1 Goal NFL's Worst Teams Must Accomplish in Final Weeks of 2024 Season
As Week 14 of the NFL season approaches, the top half of the league is focused on chasing the Lombardi Trophy. The bottom half...well, they have other priorities.
It's easy as fans to look at the teams who are currently projected to pick in the top 10 of the draft and think their No. 1 priority is to tank. It's not that simple, though.
Coaches, front-office types and players are all fighting to retain their jobs or at least secure another contract somewhere else.
The reality is that every team should be looking to prove something as we head down the stretch. Whether it's finding out whether a coordinator is worth keeping around, how much progress a young player has made throughout the season or making a decision on a looming contract extension, even the bad teams have some objectives beyond playing for draft position.
Let's take a look at what those goals should be for each team in the league with three or fewer wins.
Jacksonville Jaguars: Find Out What Parker Washington Can Do with Consistent Targets
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The Jacksonville Jaguars weren't supposed to be a juggernaut this season, but they were at least supposed to be respectable. Keeping the Texans honest in the race for the AFC South was a reasonable expectation.
Instead, they are in pole position to hold the No. 1 pick in the draft at the end of the season.
There's obviously a lot that has gone wrong for the Jaguars and a lot of questions that need to be answered. It would be surprising if head coach Doug Pederson is back next season, and general manager Trent Baalke might also be on the hot seat.
Regardless, one thing the team can spend the next four games figuring out is what Parker Washington would do with more targets. The second-year player has done nothing mostly this season, but he turned 12 targets into six catches for 103 yards and a touchdown against the Houston Texans last week.
The Jaguars should look to continue feeding him targets. Trevor Lawrence is likely out for the rest of the season after heading to the injured reserve with a concussion, but the Jags can still find out who their receivers should be next year.
Christian Kirk is a potential cut candidate. Jacksonville could save $13.7 million against the cap by cutting or trading the veteran receiver in the offseason.
The 28-year-old suffered a season-ending injury for the second season in a row. If the Jags feel Washington can replace him in 2025, it would make sense for them to part ways.
Las Vegas Raiders: Figure Out If Antonio Pierce Should Be Head Coach
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In general, teams don't give head coaches enough time to grow, and firing them after one season is a bad idea. However, Antonio Pierce is kind of a special case.
The 46-year-old was named Las Vegas head coach after a strong 5-4 finish to the season after taking over as the interim. Under him, the Raiders played much better defense and rallied around the former player.
There's no denying Pierce had a light resume for an NFL head coach, though. He spent four years with Arizona State including one year as the co-defensive coordinator and another as the defensive coordinator, but he only spent two seasons as the Raiders linebacker coach before getting promoted to interim HC in his third year in that role.
This year, the Raiders are 2-10 and the defense is ranked 28th in points allowed per game. Pierce's pick for offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, was already fired.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported there's "a lot of buzz that the Las Vegas Raiders could one-and-done Antonio Pierce come January" and noted that his "mismanaged situations" in a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs didn't help.
The Raiders are in prime position to draft one of the top quarterback prospects in next year's draft. The biggest question they have to figure out is if Pierce is the head coach they want in place to develop that quarterback.
With the Buccaneers, Falcons, Jaguars, Saints and Chargers on tap, the Raiders should be competitive in at least a few of those games. Pierce has to show he can manage those games.
New York Giants: Show Growth in the Secondary
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The New York Giants offense might be a lost cause at this point of the season. The franchise has made it clear it will be going in a new direction at quarterback next season, head coach Brian Daboll is on the hot seat, and the offensive line is among the worst in the league.
They've lost seven consecutive games and the offense has scored no more than 22 points and was held to single digits in three of those contests.
The defense, however, has a real shot at showing progress. It's a group with two rookies in Tyler Nubin and Andru Phillips who look like long-term solutions. The Giants will have some decisions to make at cornerback in the offseason. Deonte Banks has struggled this year, Adoree' Jackson is a pending free agent, and Cor'Dale Flott is still only a borderline starter.
Shane Bowen is in his first year as defensive coordinator with the team. Thus far, the results haven't been great. The Giants are giving up the second-highest passer rating in the league and are last in the league in rushing defense.
The rushing defense isn't likely to be fixed. Dexter Lawrence is on injured reserve, and it's tough to fix that without a nose tackle like him.
The secondary is where Bowen and the Giants can make some headway. If the player and the team can get on the same page with their scheme and show improvement, it will set them up to compete in 2025 and potentially save some jobs.
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New England Patriots: Get Young Pass-Catchers More Involved
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The Patriots might be frustrated by the fact that they are just 3-10 heading into their late bye week, but Drake Maye's rookie season has been good enough to offset some of it.
The forst-year signal-caller is 14th in ESPN's QBR metric. That's incredibly impressive considering the offensive line the rookie is playing behind. It's 32nd in pass block win rate and 31st in run block win rate.
Offensive-line play is one of the hardest things to fix during the season. There are no great alternatives on the free-agent market, and the Patriots have a clear talent issue at the position.
The best thing they could do over the final stretch of the season is to find a way to get their young pass-catchers more involved in the offense.
The Pats could still use a No. 1 receiver this offseason, but the other roles are theoretically up for grabs. Between Kashon Boutte, Ja'Lynn Polk, Javon Baker and DeMario Douglas, they have four receivers on the active roster who are 23 or younger.
Last week, Boutte led that group with six targets, Douglas saw four and Polk only got one. That's fairly close to their respective season averages. Boutte (5.38 targets per game) and Douglas (4) are seeing a decent amount of looks, but Polk (2.58) should be getting more looks as the season comes to a close.
Getting more out of Polk and even seeing an appearance from Baker would be a good development to close out the year.
Carolina Panthers: Continued Improvement from Bryce Young
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When the Carolina Panthers made the decision to bench Bryce Young in September, it looked like the 2023 No. 1 pick might be done with the franchise just over a year into his run.
That speculation might have been a bit premature.
The 23-year-old has made a dramatic turnaround since taking back over as the starter in Week 8. At least, it's starting to look that way.
Young put up two of his best stat lines in the last two weeks. His 263 yards in a 30-27 loss to the Chiefs and 298 yards in a 26-23 loss to the Buccaneers were the second and third-highest outputs of his career.
It isn't just the stats, though. He's reportedly been more vocal and in command of the offense since returning from his benching.
It all sounds good and it would be a great story to see the Alabama product overcome early struggles in his career to live up to his promise as a top pick. However, consistency is crucial for a quarterback and he is going to need more than two good games in losing efforts to prove he's a franchise quarterback.
If Young can continue his stretch of strong play over the final weeks of the season, it would allow the Panthers to stick with him at quarterback. That would be good from a team-building perspective as they could focus using their resources on building the roster around him rather than starting over at quarterback.
New York Jets: Figure Out if D.J. Reed Should Be Re-Signed
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In some ways, D.J. Reed is going to be a harbinger for how the Jets plan on approaching the offseason. His contract voids at the end of the season, and New York will have to make a decision about whether it brings him back.
At 28 years old, he is right at the point where his age could start getting the best of him. His play has slipped a little as the season has worn on.
Over the last three games, he has allowed 11 receptions on 16 targets for 128 yards and a touchdown. Those aren't terrible numbers, but they also don't compare to his three-game stretch in Weeks 3-5 when he allowed just three receptions on 15 targets for two yards.
Dominant stretches come and go for cornerbacks so Reed's decline over the season could just be a blip in the radar.
However, the Jets will need to tread carefully. If they are again pushing their chips to the middle of the table and expecting to compete, then re-signing the veteran is a no-brainer. But if they realize they are in rebuild mode, then it might be a position where they allow Reed to hit free agency and replace him with a draft pick.
Some of that could depend on how well Reed and the rest of the defense play the rest of the way. If they can finish the season strong, it might inform the Jets' decision-making.
Tennessee Titans: Make a Decision on Will Levis
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Will Levis is a prime example of how hard it can be to know when it's time to move on from a young quarterback.
His first two seasons have not been pretty. The 25-year-old owns a 5-13 record as starter, he's ranked 31st in ESPN's total QBR and has 12 turnovers in nine games this season.
Then again, he still has some ridiculously good plays on film. It's clear he has the arm strength, athleticism and physical tools to make it in the league. There are valid points on both side of the Titans' quarterback argument.
Lately, Levis has been putting forth a stronger case to get another year. Since coming back from injury in Week 10, he has seven touchdowns to two interceptions and Tennessee has earned a road win over the Texans.
That alone might not be enough to keep the Titans from exploring QB options in the draft. Head coach Brian Callahan wasn't around when they picked Levis, and it's possible he may want a new quarterback.
If Levis is able to continue his recent level of play to close out the season, then the decision becomes much easier. He has an opportunity to force the Titans to give him another season, but things could go the other direction if he goes back to turning the ball over multiple times a game.
Cleveland Browns: Give Elijah Moore the Opportunity to Earn New Contract
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The Cleveland Browns don't have a ton of big decisions to make in terms of pending free agents, but Elijah Moore is an exception.
The 24-year-old receiver came to Cleveland via trade after two years with the Jets. Most of his time with the Browns, he was unable to break through. He either didn't see many targets or wasn't able to get loose on those he did get.
Since Deshaun Watson has been out of the lineup, that has changed. With Jameis Winston at quarterback, Moore has averaged 9.6 targets per game for 5.6 catches and 62.2 yards. It's the kind of production you'd expect from a No. 2 receiver.
It's not guaranteed to be enough for the Browns to re-sign him at this point, though. Jerry Jeudy is also enjoying some breakout performances, and Cedric Tillman had a lot of success before missing time with a concussion.
The Browns still get Tillman for two more seasons on a rookie contract, and Jeudy is on a team-friendly deal through the 2027 season.
Cleveland has an emerging receiver room, and Moore could be the final piece to solidify the group for the next few seasons. However, the Browns need to see more of his recent form before it makes sense to give him a new contract.
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