24. Arizona Cardinals
(3-8-1. Last week: 22)
While Arizona’s offense has enjoyed a new level of explosiveness and efficiency as head coach and offensive shot-caller Kliff Kingsbury has adjusted his personnel philosophies, the Cardinals’ defense continues to confound and disappoint. A unit that came into its game against the Rams on Sunday ranked 28th against the pass in Football Outsiders’ opponent-adjusted metrics was absolutely gashed by Jared Goff, allowing Goff to complete 24 of 31 passes for 323 yards and a touchdown in the first half alone. Goff wound up with 424 yards and another score as the game got out of hand in the Rams’ favor, and the 34-7 final score is a sobering indicator that while Kingsbury’s offense is on the right track, the defense could need a serious offseason rebuild.
23. Los Angeles Chargers
(4-8. Last week: 25)
Weird stat of the week: The Chargers are 4-8, yet they have a point differential of plus-3. Meanwhile, a team that has found heartbreaking ways to lose games all season did it in a different way against the Broncos on Sunday. With nine seconds left in the game and the score tied at 20, Denver quarterback Drew Lock threw deep downfield to receiver Courtland Sutton. Chargers cornerback Casey Hayward was called for a questionable pass interference penalty that took the ball from the Denver 28 to the Los Angeles 35.
here's the penalty that set up the Broncos' game-winning field goal with 3 seconds to play pic.twitter.com/9ic2KaTLNs
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) December 2, 2019
One play later, Brandon McManus kicked a 53-yard field goal that gave Denver the win. After the game, Chargers coach Anthony Lynn expressed his displeasure.
Anthony Lynn on the defensive PI call at the end of the game: “Officials are not perfect, but I did not like that call at the end of the game. I don’t think that’s the way you end a football game. To make that call, it’d have to be clear and obvious.” pic.twitter.com/H2R2GVh5yC
— Eric Williams (@eric_d_williams) December 2, 2019
Given the vagaries of the pass interference situation this season in the NFL, Lynn should not be surprised that the infraction was neither clear nor obvious. Nor should we be surprised that the Chargers had their hearts ripped out again late in the game.
22. Cleveland Browns
(5-7. Last week: 17)
During the week leading up to Cleveland’s rematch with the Steelers and the unleashing of all the bad feelings regarding the infamous brawl that ended that first game, Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens’ decision to wear a “Pittsburgh Started It” T-shirt seemed goofy and immature. The Steelers took it as an insult, and took it out on the Browns in a 20-13 win that just about eliminated Cleveland from any hope of playoff contention. The same team thought to be capable of a deep playoff run when the season started now looks more like one of those hastily assembled “dream teams” that look great on paper, but can’t quite get it together on the field. More disconcerting than anything Kitchens wore was the fact that the Steelers adjusted to his offense and shut it down completely in the second half. Kitchens and his Browns have a lot to figure out if they’re going to make a strong finish, even with two games against the Bengals in their last four games.
21. Jacksonville Jaguars
(4-8. Last week: 24)
There are bad quarterback signings, and then, there are bad quarterback signings. The Jaguars pushed themselves into the italics department with the four-year, $88 million contract with $50.125 million guaranteed they gave to Nick Foles this past offseason. He was awful against the Buccaneers’ defense on Sunday, completing seven of 14 passes for 93 yards and an interception and two lost fumbles before he was pulled in favor of sixth-round rookie Gardner Minshew. Head coach Doug Marrone named Minshew the starter for the rest of the season on Monday, which leaves Jacksonville with a massive albatross in Foles’ contract. Foles has a 2020 cap hit of $21.875 million if the Jags want to keep him, and a dead cap hit of $33.875 million if they want to move on. The contract makes him virtually untradeable, and while the team may believe Foles could rebound in 2020, there’s no indication based on recent performance that this will be true. Marrone, if he’s still around, will have to choose between killing his own offense to validate Foles’ existence, or developing Minshew’s considerable potential. This situation is proof of the NFL’s ultimate maxim: When you sign a quarterback to a massive contract, you’d better be sure about it.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(5-7. Last week: 23)
The Bucs selected LSU linebacker Devin White with the fifth overall pick in the 2019 draft, and when you take a linebacker that high, you obviously want him to be the fulcrum of your defense — even in an era where linebackers generally aren’t. Over the team’s past two games — wins over the Falcons and Jaguars — White has appeared to be just that, looking like the second coming of Derrick Brooks at times. After working his way through tonsillitis and an MCL injury early in the season, White has 10 solo tackles, three tackles for loss, three quarterback hits, two sacks, an interception, and a fumble returned for a touchdown in his past two games. Bruce Arians’ offense still has major issues, most of them tied up in Jameis Winston’s epic inconsistency, but the franchise appears to have hit big on its high-ticket defensive draft pick in 2019.
19. Philadelphia Eagles
(5-7. Last week: 16)
Since they beat the Patriots in Super Bowl LII at the end of the 2017 season, the Eagles have compiled a 15-15 record. Not what fans expected from a team with one of the brightest head coaches and one of the better young quarterbacks in the NFL. But as much as Doug Pederson has tried to coach his way through Carson Wentz’s injury issues, an offense with no receivers able to gain separation on a consistent basis, and a defense that can swing from pretty good to absolutely abysmal in the blink of an eye, it’s not going well. Sunday’s 37-31 loss to the Dolphins was perhaps the nadir of the Pederson era. Over the past three seasons, teams were 45-0 when holding a 14-point second-half lead against opponents with records five or more games below .500. That streak ended when Miami was able to crawl out of a 28-14 third-quarter deficit. Philly’s special-teams unit was embarrassed by the most creative touchdown of the season, cornerback Jalen Mills was absolutely torched all day, and though Wentz had a decent day, it didn’t matter. The Eagles still control their own destiny in the NFC East with two games against the Giants, and one each against the Cowboys and Redskins, but that’s more an indictment of the NFC East than anything else.
18. Carolina Panthers
(5-7. Last week: 15)
One week after a close loss to the Saints in which Carolina seemed like a team on the verge of doing something relevant this season, it all fell apart against a Redskins squad that has spent most of 2019 insisting on losing in the most agonizing ways possible. The Panthers one-upped Washington on Sunday by blowing a 14-0 first-quarter lead and allowing the Redskins to score 29 unanswered points. Ultimately, Carolina ended its final drive on the Kyle Allen sack below that lost 23 yards. Allen ignored a wide-open receiver in the end zone and eventually fumbled on the play, which should go down as the worst of the 2019 season.
The Panthers have now lost four consecutive games, and this marks the second season in a row in which they’ve collapsed down the stretch — last season, they took a 5-2 record halfway through to a 7-9 finish. There comes a point where Ron Rivera and his staff have to be a bit concerned about their jobs.
17. Chicago Bears
(6-6. Last week: 21)
If only Mitchell Trubisky could play the Lions every week, the Bears wouldn’t have a rather large quarterback problem. They can’t, of course, which means that they do, but Trubisky’s ability to beat the daylights out of Detroit’s defense over the past month (two games, 45 completions in 61 attempts for 511 yards, six touchdowns and one interception) has given Chicago two crucial wins and a glimmer of hope. It’s difficult to say these performances represent a larger positive trend — it’s more likely an indictment of a Lions defense that was supposed to be much better than this — but with an inconsistent defense and a running game that has struggled to gain traction, Trubisky will have to maintain that pace against the Cowboys, Packers, Chiefs and Vikings to finish the season if this team is to make an improbable postseason run.