NFL hot seat watch: Rex Ryan could be the next head coach out after Dennis Allen’s firing

We're a quarter of the way through the 2014 NFL season, which means it's time to start looking at which head coaches could be entering their final games in charge of their teams. Every year there are a few coaches who are clearly on the hot seat, and with each game their chances of staying or leaving shift. We've actually seen one head coach lose his job already, as Dennis Allen was fired by the Oakland Raiders on Sept. 29.

Coming into this season, there was someone firmly on the hot seat, perhaps more than any other coach, who is well on his way to saving his job: Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. Most thought he was going to be fired this past offseason and some thought he'd get canned even before that. But he's kept his job and, shockingly, it's paid off through four weeks. The Cowboys are 3-1, off to their best start in a long time, with a winnable game against the Houston Texans coming up.

The New York Jets are in a bad way. Geno Smith has not panned out and the other options on the roster aren't exactly inspiring. Head coach Rex Ryan managed a couple strong seasons when he took over the team, but the past few years have been rough. Most expected he'd be gone this past offseason, but he's getting another chance.

The Jets have failed to make the postseason in each of the last three campaigns, and if Ryan wants to save his job then he'll need to guide the Jets back to the playoffs. New York sits at 1-3 so far, so a trip to the postseason isn't impossible but is unlikely. The lone team the Jets have managed to beat: the Oakland Raiders in Week 1. Since then they've dropped competitive matchups to the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and Detroit Lions.

With a Week 5 game against the San Diego Chargers coming up, it's hard to imagine the Jets will begin righting the ship just yet. Ryan is definitely in the biggest current danger among NFL coaches.

Whether it's deserved or not, Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone is on the hot seat. There's a new ownership group in Buffalo, and at this point Marrone and general manager Doug Whaley are auditioning for jobs elsewhere next season. Marrone is only in his second year at the helm, and there have been some positives so far.

Unfortunately, quarterback EJ Manuel has been benched in favor of Kyle Orton, and that doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. Once you bench a young quarterback like that, it's incredibly hard to go back to him with any amount of confidence. Marrone has to work with what he's got, and what he's got is admittedly not much.

It certainly doesn't help that Marrone and Whalen gave up their 2015 first-round pick in order to move up and draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins, a fine player who doesn't have a stable quarterback to throw him the football. It all goes back to Manuel, and the decisions to draft him and to bench him could lead to Marrone's eventual departure.

This one is a little iffy. Jeff Fisher probably should be on the hot seat, and the St. Louis Rams really shouldn't give him nearly as much time as he got at his last job. But he probably isn't at risk because he's got a convenient excuse: quarterback Sam Bradford tore his ACL, meaning the Rams are left with virtually nothing at the quarterback position. Fisher can use that as a rationale to keep his job.