There are still 11 (or 12) games remaining in the 2022 NFL season, but for some teams, it’s time to press the panic button already. Teams that came into the year needing a fast start or having just high expectations, in general, have either not lived up to those lofty expectations or have not gotten off to the fast starts they needed.
There is still plenty of time to turn things around, but time is running out and the margin for error is about to be razor-thin. As we approach Week 7 of the 2022 NFL season, which teams are in the biggest trouble? Who is already pressing the panic button? Let’s take a look at the top three teams in an absolute frenzy after just six weeks.
Top 3 NFL teams in panic mode early in 2022
1. Arizona Cardinals
Things are bad enough right now for the Arizona Cardinals that you have Kliff Kingsbury apparently saying to the media that he will give up play-calling duties if it means the team will start winning games. As of right now, the Cardinals are 2-4 and with a win on Thursday night against the Saints, they will still be right in the thick of things as far as the NFC West is concerned since everyone else right now is 3-3.
In that regard, perhaps the Cardinals have the least reason of any team on this list to be smashing the panic button. They are getting DeAndre Hopkins back, injury news on Hollywood Brown wasn’t so bad, and the rest of the division has been average this year, at least record-wise. But the Cardinals just don’t really have anything right now that when you look at them you can say is their bread and butter. Perhaps Hopkins coming back will change all that.
Arizona has just been average or below average in almost every metric so far this season and the only hope they have is the current circumstances with their division. That’s not really an enviable position to be in.
2. Las Vegas Raiders
The Las Vegas Raiders, at last we saw them, put up a pretty good fight on Monday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. Unfortunately, the aggressiveness of Josh McDaniels simply did not pay off, and the Raiders ended up losing a close one to their division rivals. At this point, the Raiders are 1-4 and are coming off of a Week 6 bye.
Heading into this season, the Raiders made a ton of huge moves.
- Trading for superstar WR Davante Adams
- Re-signing QB Derek Carr
- Re-signing slot WR Hunter Renfrow
- Signing free agent Chandler Jones
- Trading for CB Rock Ya-Sin
Among other moves, these huge moves signaled that the Raiders were pushing for the status of title contenders under new head coach Josh McDaniels after making the playoffs last season. Again, as with anyone on this list, there’s still time for the Raiders to turn things around. But they are going to have to do it quickly.
In Week 7, the Raiders have a matchup at home against the Houston Texans. The Texans and their general manager Nick Caserio have plenty of familiarity with the way Josh McDaniels likes to do things but let’s be honest — this should be a get-right game for Las Vegas, right?
I don’t think anyone in Raider Nation wanted to go into the bye week at 1-4, but one step at a time this team can climb out of the hole, starting with the Texans. As of right now, though, the Raiders are projected to pick second overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
3. Denver Broncos
It’s probably safe to say there has been no team in the entire NFL more disappointing so far this season than the Denver Broncos. The Broncos brought in Russell Wilson in a big blockbuster trade over the offseason, and that trade has not paid dividends in the early going this season. Everyone in the NFL world has been making a mockery of the Broncos, with Russell Wilson the typical punchline.
It’s hard to blame them as Wilson cost the Broncos two drafts worth of picks, three players, and a quarter-billion dollars. The price to get a solution on paper at quarterback was so costly that no one can believe the early returns haven’t been good or even average. Or even below average, for that matter.
The Broncos’ offense has just been flat-out bad. They have no cohesiveness under new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who is also the primary offensive play-caller. Incidentally, he may also be the biggest reason things aren’t working right now, aside from the Broncos’ incompetence on the offensive line.
Wilson, for his part, has to play better, but the conversation right now is not just about him playing better, it’s about whether or not he’s fallen off the proverbial cliff. I find it hard to believe Wilson could possibly be this bad this fast but who knows?
At 2-4, the Broncos are only not in last place in the AFC West right now because the Raiders didn’t play last week. They already have two division losses, three losses in AFC play, and they have nothing to hang their hat on offensively. If any team in the NFL has ample reason to panic, it’s the Denver Broncos.