The Cowboys’ defense and Texans’ offense rank among the most worrisome units in the early NFL season.
The Eagles’ passing attack got a major reprieve in Week 3, easing concerns about the defending champs’ capabilities.
Bo Nix’s deep passing was off the mark against the Chargers, but the Broncos shouldn’t fret about their quarterback’s trajectory.
Maintaining composure is an essential step for NFL players and coaches to navigate difficult stretches. But when the gulf between expectations and results widens in the early season, panicking can be a natural – and justified – response for a fan base.
Team leaders are plenty aware of that dynamic, too, and occasionally feel compelled to publicly state that everyone within an organization is keeping their cool.
‘Nobody’s in panic mode,’ Detroit Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said after his unit came out flat in a Week 1 loss to the Green Bay Packers. “The players have been awesome, great attitudes. We’ve had great preparation, just like we did last week. The bottom line is it’s just about execution and the details of everything.’
Morton’s remarks weren’t merely for show, as the Lions bounced back with offensive outbursts in each of the next two games. But several other teams have established troubling trends through three weeks of the season. While some will shake off the struggles down the stretch, others might find it much more difficult to move on.
Here are several notable pressing issues for 10 teams, along with our panic meter ranking from 1-10 (10 being the most serious) of just how bad each problem is:
Kansas City Chiefs’ offense
Perhaps no offseason talking point fizzled out more quickly than the notion of the Chiefs rediscovering their bygone explosive ways. With speed merchant Xavier Worthy sidelined by a shoulder injury in the season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers and Rashee Rice serving a six-game suspension, Patrick Mahomes has had to fight for a mere toehold, repeatedly scrambling to keep defenses off balance and give his skeleton-crew receiving corps a better shot at making plays. Even a get-right game against the New York Giants yielded just 22 points and 306 yards, and Andy Reid was left to brush off another heated dust-up with Travis Kelce.
Panic meter – 6: Unlike many other teams on this list, the Chiefs actually have a legitimate personnel remedy awaiting them with Worthy on track to return this week and Rice’s suspension complete come the middle of October. It’s probably not fair to pin a full-fledged resurgence to the offense’s glory days on either one, but the two could help establish some level of functionality for a unit that seldom finds anything easy within structure. Maybe a turning point is in sight after Kelce expressed optimism this week that things would start clicking soon. Nevertheless, it’s clear that frustrations are already simmering. With Kansas City’s unprecedented run of luck in one-score games already turning on its head in the team’s 1-2 start, there’s considerable pressure for the offense to find its footing no later than the Week 9 bye.
Dallas Cowboys’ pass defense
Jerry Jones got his wish with a stouter run defense in the aftermath of the Micah Parsons trade. For opposing offenses, however, there’s been little incentive to try to knife through a unit that one can simply soar over instead. The Cowboys’ 9 yards allowed per pass play is easily the worst figure in the league, according to Next Gen Stats, and their six receptions of 40-plus yards allowed through the air are double the next closest teams. Somehow, though, things might be even worse than the bottom line suggests. Simple communication and schematic breakdowns have frequently left receivers roaming free downfield and in the end zone. And the competition has been far from killer, with the likes of Caleb Williams and the since-benched Russell Wilson leveraging their showdown with the sieve of a secondary into breakout games.
Panic meter – 9: Dallas’ defense has been such an unmitigated disaster that Jones was compelled to give a vote of confidence to Matt Eberflus, saying last week he wasn’t considering firing the defensive coordinator. First-year coach Brian Schottenheimer said the team will make schematic and personnel adjustments, but it’s more than fair to question what the vision was here, especially following the highly ridiculed trading away of Parsons. Eberflus’ zone-heavy scheme is ill-suited for this group of defensive backs, and a pass rush that was expected to cobble together pressures and sacks from a largely unproven collection of edge defenders hasn’t made much of a dent. At least the return of cornerback DaRon Bland and implementation of defensive end Jadeveon Clowney should only reshape this unit for the better. Perhaps, too, the secondary can be allowed to be more physical with receivers off the line of scrimmage so as to disrupt opposing quarterbacks’ timing. But with Sunday’s matchup against Jordan Love and Green Bay looming, the bombardments might not let up anytime soon.
Houston Texans’ offense
No one can accuse Houston of not taking action in the face of a crisis. When the Texans’ attack flatlined last season, leadership responded by firing offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and bringing aboard Nick Caley, a Sean McVay acolyte who promised to empower C.J. Stroud with more freedom and responsibility at the line of scrimmage. But this might be the ultimate case in no confusing activity for achievement, as the Texans’ changes – including the reworking of a front that surrendered 54 sacks last season – have been nothing short of calamitous. The league’s worst scoring offense is the only unit yet to notch a touchdown in any of its trips to the red zone, and Stroud called out the team for ‘lollygagging and going through the motions’ in its season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Rams. With the franchise’s 0-3 start standing as its worst opening record since 2018, the defending AFC South champs are at risk of squandering a sublimely talented defense and setting the franchise – and Stroud – back in a major way.
Panic meter – 10: Good luck finding any quick fixes here. Noxious elements appear embedded throughout almost every fiber of the Texans’ offense, making it nearly impossible to cleanly extract any one problem area. Of course, everything starts up front, where rookie left tackle Aireontae Ersery and the rest of the replacement choices have made clear they’re not up to the task of safeguarding Stroud. Coach DeMeco Ryans said this week that pushing tempo could be one way of assisting the quarterback, and it’s clear he’d also benefit from a more lively run game and enhanced creativity in top target Nico Collins’ usage. But there’s no easy way of escaping all that ails this unit, so it might take an even more comprehensive overhaul this offseason to give Houston what it truly needs.
Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive line
From hiring Pete Carroll and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to drafting Ashton Jeanty at No. 6 overall, the Silver and Black centered much of its offseason on repairing the league’s worst run game. Somehow, however, things appear as bad as ever for the reworked rushing attack. The Raiders are tracking behind last year on expected points added per rush (-0.28 vs. -0.25), yards per carry (3.1 vs. 3.6) and rushing yards per game (73.1 vs. 79.8). While Kelly’s sporadic usage of Jeanty has drawn scrutiny amid expectations the team would be installing a bell-cow back, the real problems have started up front. Multiple defenders swarming the rookie in the backfield has become a routine sight, and the blown blocks have repeatedly left the offense in a hole.
Panic meter – 8: Las Vegas entered the season a long way off from competing with the rest of the AFC West. It can’t hope to catch up until it resolves this problem, which necessitates wider action beyond repairing any one weak link in the chain. Carroll has largely resisted the idea of making any significant moves, including putting right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson back at his more natural position of center. Said Carroll this week: ‘We got the guys we got, and we need to keep developing and keep building on it.’ But any development likely won’t take hold until much later in the year, when the season could already be lost. The running game’s true launch might have to wait until 2026, when the team can deploy what’s shaping up to be a significant sum of cap space (more than $95 million, according to Over The Cap) to fortify its front.
Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray-Marvin Harrison Jr. connection
The inability for the Cardinals’ star quarterback and top wideout to get on the same page consistently has gone from a curiosity in Harrison’s rookie campaign to a potential crisis in the receiver’s second season. Through three contests, the 6-3, 220-pound pass catcher has reeled in just 10 of 17 targets for 142 yards. A potential nadir came in the third quarter of Sunday’s loss to the San Francisco 49ers, when Harrison got behind the defense on a busted coverage but allowed an underthrown Murray pass to fall incomplete after the ball slipped between his hands. After the game, Harrison bemoaned that ‘I’m not doing my job at a high-enough level at the moment.’
Panic meter – 7: In isolation, Arizona should be able to shrug off the drop. But there’s a larger, more problematic dynamic at play: Murray and Harrison simply don’t seem to mesh well with one another. Both players dismissed questions about the receiver’s target share through two weeks, with Harrison calling it a ‘silly conversation.’ But there’s nothing trivial about the inability to get things going for one of the most talented receiver prospects in years. Offensive coordinator Drew Petzing has done his part to remedy the matter, diversifying Harrison’s utilization after a fairly static and predictable deployment in the receiver’s rookie year. But even with the 2024 No. 4 overall pick posing a significant threat on in-breaking routes, Murray still seems disinterested or unwilling in making consistent use of the middle of the field. Scheming touches for Harrison would be a natural solution for some teams, but Arizona hasn’t shown an inclination to alter its game plans that way. Something has to give, however, because a Cardinals offense that lost battering-ram back James Conner can only go so far without better efficiency beyond go-to tight end Trey McBride.
Atlanta Falcons’ passing attack
Let Atlanta’s response to a 30-0 shutout at the hands of the Carolina Panthers guide the determination of how dire things are for this group. Not only did was wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard fired, but the team also opted to move offensive coordinator Zac Robinson from the booth to the sideline. That’s a lot of change after just three weeks for an attack that was expected to make a significant leap and become more explosive in Michael Penix Jr.’s first full season as a starter. Still, coach Raheem Morris has tried to quiet the consternation after the moves, shutting down any notion of benching the young quarterback. ‘He had a bad day,’ Morris said Wednesday. ‘The team had a bad day.’
Panic meter – 6: Morris’ assessment of Penix is largely fair given the promise the second-year signal-caller has shown in other spots. But there are concerning emerging trends here beyond the lone data point of the shutout, which Morris called ‘an all-time low.’ Despite peppering the perimeter while leaving the middle of the field a wasteland, the Falcons haven’t thrown a touchdown to a wide receiver or a tight end yet. The degree of difficulty ratcheted up in the red zone, with just two of seven trips yielding touchdowns. Maybe getting Robinson closer to the action will allow for more support for Penix and smooth out the operational kinks that have dogged the unit. And if the team can build leads or keep things close, Bijan Robinson and the ground game can do more of the heavy lifting. But if Atlanta is to end a seven-year postseason drought that ranks as the second-longest active streak, the offense needs a lot more from the abundant skill-position talent that prompted the rampant offseason optimism.
Philadelphia Eagles’ passing offense
If this exercise had taken place after two weeks, the Eagles’ ability – or willingness – to air it out assuredly would have been the marquee matter. A 2-0 start could hardly be described as unblemished, as Philadelphia stirred plenty of unrest by shunting aside any semblance of a downfield passing component to its attack. First-year offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo finally dusted off the deep shots in the second half of a 33-26 win over the Rams, but he did so out of necessity with his group facing a 26-7 hole shortly after halftime. The shift was a welcome departure for A.J. Brown, who caught all six of his passes for 109 yards in the final two quarters after being rendered largely invisible through the first 10 of the season. ‘At times, you can feel like we’re being conservative. And I don’t think it should be like that,’ Brown said after the game. ‘It should be, let your killers do their thing.’
Panic meter – 3: Unlike many other teams on this list, the Eagles have the luxury of questioning their mindset rather than their aptitude. That Jalen Hurts was able to draw such a sharp contrast from what the team had previously engineered was legitimately surprising, especially since he did so amid Lane Johnson’s absence after a neck injury. But no one should mistake this problem for a mere matter of will. Hurts still has to navigate the repeated zone looks defenses are throwing at him at an elevated rate, with the explosive plays to Brown and DeVonta Smith no longer as easily accessible as they were last year. Might pushing the tempo create some more favorable looks? Patullo backed Brown’s line of thinking this week, but budging from the more deliberate approach could be difficult for him to actually buy into. At least now, however, Philly should have some confidence that it can tap into a more aggressive mode.
Los Angeles Rams’ secondary
In opening against two floundering passing attacks from the Texans and Tennessee Titans, the Rams managed to obscure the deficiencies on the back end of their defense. Then came the Eagles’ rally on Sunday. Hurts racked up 209 yards and three touchdowns after halftime merely by giving Brown and Smith chances to make plays against Darious Williams and Emmanuel Forbes. In all, the first game without Ahkello Witherspoon, who landed on injured reserve with a broken clavicle, has to be considered a major flop for the team’s cornerback group, which wasn’t able to hold up despite the pass rush and run defense leading the first-half charge. With Witherspoon expected to be sidelined through mid-December, it’s unclear exactly how a leading NFC contender shores up its most glaring shortcoming.
Panic meter – 8: The Rams are accustomed to operating on the cheap at cornerback, largely resisting any major moves since trading away Jalen Ramsey in March 2023. But Sunday revealed this group might not be able to withstand the loss of Witherspoon for the long term. Of particular concern is how the modestly built Forbes (180 pounds) and Williams (192 pounds) can match up against bulkier wideouts like Brown, who easily tossed aside the latter on a back-shoulder fade for a 9-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Taking on the Indianapolis Colts’ Michael Pittman Jr. (6-4, 223 pounds) should provide a solid litmus test for the issue. Regardless, Los Angeles shouldn’t hesitate to look into free agent Stephon Gilmore and any properly priced trade candidates, as coverage collapses could keep the Rams from joining the NFC’s top tier of contenders.
Baltimore Ravens’ run defense
In their year-plus partnership, Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry have set an impossibly difficult pace for opponents to keep up with. This year, however, it’s been a full-on stampede on both sides of the ball, with Baltimore’s defense ranking 30th with 149 rushing yards allowed per game. After the Lions trampled the Ravens for 224 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, cornerback Marlon Humphrey conceded, ‘We’re just not very good.’ And at 1-2, John Harbaugh has been left to answer whether the league’s highest-scoring offense will go to waste.
Panic meter – 5: Facing two of the league’s most prolific rushing attacks and formidable offensive lines in the Lions and Buffalo Bills might have placed exacerbated this matter, but it’s not one that seems likely to merely fade away. The 96- and 98-yard scoring drives reflect that this defense simply doesn’t have a reliable way of getting off the field regularly or even forcing offenses into obvious passing situations. Getting defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and edge rusher Kyle Van Noy back at some point after they sat out Monday should provide decent boosts, as would cleaning up the persistent tackling whiffs. But a front that’s regularly getting moved backward sorely misses retired run-stuffer Michael Pierce, and it might be time to bring in a big body via trade to hold down the interior. The Ravens should be given a slight benefit of the doubt given their track record of coalescing down the stretch, particularly on defense, but substantial progress is far from a certainty.
Denver Broncos QB Bo Nix’s deep passing
Pushing the ball downfield was one of the most closely dissected angles of Nix’s pre-draft evaluation, as Oregon’s offense allowed the quarterback to do a sizable chunk of his damage at or behind the line of scrimmage. Despite his growth in this area over the course of his rookie campaign, however, narratives about his shortcomings resurfaced after he misfired on three deep shots in Sunday’s 23-20 loss to the Chargers. Overthrowing Marvin Mims Jr. on a flea flicker that looked sure to produce a 63-yard touchdown especially stung in the close call. But Sean Payton has stiff-armed any notion that Nix’s missed opportunities are in any way an emerging trend, saying that addressing them ranked ’50th on my to-do list.’
Panic meter – 2: Nix might not be on point, but Payton is. The miscues costing Denver the most stem from a rushing attack that has repeatedly put the offense in unfavorable spots with its 30th-ranked success rate, according to Next Gen Stats. The offense isn’t designed to operate from that sort of a hole, and the early-down struggles are having a ripple effect. Furthermore, Nix finished fifth in passer rating (108.3) on throws of more than 20 air yards in 2024, per Next Gen Stats, and landed somewhere around the league average in a number of other categories. It’s not reasonable to conclude that he somehow lost his touch overnight. Unless things deteriorate further, it’s best to follow Payton’s lead and label this the product of some near misses and a small sample size.
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
