce Smith's return as the season winds down.

Reggie McKenzie, General Manager, Oakland Raiders

Ben Margot/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Have you seen the Oakland Raiders play this season? Heck, have you seen the Raiders play at any point during the three-year Reggie McKenzie era (error)?

The Raiders are atrocious, horrendous and every other negative adjective all wrapped into one and then topped with a heaping of incompetence. And the head chef of this bad brew is undoubtedly McKenzie.

After yet another loss—this one a 41-17 blowout at the hands of rival Denver—the Raiders are 0-9, and appear likely to become the second team in NFL history to go winless over a 16-game season. 

And you're telling me the general manager should keep his job?

McKenzie was the one who hired now-deposed coach Dennis Allen, and while there's no question Allen was overmatched, take a gander at Oakland's roster. An amalgamation of Bill Walsh and Vince Lombardi wouldn't be able to win with these players. Heck, there are schools in the SEC West that would produce more fantasy football starters than the Raiders.

McKenzie's supporters will point to his 2014 draft class, which does look solid, featuring linebacker Khalil Mack, quarterback Derek Carr and guard Gabe Jackson. But it should be too little, too late to save his job.

There is no way he should be afforded the opportunity to hire another coach and run another offseason. He has been nothing short of a miserable failure, and he needs to be put out of his misery by owner Mark Davis as soon as the season concludes.

Prediction: Once Davis realizes no head coach worth a damn will come to Oakland with McKenzie in charge, he'll dismiss his clueless general manager.

When Will It Happen: On Black Monday (the day after Week 17's NFL Sunday) or whenever Jon Gruden tells Davis to do it.

Derek Carr, QB, Oakland Raiders

Stephen Brashear/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat—Let's be clear here: The fact that Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr is on the hot seat has little to do with Carr and everything to do with the stark lack of talent around him.

But regardless, it could be in the team's best interest to pull Carr from the starting lineup and shield him from the seemingly inevitable 0-16 trainwreck.

Carr has mostly been impressive in his neophyte campaign, tossing 13 touchdown strikes against nine interceptions while completing 61 percent of his passes. But at this point in his development, he's not good enough to carry what's undoubtedly the NFL's worst roster. He is being set up to fail, plain and simple.

And the other issue is that he isn't showing noticeable improvement on the field, and San Jose Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy writes that it seems like Carr is starting to regress. 

When the Houston Texans tabbed Carr's older brother, David, with the first overall pick of the 2002 draft, he was immediately inserted into the starting lineup of an expansion team and never recovered from the weekly beatings he took as a rookie. The Raiders have to hope the same fate doesn't befall little brother Derek.

While Carr has earned the opportunity to play and try to win a game, the Raiders should think long and hard about what's best for their young signal-caller—and the future of their franchise.

Prediction: Carr will be pulled in favor of veteran Matt Schaub as the Raiders try and win a game.

When Will It Happen: after the club's loss on November 30 at St. Louis

Rex Ryan, Head Coach, New York Jets

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Four years without a playoff berth is probably a strong enough case to put a coach on the hot seat—and by probably, we mean definitely.

While he fanned the flames licking his hot seat with Sunday's 20-13 upset win over Pittsburgh, New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is a dead man walking—and everyone knows it, including him. There's simply no way he can be brought back for a seventh season.

Ryan is now 48-48 as Jets coach, and his back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship Game (2009-2010) seem like they occurred about 50 years ago. While there's no doubting his defensive chops, Ryan has clearly struggled to fashion together a respectable offense, and that will ultimately prove to be his undoing.

Ryan isn't the sole perpetrator of Gang Green's 2-8 disaster of a season—hapless general manager John Idzik deserves a ton of blame as well. But the bottom line is that Idzik is in year two on the job and has a better chance of surviving into 2015 than Ryan does.

The roster stinks, but four years without a playoff berth is too much for one man to withstand.

The Jets are going to miss the postseason, and Ryan will lose his job. That's the lock of the century.

Prediction: Ryan will be fired.

When Will It Happen: on Black Monday

Tom Coughlin and Jerry Reese, HC and GM, New York Giants

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Why They're on the Hot Seat: Before we discuss their future job prospects, it's important to note that regardless of how things turn out, New York Giants coach Tom Coughlin and general manager Jerry Reese will forever hold a special place in the hearts of Big Blue backers, having helped the club to two Super Bowl triumphs in the past eight seasons.

But it's become clear that widespread changes are needed on Broadway. It's time for Coughlin and Reese to go.

Since their Super Bowl XLVI victory over the Patriots, the Giants are 19-22. They just lost their fourth consecutive game, a 38-17 whitewashing at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks, that dropped their record to 3-6. It's safe to assume that this will be the team's third consecutive year out of the postseason.

There's a stark lack of talent throughout the roster, which falls on Reese's shoulders. He's never lived up to his legendary initial draft class (2007), and this team is not capable of competing with the big boys in the NFC. He's had a great run, but Reese cannot be brought back for 2015.

And as for the venerable Coughlin, 68 years young? The Giants should allow the finest coach in franchise history (apologies to Bill Parcells) the option of riding off into the sunset on his own terms. Coughlin has done too much for the organization to be fired like a run-of-the-mill Joe.

Regardless of how Giants fans feel about Coughlin and Reese, it's become apparent that this existing model no longer works. Neither should return in 2015.

Prediction: Reese will be fired, and Coughlin will step down.

When Will It Happen: Reese will be fired on Black Monday, and Coughlin will announce his resignation plans as the season winds down.

Bryce Brown, Running Back, Buffalo Bills

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

Why He's on the Hot Seat: When the Buffalo Bills traded a fourth-round pick in the 2015 draft for Philadelphia Eagles running back Bryce Brown, the general consensus was that Brown would factor into Buffalo's plans—both in the long and short term.

But Sunday's tilt against Kansas City marked only his second game action of the season, and it came in an important spot, with 5-3 Buffalo needing to down the 5-3 Chiefs to improve its playoff standing. Plus, the opportunity was great, with starting back Fred Jackson hobbled by a groin injury and Anthony Dixon being, well, Anthony Dixon.

And things were looking peachy for Brown, especially as he jaunted toward the end zone, looking all but certain to give Buffalo a 17-3 third-quarter lead. But his recurring fumbling issues followed him from Philadelphia, and he coughed the ball up at the worst possible moment—right as he was about to cross the goal line, and the ball went out of the end zone for a touchback and gave possession to Kansas City.

In a related story, the Chiefs would go on to win, 17-13.

After the game, Brown told Syracuse.com's Matthew Fairburn, "I mean, other than [the fumble], I thought I did pretty well," which is one of the funnier quotes you'll hear this year. It would be like the Royals saying that other than Game 7, it was a hell of a World Series.

While Brown's costly gaffe wasn't the sole reason the Bills lost, an argument can easily be constructed that it cost them the game. And with Brown battling for playing time, it's going to be an error he'll likely regret for quite some time.

Prediction: Brown will lose playing time to Jackson and Dixon and will lose an opportunity to be the lead back.

When Will it Happen: immediately