There have been plenty of teams that have left much to be desired thus far through Week 4 of the NFL season. However these three NFL teams that have been particularly disappointing and need to turn their season around immediately if they want any chance of making the playoffs.
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The 3 Most Disappointing NFL Teams
Cincinnati Bengals
Perhaps no team has been more disappointing than the Cincinnati Bengals, mostly because of the lofty expectations that they had coming into the season. It was just last season that this team was in the AFC Championship game, so clearly the Bengals aren’t without talent. The main issue this season has been the health of star quarterback Joe Burrow as he’s been dealing with a calf injury through the first four games. Burrow has just 728 passing yards to go with two touchdown passes in the first 4 games this season. He’ll need to perform much better particularly over the next few weeks if the Bengals want to climb back into the AFC playoff picture.
However, the slow beginning of the season hasn’t entirely been his fault. In particular, the offensive line hasn’t protected him well and the defense hasn’t performed up to expectations. Cincinnati enters Week 5 in must-mode as they must defeat the Cardinals to avoid going 1-4 on the season. The Bengals have dug themselves into a hole, but they are just two games back in the division right now and they can’t afford to keep losing games.
Denver Broncos
It’s a new year, but the same result for the 2023 Denver Broncos. They thought that things would magically turn around under new head coach Sean Payton, yet that just hasn’t been the case. The good news is that Russell Wilson and the offense haven’t necessarily been the problem this season like it was in 2022. However, the defense has played terribly under defensive coordinator Vance Joseph. They allowed the Dolphins to put up a whopping 70 points on their defense in Week 3. That performance was followed up by allowing Justin Fields to look like an MVP candidate in their game against the Bears.
The Broncos defense needs to get a lot better especially before they start playing potent offenses like the Chargers and the Chiefs. The good news is there’s still plenty of time for Denver to turn around their season and make the necessary corrections, but they are ultimately lucky to be sitting at 1-3 and not 0-4 right now.
New York Giants
The Giants were supposed to be a playoff contender this season after signing franchise quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year, $160 million contract in the offseason. However, Jones and the offense have failed to perform so far this season as they still haven’t scored a first half touchdown through the first month of the season. The blame shouldn’t all fall on Jones’ shoulders because the offense as a whole has looked dysfunctional. In fact, the offensive line has failed to adequately protect him, especially with left tackle Andrew Thomas injured. The Week 4 game against the Seahawks is a good example of how the Giants have failed to protect Jones as they allowed a whopping 11 sacks in that game. Clearly, the offensive line needs to play better if Jones and the passing game are going to improve this season.
Meanwhile, the Giants running game has been basically non-existent so far this season with star running back Saquon Barkley injured. That has put more pressure on Daniel Jones and the passing game to carry the offense, which they have ultimately proven incapable of doing to this point. The Giants need Barkley to get healthy because the offense revolves around him and the Giants don’t have much of a chance to win without him. Either way, the schedule is about to get really tough for the 1-3 Giants, so it’s about time that they figure things out or start preparing for the 2024 NFL Draft.
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Main Photo: Denny Simmons – USA Today Sports
