5 – Washington Football Team
“The only way to win is to play to win” – Washington HC Ron Rivera.
“The Team” has one of the most uncomfortable QB situations in the NFL, with miracle man Alex Smith, franchise hopeful Dwayne Haskins, and the legendary Kyle Allen. Their problems outweigh their successes, with their lone win being dictated by the equally troublesome Philadelphia Eagles. Amazingly, they’re only 1 game out from winning the division, but that’s not as much of a blessing as you’d think. Selling some of the farm and putting this season in the books before week 8 is the best thing that they can do, for their fans, and the future of the fanbase.
4 – Minnesota Vikings
“I don’t know. I’ve been telling them we can’t start winning until we stop losing and right now we are doing things to beat ourselves with the turnovers and sacks and safeties and penalties on third downs on defense. I’m just not going to deal with it anymore.” – Vikings HC Mike Zimmer.
The Vikings have proven their lack of faith in the team this season with a trade sending DE Yannick Ngakoue to Baltimore for a 2021 3rd-rounder and a conditional 2022 5th-rounder. A defense that’s grasping at straws and an offense that has lost all identity after the loss of former star WR Stefon Diggs, Minnesota has heartaches by the number and it’s not getting better as the season progresses. Their roster turnover has been epic this offseason as they lean into a rebuild, whether they already knew it or not.
3 – Houston Texans
“I think that we would like for Deshaun to be who we know he can be. We’re going to work to try to make that happen.” – Texans Interim HC Romeo Crennel.
If the Texans fired former HC/GM Bill O’Brien back in January, they might not have had to rebuild at all. Instead, he traded away the game’s #1 WR for pennies, ruined his QB’s development, tanked their 2020 season, and then dipped. Hopefully, the new front office and coaching staff can build around their existing stars, but it’s not looking good for the boys down in Houston, who went from contenders to tankers in the span of one offseason.
2 – Atlanta Falcons
“Raheem is a strong leader and a talented coach that has adapted to a variety of roles since joining the Falcons in 2015” – Falcons President Rich McKay.
With the replacement of Vic Fangio in Atlanta, the Superbowl Falcons we knew are officially gone. Do they still have a hall of fame QB in Matt Ryan? Yes. Is Julio Jones still one of the best WRs in the NFL? Yes. However, the rest of this team needs a lot of work. Their new game-planning will immediately help salvage some of this season, but it may be better to just start focusing on next year instead. Now, they’ll only be hurting their future by weakening their draft stock. With solid foundations and a franchise QB, the time for Atlanta to rebuild is now.
1 – New York Jets
“You wouldn’t know our record by the way our team practices” – Jets HC Adam Gase
Was there any doubt? Whatever Gase meant by the comment above, it seems tone-deaf in comparison to the way New York has looked all season. The former ‘QB whisperer’, Gase has ruined just about everything he’s come into contact with, in a perverse take on Midas’ touch. Sam Darnold may not be a salvageable franchise QB anymore, but we’ll never know until they clear the room and let someone else try with him. The rest of the AFC East can count their blessings for every week that the Gase show stays in the big apple, but with a locker room that looks like this one, a fire sale is in order to attain assets for the next Jets HC.