5 Biggest Reality Checks Needed for NFL's Most Polarizing Teams Heading into Week 4
The first three weeks of the 2023 NFL season are in the books and the results of these games have provided more than enough data for teams to draw their own conclusions on where they are and where they are heading. While some clubs should be happy about how they started and feel good about their championship potential, others have some serious soul searching to do after a rough start to the year.
These slumping squads must make some adjustments based on how the first three weeks of the campaign have gone. Some of these moves should be significant, including personnel changes both on the field and in the coaching staff, if these franchises are serious about turning things around.
With that in mind, here are five polarizing teams that need a reality check heading into Week 4.
Chicago Bears May Need to Take a Quarterback in 2024 Draft
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The Chicago Bears were a trendy pick to make some noise during the 2023 season. After adding a playmaking wideout in D.J. Moore and bolstering the offensive line, Justin Fields and the rest of the offense looked poise to make a leap from a rebuilding team that finished with the worst record in football to a potential contender chock-full of promising young pieces.
Unfortunately for fans in the Windy City, it seems that the Bears have only regressed from last season. The team has not only come out of the gate with three consecutive losses, but it has been outscored by a 106-47 margin in those contests. Every single loss has been by double-digits, including an embarrassing 41-10 trouncing by the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday.
It's starting to feel like Fields may not be the answer for an organization that has been downright starved for a franchise quarterback. The 24-year-old flashed some promise last year, but ultimately finished 3-10 in his starts with a completion percentage barely over 60 percent. He did most of his damage on the ground—running for an impressive 1,143 yards and eight touchdowns—but still took a league-worst 55 sacks.
Rather than show he's made strides during his critical third season under center, Fields has been struggling and looks arguably worse than he did as a rookie. He's completing just 58 percent of his throws, has more interceptions (four) than touchdowns (three) and is on pace to take a concerning 74 sacks after he's been brought down 13 times in just three games.
While Fields has shown toughness—he recently tried to return to the game after taking a hard hit to the head before Moore pulled him away—while trying his best to succeed in a scheme that doesn't seem to be offering much help, he's also publicly put blame on his coaches for his struggles. Regardless of what the source of these issues are, Fields will need to figure things out quickly or the Bears may find themselves seriously considering a quarterback at or near the top of the 2024 draft.
Chicago traded out from the No. 1 overall pick and a chance to take C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young this year, but it's likely they won't give up another chance to reset the position. Expect them to give serious credence to moving on from Fields and looking at one of the top prospects as a potential solution to some longstanding quarterback woes.
Denver Broncos Should Reboot After Disastrous Start
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The Denver Broncos are one of the more expensive messes in NFL history. After investing heavily to acquire Russell Wilson last year and seeing him lead the team to a 4-11 record in his 15 starts, the new ownership group doubled down on the once-elite quarterback by trading for head coach Sean Payton this offseason. With the Broncos moving to 0-3 after being thoroughly embarrassed by the Miami Dolphins in Week 3, it's time for this team to start taking drastic measures.
The 70-20 loss that Denver suffered on Sunday was surprisingly only the third-largest margin of defeat in franchise history, but it was easily one of the all-time low points for this storied organization. It's the type of loss that leads to major changes from the top down, a process that should begin in the Mile High as soon as possible.
Dismissing defensive coordinator Vance Joseph should be at the top of the list. He oversaw a unit that not only allowed an absurd 726 yards of offense in Week 3, but also let the Washington Commanders—a team that mustered just three points and 230 yards of offense this past weekend—go off for nearly 400 yards and hang 35 points on his Broncos. Denver has forced just one turnover since the campaign started and now ranks dead-last in both yards and points given up on the season.
While getting rid of Payton and Wilson—who collectively cost the team a slew of premium draft capital to acquire—will be a tough pill to swallow, the deep-pocketed ownership group should be at least considering it at this point. Wilson will likely linger a bit longer due to the absurd amount of dead money attached to his contract, but Payton could be gone much sooner following his disastrous return to the sidelines.
The Broncos can also take calls for serviceable assets like wideouts Courtland Sutton and Jerry Jeudy, offensive tackle Garett Boles and safety Justin Simmons. Clearing these contracts off the books and recouping some of the draft picks they lost over the last couple years would be a fine way to start a rebuild. Barring a stark turnaround that seems borderline impossible at this point, it's the best move for the Broncos to make if they want to contend again in the next half-decade.
New York Jets Need to Add a New Quarterback
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The New York Jets had their high hopes for a championship-winning 2023 campaign go up in flames when Aaron Rodgers went down with a torn Achilles just four plays into his tenure with the organization. The organization was forced to turn back to Zach Wilson, the quarterback whose abysmal performances since entering the league as a No. 2 overall pick in 2021 directly led to the team's acquisition of Rodgers.
While Wilson did manage the remainder of Week 1 well enough to earn a surprising win over the Buffalo Bills, he's since reverted to his former self and has been largely a mess since taking over the starting job again. With the team now collapsing around him—players are getting into fights with their position coaches and publicly venting their frustrations with the offense—it's time for the Jets to realize that they cannot win with Wilson and find a passer who can take the reins until Rodgers is back in the lineup.
Wilson is simply not the answer for this team and could even be out of the league when his contract expires following the 2024 season. He's 8-16 as a starter—including 0-2 this year—with a career completion rate of 54.9 percent and 17 touchdowns against 22 interceptions. Despite having a fantastic, top-five defense last year, the team still finished with a losing record and missed the playoffs.
With Rodgers starting an innovative rehab plan and eyeing a potential return in time for the postseason, Gang Green shouldn't miss an opportunity to at least try and compete for a spot in the 14-team field. They aren't out of the running despite a 1-2 start and could turn things around with a steady hand at the helm. Mike White provided some semblance of a spark when he took over for Wilson last year and another quarterback could do something similar for the club in 2023. If current backup Tim Boyle isn't the answer, they'll have to look outside the organization.
The options remaining on the open market are slim—unemployed veterans Matt Ryan and Carson Wentz have both reportedly reached out to New York—but the team should explore trades as well. Kirk Cousins could be an ideal candidate to land with the Jets after his Minnesota Vikings started the campaign with three consecutive losses. Regardless of which direction the team goes, it's time to cut their losses with Wilson and get a new quarterback under center.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Need to Find Offensive Spark
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The Pittsburgh Steelers may be off to a 2-1 start with a share of the AFC North lead, but this team isn't as good as its record might indicate. The offense in particular is a major area of concern for the Steelers at this juncture and an area that could cause problems for the team as the schedule gets tougher in the coming weeks.
While Pittsburgh has beaten the rival Cleveland Browns—by the skin of their teeth after benefitting heavily from Nick Chubb's injury—and a bad Las Vegas Raiders team in back-to-back weeks, the most telling game of the season so far was a 30-7 defeat to the San Francisco 49ers in the opener. The Steelers were thrashed by San Francisco's elite defense, posting a meager 239 yards of offense in the blowout loss.
Kenny Pickett may be the next Steelers franchise quarterback, but so far he's not made enough progress for anyone to feel comfortable making that statement. The second-year signal-caller is only completing 59.6 percent of his throws—down from 63 percent as a rookie—and has just four touchdowns against three interceptions over the first three games of the season.
George Pickens is doing his best and has taken a leap in Year 2, but he's facing stiff coverage from opposing defenses who know they can key in on the wideout. He's reeled in 13 of his 23 targets, turning those catches into an impressive 238 yards and a score. The rest of Pittsburgh's receiving corps has combined for just 272 yards and a touchdown on 25 receptions.
Much of this blame may fall on offensive coordinator Matt Canada. The former quarterbacks coach turned offensive coordinator in 2021 hasn't fared well since taking over his current role. None of Canada's offenses have ranked better than No. 15 in passing yardage, including in 2021 when Ben Roethlisberger was still under center.
The Steelers are hoping to improve these woes by making Canada work more closely with Pickett. NFL insider Jordan Schultz reported Sunday that while Pittsburgh's offensive coordinator will still continue to call plays during games, he'll now also work directly with the 24-year-old passer each day.
If this move doesn't work, the next one the Steelers make should be more drastic. Getting rid of Canada and finding a coordinator who can install a system that better fits the skillset of Pickett and his teammates could provide the shot in the arm Pittsburgh needs to stay successful over the course of the campaign.
Tennessee Titans Must Start Rebuild by Trade Deadline
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Despite missing the playoffs last year, the Tennessee Titans opted not to forge ahead with a rebuild this offseason. The front office instead decided to run it back with the same offensive core that had earned the top seed in the AFC just two seasons ago—plus some notable additions like wideout DeAndre Hopkins—but that is looking like a major mistake after 1-2 start.
Tennessee's offense began to show its age and brittleness last year. The unit finishing as the third-worst in terms of yardage and fifth-worst in points scored, making it rather obvious some change was needed. Rather than forge ahead with a rebuild, Tennessee instead opted to gamble that a healthy Ryan Tannehill and a few additional pieces could return this group to prominence. That hasn't happened and likely won't before there is finally a wakeup call in the Music City.
Even Derrick Henry is struggling. While he returned from missing more than half the 2021 campaign to have his third Pro Bowl season, he had some issues with inconsistency throughout the year. Henry had a four-game stretch between Weeks 10 and 13 where he accumulated just 208 yards and a score on 75 carries. He's slumping right off the bat in 2023, amassing a pedestrian 163 yards and a single touchdown on 51 carries. With Tyjae Spears averaging over two yards more per carry and even outsnapping the starter in two of the team's first three contests, an heir could be on the roster already.
Tannehill should also be on the way out as soon as the team can find a taker for him. Despite getting a top receiver in Hopkins, the 35-year-old is completing just 59 percent of his passes—his worst mark since his rookie year—and has just one touchdown throw against three interceptions while taking an abysmal 13 sacks. He's clearly not the same quarterback that he was earlier in his Titans tenure and should be benched to give Malik Willis another shot, with Will Levis also a candidate to take over the reins at some point after the team used an early second-round pick on the rookie.
While having Willis or Levis in charge of the offense likely won't result in much success this year, the team isn't finding it anyway with the current starter. It's time for the Titans to admit this, move Tannehill before the trade deadline and sell off the remaining aging vets in exchange for young assets and draft capital with an eye towards the future.
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