There Are Some Very, Very Bad Teams In The NFL

There are some truly awful teams in the NFL this year, and Week 5 made that painfully clear. Despite only six games being scheduled for the early-afternoon window, four of the matchups ended with lopsided scores of at least two touchdowns. The four teams that lost by double-digits were the Raiders, Ravens, Jets and Giants. But they are far from the only bad teams in the league right now. 

New York Jets Are Downright Terrible 

The gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" in the NFL appears to widen each year, and the Jets have been on the wrong side of the line for quite some time. But this year might be the worst. New York fell to 0-5 with a 37-22 loss against the Cowboys, and the game wasn't even that close. 

The Jets trailed 30-6 heading into the fourth quarter before scoring a pair of garbage-time touchdowns. Everyone in the NFL has gashed the Cowboys' defense all season, but the Jets couldn't get anything going until the result was essentially decided. 

The Jets hired Aaron Glenn as head coach this offseason after firing Robert Saleh. It’s only been five games, but Glenn already knows his seat is warm.

Saints Beat Giants in "Someone Had to Win" Game 

In one of the battles between two bad teams, it was the Saints who prevailed over the New York Giants. Both teams are now 1-4 and both are bad. Jaxson Dart injected some much-needed energy into the Giants and led them to a surprising Week 4 win over the Chargers. 

However, the team came back to Earth in Week 5. The Giants actually led 14-3 before New Orleans scored 23 unanswered points to cruise to its first victory of the season. Rookie mistakes doomed the Giants and Brian Daboll is another NFL head coach who probably needs to keep his eyes on the "Help Wanted" section of the NFL job board. 

Panthers Beat Dolphins in "Someone Had to Win" Game 

Yes, I'm using that line again because it applies equally to this one. Sure, this one was far more entertaining and close than the Giants and Saints, but it was embarrassing for the Dolphins. They blew a 17-0 lead to a team that lost to the Patriots by 29 points last week. 

Miami has one win this season, and it came against the 0-5 Jets. If I were laying odds on the first NFL coach to be fired this season, it would have to be Mike McDaniel. The Dolphins are lifeless on both sides of the ball, they lack toughness and discipline and the explosive offense that became a McDaniel staple is gone. McDaniel is likely to be gone soon, as well. 

To its credit, Carolina had a strong performance in a 30-0 win over Atlanta in Week 3, but it's not a good football team, either. Dave Canales probably has a longer leash than some of the other coaches of bad teams, since the Panthers don't have as much talent as some of the other squads, and he's at least putting some wins on the board. 

What is There to Say About Raiders? 

In a sea of awful performances on Sunday, the Raiders stood out among the pack. Like the Giants, the Raiders led early. And, like the Giants, the Raiders allowed an onslaught of unanswered points. Unlike the Giants, though, the Raiders only had a 3-0 lead before surrendering 40 consecutive points against the Colts. 

Indianapolis entered the red zone six times and scored six touchdowns. Las Vegas, conversely, went 0-4 on scoring red zone touchdowns, turned the ball over twice, had a blocked punt, and just looked completely noncompetitive. 

Good for Pete Carroll not retiring after the Seahawks moved on from the longtime head coach, but how long does the 74-year-old want to continue to coach when the team he's putting on the field is this bad? 

Pete Carroll watches from the sideline during Sunday’s game as tensions mount in another tough outing for the Raiders.

(Christine Tannous/IndyStar/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

How Did The Ravens Get Here? 

I'm not ready to put the Ravens in the same category as the Jets, Dolphins, Giants, Saints, Panthers, Titans and other terrible NFL teams, but there is something seriously wrong in Baltimore. Yes, Lamar Jackson missed Sunday's game against the Texans. 

But that doesn't excuse the 34-point loss against Houston. The Texans had one win coming into the game, and that came against the winless Titans. Houston averaged just 16 points in its first four games before dropping a 40-burger on the Ravens. 

That's the real issue for Baltimore. The defense is completely non-existent. It allowed four of five opponents to score at least 37 points; the only team the Ravens held to less was the Cleveland Browns. Sure, the schedule has been relatively tough. Three of their losses have come against Buffalo, Detroit, and Kansas City. But that's no excuse for a team that was tied for the shortest odds to win the Super Bowl coming into the season. 

It doesn't get much easier with a home game against the Rams in Week 6 before the Week 7 bye. Of the teams in this article, Baltimore is certainly the most likely to turn things around. But it's getting late early for the Ravens. 

The Browns Stink, Too 

Cleveland pulled off a shocking upset over the Packers in Week 3 and gave Minnesota all it could handle in London to start the Week 5 Sunday slate. But the truth is that the Browns' offense is abysmal. It's too bad, too, because the defense is legitimate. If the Ravens offense had the Browns defense, that would be a major Super Bowl contender. 

But they don't, so both teams are just bad right now. 

Honorable Mentions

Once Joe Burrow suffered his likely season-ending injury, the Bengals entered the realm of horrible NFL teams. I briefly mentioned the Titans, and they're probably the worst of the bunch. 

The sad part is that arguably a quarter of NFL teams are just not good at football. The number might be higher, honestly. For a league that prides itself on parity, the league needs to find a solution to this problem. Yes, there are bad teams in the NFL every year. But it seems to be much worse this season. 

So many games are just utterly unwatchable, and that's a bad look for the most popular sports league in the United States. Of course, it probably doesn't matter. People are going to watch the NFL no matter what. Still, it'd be nice if the product were better.