Gary Kubiak: What Does Monday Night Loss Mean for His Future With Texans?

Gary Kubiak was on the hot seat last season.

This season, his buns have now been placed on a Texas-size stove with the burner turned all the way up.

There's gotta be more heat there than a gallon of habanero extract.

This latest Texan loss on Monday night marks the sixth in the last seven games for the boys in red. They are a woeful 5-8 and going nowhere.

This was supposed to be the year. After last season's near playoff miss, this was the year, the year the Texans would overcome that Indianapolis speed hump that has broken their axle for a long time.

This was the year. Or not.

"It's a do or die year for all of us," Kubiak proclaimed at the end of summer. Unfortunately his Texans have been dying more than they have been doing.

That overtime pick by Josh Wilson that delivered the 34-28 victory to the Ravens was just another dagger in the Kubiak carcass.

This season looks light year's away from that 9-7 effort and you'd think that Texan owner Bob McNair might be thinking the same thing.

After last season, Brian Baldinger said this on the NFL Network: "Obviously Bob McNair is content with mediocrity."

Ouch.

This season would have to get a lot better to be considered mediocre, and considering that speed bump in Indianapolis has looked so very vulnerable, it seemed like this was the year for the Texans to make their move.

Kubiak's first draft class of players are now five-year veterans. He's had plenty of time. Five years is forever in the National Football League.

"Your job in this business is to get over the hump to play in January. That's where we need to go," is how Kubiak prefaced this season.

Schaub, whose mistake ended the game Monday night, had these preseason thoughts:

"We respect the heck out of Gary. We want to get him on the Super Bowl stage in Dallas this year."

Sorry Matt.

As for playing in January?

The only place the Texans will be playing is on a golf course in a warm climate.

As for Kubiak?

McNair controls the thermostat on the hot seat. It's his call.