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 that 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.
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