The NFL season is five weeks old and 17 teams now sit below .500, officially at or near the bottom of the pile. While some of these underachievers may be losing their cool, not all of them need to. In general, many teams in the group — as is often the case in the NFL — are really only a handful of plays away from much better records. A couple of teams could argue they would be 5-0 with cleaner paths on their own end.
So, let’s unpack everybody. Which teams still have a hopeful (albeit tricky) path back in 2022? Which teams should be concerned more about the future? And which teams should, in fact, have a hand on that panic button?
Please breathe
Los Angeles Rams (2-3)
The Rams’ loss to the Bills was a mess for many reasons, including some frustration-aided decisions by quarterback Matthew Stafford, which is hardly a foreign concept. Stafford has a history of either trying to fix too much at once or being way too aggressive despite his underneath stuff being open (see: his first pick against the Falcons). Even in a win over the Cardinals, the Rams dropped two sure touchdowns and wound up kicking field goals.
The run blocking hasn’t necessarily been the problem — not elite, but not bad either. Cam Akers and the Rams’ backs have left yards on the field at times. That must improve, but head coach Sean McVay also might have to reach deeper into his running plays bag than he had to a year ago.
The Rams are facing the same problem every Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator who worked with Stafford faced at one point or another: If you can’t run the ball, no defense will ever come out of a two-deep shell. They’ll sit in it and fire-zone Stafford into the ground. Stafford is throwing the ball well enough, but he has to be better protected up front and by the run game.
Joe Burrow’s yards-per-attempt average has dropped from a league-best 8.9 last season to just 6.9 through five games in 2022. (Katie Stratman / USA Today)
Cincinnati Bengals (2-3)
Joe Burrow had the worst game of his life in Week 1 … yet the team still had the chance to win (it came up short in overtime). Cincinnati has since lost by three to Dallas and on a last-second field goal by Ravens kicker Justin Tucker (join the club). The Bengals are one of those teams that could realistically be 5-0 right now, but they also deserve the 2-3 record they have.
The problem is not always as simple as “protect Burrow better and play better,” although sometimes it is. Burrow has to be better, too. We can’t just erase his five-interception opener from our minds, even if he was pressured 18 times. The same goes for the brutal third-quarter interception he threw into a covered window at Baltimore (in what was a 10-10 game) because he never took his eyes off Ja’Marr Chase.
The protection issues are going to be there until the front office decides to fix them. In the meantime, Burrow must do what he always does: work around it and hone in on his reads and processing. Cincinnati has winnable games upcoming at New Orleans and against Atlanta before a big game at Cleveland.