24. Cleveland Browns
Browns play Monday night vs. Broncos
I think just about the entire NFL world was absolutely shocked to see the Cleveland Browns come out against their division rival Pittsburgh Steelers and get a win last Thursday, which now feels like it was a month ago.
The Browns have seen a nice uptick in production offensively since Jameis Winston has been stacking starts and nobody on that team is playing better offensively than wide receiver Jerry Jeudy. And Jeudy is getting hot at the perfect time because he’s about to have to go face off against his old team – the Denver Broncos – and his old college teammate – Pat Surtain II – on Monday Night Football.
The Browns are 3-8 this season but obviously the majority of their struggles have come thanks to injuries and the incompetence of Deshaun Watson. This is a team with so much talent defensively and a lot of nice pieces offensively, that it’s hard to count them out of playing the role of spoiler as the season progresses. And that’s exactly what they’re going to try to do on Monday night against the Denver Broncos.
The Browns need to finish their season well to prove that ownership made the right call extending both GM Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski.
23. New Orleans Saints
Too many injuries for the New Orleans Saints this season. The Saints dropped a home game against the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday despite the fact that a playoff spot by way of winning the NFC South is still very much there for the taking. Every team in that division has at least six losses so far this season and the Saints could have pulled within one game on Sunday with the Falcons losing.
But alas…
There’s still time for something weird to happen, but the Saints fired Dennis Allen in-season and it’s much more likely that this team is destined for the top 10 of the 2025 NFL Draft than they are to sneak into the NFL playoffs as the NFC South champions.
But this is the NFL and weird stuff happens all the time, right?
That would be one of the great upsets of the year if it happens. The Saints look more and more every week like they need a hard reset as an organization.