Assigning Blame for Every Team Eliminated from 2024 NFL Playoffs
With three weeks left in the 2024 NFL season, over a quarter of the league has been eliminated from playoff contention. While not every team now out of the postseason mix was expected to be good, there are some surprises among the group.
The Cleveland Browns, for example, were a playoff team a year ago. The New York Jets were widely expected to contend with a healthy Aaron Rodgers behind center. The Jacksonville Jaguars sit with three wins after posting nine-win seasons in both 2022 and 2023.
These teams are among those already looking ahead to the offseason. While each has some obvious roster needs to address in free agency and the draft, it also needs to pinpoint the biggest mistakes made in 2024 in order to avoid them in 2025.
With this in mind, let's take a look back on what transpired for the NFL's nine non-contenders and who or what is to blame for their biggest failures.
Teams are listed in alphabetical order.
Carolina Panthers
1 of 9
The Blame Goes To: General Manager Dan Morgan
The Panthers are outliers on this list because, for as bad as the team has been, it feels like Carolina still has a bright future.
The Panthers won two games in 2023, and they weren't expected to be very competitive this year. The primary goal was always to develop second-year quarterback Bryce Young, and rookie head coach Dave Canales is starting to succeed in that task.
After spending some time on the bench watching and learning from journeyman Andy Dalton, Young reentered the starting lineup and has looked far more comfortable than he did before the break—well, up until his four-turnover meltdown in Week 15, anyway.
"It does seem—if Young continues to progress as he's been—that he has earned the opportunity to be their starter next year, and everyone hopes, beyond," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said on December 1 (beginning at the 1:25 mark).
The 2023 No. 1 overall pick has shown enough that he should remain the starter in 2025. The Panthers have also been more competitive down the stretch—narrowly losing to the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Philadelphia Eagles—so Canales probably deserves another year too.
However, Young and Canales have both been saddled with one of the NFL's least-talented rosters. That falls on general manager Dan Morgan, whose "marquee" acquisitions included the likes of Jadeveon Clowney, Robert Hunt, Damien Lewis and Diontae Johnson, who was traded at the deadline.
Simply put, this was never a team with the talent needed to make a playoff push. That's somewhat understandable, as Carolina was so bad in 2023 that a one-year turnaround was never likely.
If the Panthers hope to make positive strides in 2025, though, they need to do a better job of managing their $34.1 million in projected cap space and add some legitimate difference-makers to this roster.
Chicago Bears
2 of 9
The Blame Goes To: The Decision to Retain Matt Eberflus
If we're being perfectly frank, most of the big mistakes we saw in 2024 can be traced back to poor decisions made by team ownership. We can't simply point the finger at team owners, though, since they're not going to fire themselves.
The Chicago Bears' biggest mistake—possibly shared by club ownership and general manager Ryan Poles—was retaining head coach Matt Eberflus. He went 10-24 in his first two seasons and did nothing to suggest he could turn Chicago into a contender or develop a young quarterback.
The Bears, of course, dumped Justin Fields in the offseason and then used the No. 1 overall pick on Caleb Williams.
The 23-year-old has shown flashes this season, but he and the rest of the team have underperformed pretty consistently. Bad coaching has been a big part of the problem. Chicago was regularly ill-prepared for road games—Eberflus was fired with a 3-19 road record—and the Bears struggled with simple things like clock management and situational awareness.
Things haven't been any better under interim coach Anthony Brown, though it's hard to blame him. He went from being the quarterbacks coach to head coach in a matter of weeks—he briefly replaced fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron before Eberflus was dismissed.
If Chicago wants to compete in 2025 and see Williams become the long-sought franchise QB the Bears need, experience must be a priority in the coaching search. They can't afford to hire another first-time head coach who is learning on the job while also trying to teach Williams and reverse Chicago's fortunes.
According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Chicago is expected to target "some type of offensive-minded head coach that can get the best out of Caleb Williams and develop him to the fullest potential."
That approach would be logical, but the front office shouldn't dismiss experienced former head coaches like Mike Vrabel or Brian Flores just because they have defensive backgrounds.
And if the Bears do hire a first-time head coach—like Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson—they had better be sure he's truly ready to run the whole show.
Cleveland Browns
3 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Cleveland's Refusal to Abandon the Deshaun Watson Experiment
It remains unclear whether Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski or general manager Andre Berry ever truly wanted Deshaun Watson, or if the 2022 trade to acquire him was directed by franchise owner Jimmy Haslam.
It's also unclear whether the decision to stand by the quarterback through two wildly disappointing campaigns was made by the front office.
What is clear is that Cleveland has been a more competitive team when Watson has been out of the lineup. That was obvious when Joe Flacco sparked last year's playoff run, and it's been obvious in the weeks since Watson was lost to another season-ending injury.
In Cleveland, Watson has been, arguably, the worst quarterback in the league. He's played poorly, been unwilling to take chances and provided nothing in the way of leadership. Go back and watch a Browns game from early this season and you'll see a quarterback who simply doesn't care.
Yet, the Browns kept trotting out their $230 million mistake week after week until a torn Achilles finally allowed them to make a change. Even worse is the fact that their decision to abandon Flacco in the offseason—ensuring Watson wouldn't see any real competition for the starting job—all but ensured Cleveland wouldn't have a chance to contend in 2024.
Watson will be back in 2025, according to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones. That's not surprising, seeing as how the 29-year-old has two years left on his fully guaranteed contract and would trigger a $172.8 million dead-cap hit if released.
If Cleveland hopes to right the ship, though, it can't bring him back as the unquestioned starter. Jameis Winston—who can at least lead but has an alarming penchant for turnovers—and Dorian Thompson-Robinson probably aren't the answer, so the Browns need to be in the quarterback market next spring.
Cleveland has plenty of other needs to address, but it'll have no chance to compete in 2025 if the plan is to build around Watson once again.
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Jacksonville Jaguars
4 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Head Coach Doug Pederson
The Jacksonville Jaguars have a talented roster. That was evident when they made the playoffs in 2022 and notched another nine-win season in 2023. However, they repeatedly underwhelmed this season, even before star quarterback Trevor Lawrence landed on injured reserve with a concussion and a shoulder injury.
The blame lies firmly with head coach Doug Pederson, who has struggled to put a competent product on the field. Jacksonville's 32nd-ranked defense has been atrocious, and its offense hasn't been much better.
Even with Lawrence healthy and behind center, the Jags' offense too often felt disjointed. Their offense ranks 26th in scoring and has converted just 35.2 percent of its third-down attempts—the seventh-lowest rate in the league.
Pederson has regularly failed to have his squad prepared for games and has been no better at in-game adjustments. What's worse is that he's been unwilling to truly take accountability for his team's struggles.
"As coaches, we can't go out there and make the plays, right? It's a two-way street," he told reporters after Jacksonville's 0-4 start to the season. "So, you know, you guys can sit here and point the finger all you want and it's fine."
Pederson helped the Jaguars succeed in his first year on the job, but Jacksonville now feels like a franchise stuck in neutral and incapable of getting onto the right track. Therefore, the idea that the Jags will look for a new head coach in the offseason is unsurprising.
"The people to whom I'm talking to believe Jacksonville is likely to come open, and the question there is whether GM Trent Baalke will get to stay to pick the next coach to replace Doug Pederson or if the Jags will change both spots," ESPN's Dan Graziano wrote on December 11.
At this point, the Jaguars simply can't stick by Pederson and expect anything to change in 2025. They have too much talent and too much invested in their quarterback to maintain the status quo.
Las Vegas Raiders
5 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Antonio Pierce's Hiring Decisions
There's almost certainly a large portion of the Las Vegas Raiders fanbase that believes hiring Antonio Pierce as the full-time head coach was a mistake. However, he did get promising results down the stretch in 2023 and clearly had the support of his players.
The Raiders obviously haven't been good this season, but they haven't had stability at quarterback either. Blaming Pierce for the injuries suffered by Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O'Connell—and the underwhelming play they've largely provided when healthy—wouldn't exactly be fair.
However, it is fair to blame Pierce for some of the hiring decisions he made in the offseason. How he watched Luke Getsy continually get poor results in Chicago and decided he should be his offensive coordinator is anyone's guess.
Pierce did have enough sense to fire the 40-year-old in early November, though.
Hiring Getsy wasn't the only misstep the Raiders head coach made in the offseason either. He assembled a bloated coaching staff that hasn't operated efficiently.
Players reportedly voiced their concerns about the day-to-day operation during a November meeting.
"Players had issues with the schedule not being efficient. There was a lack of organization and 'wasting time,' and there was a 'lack of discipline and accountability,'" CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones wrote.
Las Vegas will almost certainly have a new starting quarterback in 2025, and if general manager Tom Telesco keeps hitting on draft picks, it'll have a more talented roster too. However, the Raiders may also have a new head coach running the show.
"[Franchise owner] Mark Davis had the chance to stand behind Antonio Pierce at the owners meetings and he didn't," ESPN's Adam Schefter told The Pat McAfee Show.
Pierce, himself, may not be the problem. Whether or not the Raiders make a change, though, they must ensure they have a capable and unified staff in place.
New England Patriots
6 of 9
The Blame Goes To: General Manager Eliot Wolf
Things are not going well for New England Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo. The team has only occasionally played competitively in 2024, and there seems to be some dysfunction among the staff.
Mayo appeared to blame offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt after New England's latest loss when asked about not using rookie quarterback Drake Maye as a dual-threat.
"I've covered the league for 20 years, I've never seen a head coach do that," Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer told NBC Sports Boston's Sports Sunday (h/t Conor Ryan of Boston.com).
Mayo may or may not be the right coach for New England long-term, but it's impossible to look at the Patriots' roster and expect any results other than those we've seen. This is a talent-starved team with significant deficiencies at key positions like wide receiver and along the offensive line.
Let's not simply ignore the fact that New England only won four games with Bill Belichick at the helm a year ago. While the legendary coach served as the de facto general manager during his time at the top, Eliot Wolf must shoulder the blame for the current mess.
Wolf could have invested more into the offensive line, targeted a legitimate No. 1-caliber receiver for the young quarterback or added premier talent to a defense that was already starting to crack in 2023. He didn't, choosing instead to add the likes of Antonio Gibson and K.J. Osborn while leaving $35.6 million in unused cap space—still third-most in the league.
Maye has flashed enough potential that the Patriots should feel comfortable building around him in 2025, but they'll actually have to do some roster-building if they want to field a competitive team.
The Patriots are projected to have a league-high $132.6 million in 2025 cap space, and Wolf must take an aggressive approach in free agency if New England is going to turn things around.
New York Giants
7 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Quarterback Daniel Jones
It appears that, for now, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen will be safe in 2025.
"I don't think there's a strong appetite for change," one source told CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones in November.
Things could certainly change over the final three weeks of the season, but it's not hard to understand why New York might want another look at Daboll and Schoen.
The head coach showed in 2022 that he can lead a team to the postseason. And aside from his decision to extend Daniel Jones after that season, the GM has done a respectable job of building the roster.
Schoen did allow Saquon Barkley to depart in free agency, but let's be honest, the running back wouldn't be having the season he is in New York.
The Giants never had a shot to compete this season because of poor quarterback play. In retrospect, extending Jones was a massive mistake. He was a major liability this season, throwing for just eight touchdowns with seven interceptions and a lowly 79.4 QB rating.
Even with rookie wideout Malik Nabers leading a new and improved offensive supporting cast, the Giants rank dead-last in scoring this season. It's hard to win games when your team can't put points on the board.
Things haven't been markedly better since Jones was released, as the Giants have been forced to rotate between Drew Lock, Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle—an underwhelming QB trio if ever there was one. However, New York's decision not to bring in any real competition for Jones has gotten the team to this point.
The good news for Giants fans is that Jones—who finished his New York tenure with a 24-44-1 record—is already gone. The team will have a new starting signal-caller in 2025, be it a free agent like Sam Darnold or a rookie prospect such as Colorado's Shedeur Sanders.
That won't guarantee Daboll and Schoen are able to put a winning product on the field, but it will give them a chance to operate without one of the league's least efficient signal-callers holding back the offense.
New York Jets
8 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Giving Far Too Much Power to Aaron Rodgers
In theory, adding Aaron Rodgers to a team with a too-level defense and young offensive playmakers like Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall made sense. In practice, though, it's been a disaster for the Jets.
Franchise owner Woody Johnson essentially molded his entire organization around the 41-year-old quarterback, and that has proved to be a mistake. Bringing in "Rodgers' guys" like offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, wide receiver Allen Lazard and wide receiver Davante Adams hasn't yielded success.
And Johnson has blamed pretty much everyone but Rodgers at this point.
Hackett was demoted early in the season, head coach Robert Saleh was fired and general manager Joe Douglas is also gone.
If there was a power struggle behind the scenes, the 41-year-old QB won it, and that hasn't worked in New York's favor. The future Hall of Famer hasn't played well this season, which probably should have been expected given his age and last year's torn Achilles. Just as importantly, he has seemingly deflated the locker room.
"It's like Aaron Rodgers has completely sucked the air out of the building," former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason told WFAN's Boomer and Gio in November. "...since he has come here, every player on this team has deferred everything to him."
New York's defense, which ranked third overall in 2023, has taken steps backward since Saleh was ousted. The offense has only occasionally flashed since Hackett was demoted and Adams was acquired in an in-season trade.
Somehow, the Jets have become worse than they were with Zach Wilson at quarterback last season. That team won seven games, and New York must win its final three games to equal that mark.
Betting on Rodgers may have been worth the gamble, but it busted the Jets.
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Rodgers wants to play in 2025 but not for New York. That should be just fine for a Jets team that desperately needs a fresh start with a new signal-caller.
Tennessee Titans
9 of 9
The Blame Goes To: Quarterback Will Levis
The jury is still out on rookie Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan, who has posted a 3-11 record and fielded the league's 27th-ranked offense.
The 40-year-old, who previously served as the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive coordinator, was widely expected to improve that side of the ball.
It's fair to wonder, though, how Callahan's offense might look with a competent quarterback behind center. Second-year signal-caller Will Levis has been a liability more often than he's been an asset.
The Kentucky product has a 79.8 quarterback rating, has turned the ball over 15 times in 11 games and has only finished one of Tennessee's three wins.
Mason Rudolph, by comparison, delivered two wins in his five appearances this season.
It's impossible for a team to win consistently when its quarterback is constantly giving the ball to the opposition. Callahan acknowledged as much following Levis' four-turnover game in Week 15.
"It's just there's too many negatives that don't give us a chance to win a game," the Titans coach told reporters. "That's where we're at right now is we're trying to find ways to win games if we're not getting enough positive plays in a row from the quarterback position."
Callahan will turn back to Rudolph for Week 16 and, quite possibly, for the rest of the season. Tennessee should seek a new starting quarterback in the coming offseason.
Sticking with Levis for this long did make sense. The Titans used a 2023 second-round pick on the 25-year-old, and he's continually flashed athletic upside and immense arm talent. However, he continues to struggle with basic things such as pocket awareness, ball security and decision-making.
Levis has held back a team that has been solid in the running game (17th in yards per carry) and quietly good defensively (second in yards allowed). It's time for the Titans to move on and find a signal-caller who can at least manage the game without actively hurting his team.
Only then can Tennessee get an accurate read on Callahan's prospects as a head coach.
*Cap and contract information via Spotrac.
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