Is It Time for These NFL Teams to Hit the Panic Button?

Six weeks down. Eleven more to go. It’s roughly one-third of the season in the books already and the cream is starting to rise to the top. On the other end, there are a number of teams who are probably reaching for the panic button. Of the 32 teams in the NFL, 13 have losing records while another four are at .500 (3-3). 

Of those 18 teams, there are a few that are not sweating it. It’s a long season and they’ve got the rosters and the schedule to get back on track. One of the 3-3 teams, for example, is the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners lost two division games by a total of four points and their other loss is to 5-0 Minnesota. San Francisco is still a +700 favorite to win Super Bowl LIX at BetUS.com. 

The New York Jets, on the other hand, firmly placed a hand on the panic button and hit it. Last week, they fired head coach Robert Saleh after just five games. The Jets (2-4) have lost three straight but have an opportunity to rebound when they play in primetime on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With the Jets having dialed 911 early, what other NFL franchises might need to do the same? 

The Sky Isn’t Falling…Yet

A handful of teams don’t need to panic just yet. Denver started the season 0-3 with rookie QB Bo Nix struggling. Fast forward and the Broncos are now 4-3 and Nix is playing much better. The Broncos beat the Saints on Thursday Night Football 33-10 for their fourth consecutive win. 

The Bengals are once again off to a terrible start, going 2-4 in their first six games. Cincinnati was an early favorite to win the Super Bowl, but the Bengals have fallen off, now sitting at +2800 to win a Lombardi Trophy. Cincy has won two of its last three games and they have a roster, especially on offense, that is playoff-worthy.

Miami is 2-3 but has played most of the season without starting QB Tua Tagovailoa. Don’t pull the plug just yet on the Dolphins. Tagovailoa is supposed to return to the lineup soon. It’s the same for Seattle. The Seahawks are 3-3, but they are tied with San Francisco atop the NFC West. A win over Atlanta this week would get the Seahawks back on track. 

Low Grade Panic

In the NFC East, the Cowboys and Giants are thinking seriously about that panic button. The Giants lost to Cincy last week 17-7 but had a nice win over Seattle the week prior. Daniel Jones seems to be playing a little better, and the Giants defense is pretty solid. New York still has issues on offense though and they only average 16 points per game. If that doesn’t change, the losses will pile up and somebody may need to hit the eject button on head coach Brian Daboll.

Cowboys fans are probably already trying to release the ejector seat under head coach Mike McCarthy. Dallas is 3-3 and the NFC East is still up for grabs. Dallas has had some injuries on defense and it showed last week when Detroit absolutely smoked the Cowboys 47-9. A few more bad losses and who knows what Jerry Jones will do. McCarthy is safe for at least another week. The Cowboys are off this week before a game at San Francisco next Sunday night. 

The Saints took one on the chin in Thursday Night Football. They were never really in the game as Denver jumped out to an early lead and won 33-10. New Orleans is now 2-5, but like Dallas and the Rams (more on them in a moment), the Saints have some serious injury issues. They played last night without QB Derek Carr and their top two wide receivers. Don’t forget, a healthy New Orleans started the season 2-0 and scored 40-plus points in both wins.

The Rams are just 1-4, but they have suffered some of the worst injury losses in the league. Their offensive line has been decimated and they’ve been without WRs Puka Nacua and Cooper Kupp. They may get Kupp back this week and if they can get some of their offensive line back, Los Angeles, led by QB Matthew Stafford, should be able to get back on track. 

Hit the Button

Teams like Carolina and New England knew going into this season that it would be an uphill battle. It’s the first season for Dave Canales in Carolina and for Jerod Mayo in New England. Both franchises knew 2024 would be the first step in rebuilding their respective franchises. That said, a few others didn’t come into this season knowing it would be a rebuild. The Jets were one.

The Jets have already hit the panic button, firing Saleh and turning the season over to interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich. Next in line are the Cleveland Browns. Deshaun Watson is a complete disaster at quarterback and the Browns are just 1-5. Watson hasn’t thrown for over 200 yards in a game yet this season. Still, head coach Kevin Stefanski says Watson is his guy. Even if he does bench Watson, Jameis Winston isn’t much of an upgrade.

If you go back to last season, the Jacksonville Jaguars have now lost 10 of their last 12 games. Head coach Doug Pederson has lost it. QB Trevor Lawrence appears to have lost it as well. Among starting quarterbacks, Lawrence ranks 29th in completion percentage. Jacksonville has a minus-65 point differential. Only Carolina is worse. Things won’t get easier either. After the Jags’ pillow fight with New England in London this week, they face a five-game stretch of the Packers, Eagles, Vikings, Lions, and Texans.

The Raiders appeared to have hit the button when they traded away WR Davante Adams this week. Head coach Antonio Pierce benched QB Gardner Minshew and went with Aidan O’Connell last week. Now, he might go back to Minshew. Regardless, the quarterback situation is a mess. So is the defense. The Raiders only have two takeaways and rank 27th in points allowed per game (27.2 ppg). The offense ranks 27th in scoring and leads the NFL in turnovers (12). There’s nowhere to go but up for the Raiders. The problem is how to get there.