With a week to go until the midpoint of the season, coaches are starting to take fire. Speculation is going around about who the next coach of this team and that team will be. Only a few coaches don’t have to worry about job security, such as Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick.

These coaches better hope they can turn it around, and quickly.

Dead Man Walking – Rex Ryan (Jets, 1-7)

People in New York expect big things. And not the big losses the Jets have been accumulating. Since their Week 1 win against the Raiders (the only winless team in the NFL this year), they have dropped seven straight and have the third worst point differential in the league. Since Ryan joined the team in 2009, the Jets have had only two seasons of over .500 ball, both coming in the first two years he coached the team. Since then, they haven’t had more than eight wins in a season. Currently, they are tied with Jacksonville for the second worst record in the league.

Although the Jets are below-average at many positions, the fire always falls upon the head coach.

Following their 20 point loss to the Bills on Sunday, Ryan was asked if he was worried for his job security. He responded with “No. I’m worried about our team. The team is always the focus. That’s the truth. I tell you that because it’s true. I’m not thinking about my future or anything else. I’m just trying to get this team to play better.”

A day after their blowout loss to the Bills, the back page of the New York Post had a picture of Rex Ryan with the caption “Fire Rex Today!” People are growing restless in New York. Rex Ryan now walks on the very same eggshells as Michigan’s Brady Hoke and Florida’s Will Muschamp.

Needs Some Wins – Mike Smith (Falcons, 2-6)

The Falcons have quickly fallen off the map. In Smiths’ first five seasons with Atlanta, he accumulated a very respectable 56-24 (.700) record, though only carried a 1-4 record in the postseason and never made it past the NFC Championship game. Things started to fall apart last year. After going 13-3 in 2012, the Falcons went 4-12 last year, arguably the most disappointing performance in many years.

Their running game is missing and their defense has been horrid, as they give up 400+ yards and over 27 points per game.

In their most recent heartbreaking 22-21 loss to the Lions on Sunday, Smith made some key coaching blunders that gave Detroit the chance to march down the field and make the game-winning field goal. At the two-minute warning, the Falcons had a 21-19 lead with the ball on the Lions 40-yard line. After running on the first two downs, an offensive holding penalty took them back ten yards. Instead of running again on third down to bring down the clock, Smith called for a pass play, which of course fell incomplete. In those three downs, they managed to knock off only fourteen seconds from the clock while the Lions’ used just one timeout.

The Lions then marched down the field to the Falcons’ 31-yard line with no timeouts remaining and only 34 seconds left. Amazingly, they called for a Joique Bell run, in which he got one yard. Instead of allowing the clock to run, Smith, for an unknown reason, called his third timeout; allowing the Lions to regroup and come up with a game plan on how to finish the game. A game they ended up winning.

Following the game, Smith said that he has not “done a good enough job” coaching this team and that he has let down his coaches, players, and fans.

If they can’t get back on track, which seems very likely at this point, Mike Smith could be headed out.

Must Avoid Implosion – Tom Coughlin (Giants, 3-4)

There is no doubt about Tom Coughlin’s successful career; nineteen year veteran head coach, 161-134 (.557) career regular season record, 12-7 (.632) postseason record, two Super Bowl wins, and the oldest coach in the NFL. However, everything good comes to an end at some point. This could be Coughlin’s time.

In the past five years, the Giants have only made the playoffs once (2011, Super Bowl champions). Carrying a 3-4 record this year, the Giants have an undistinguished offense and defense. Their playoff chances are very slim, which could lead to the end of a great career for Tom Coughlin.

Walking on Thin Ice – Marc Trestman (Bears, 3-5)

After taking over Lovie Smith’s 10-6 team in 2013, Trestman led the Bears to a disappointing 8-8 record last year. They have lost seven of their last ten games, and with all their talent, there is no excuse to be this bad. Trestman hired their offensive (Aaron Kromer), defensive (Mel Tucker), and Special Teams (Joe DeCamillis) coordinators, all of which are failing.

After every loss, Trestman starts the postgame with “This is a tough loss and it starts with me.” The Bears’ front office expected Trestman to get more out of Cutler after giving him $18 million a year last offseason. These 2014 Bears drop back to pass the third-most in the past decade and only average the eleventh most passing yards this season.

Although the Bears rarely fire anyone in just their second season as head coach (last was Jack Pardee 1975-1977), they have a valid reason to be thinking about it. The Bears haven’t made the strides they should have in the past years. Unless the Bears completely implode from now until the end of the season, Trestman’s job security should be intact for the time being.