22. Cincinnati Bengals
Is it officially and finally time to write the eulogy for the Cincinnati Bengals?
The Bengals have special personnel offensively and it’s going to be a shame to see that offense left out of the 2024 NFL playoffs. Joe Burrow has 15 touchdown passes over the last four games for the Bengals and nearly nothing to show for it. The Bengals are one of the most disappointing teams in the NFL at 4-8 but among the NFL’s worst this year, they are undoubtedly the “best”.
I think we’re going to see a huge effort by the Bengals in the 2025 offseason to fix that defensive side of the football. We’ve seen the Bengals sort of over-correct their areas of weakness since Joe Burrow came aboard but this team is almost exclusively focused on the offseason. And if they end up losing a 9th game soon, I don’t know how much longer Zac Taylor is going to keep his job as head coach of this team.
The more the Bengals lose, the closer they get to potentially entering Travis Hunter or Will Johnson territory in the 2025 NFL Draft…
21. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys might have started a winning streak a little too late, but finishing strong wouldn’t be the worst thing for this franchise after all that’s transpired this year.
The Cowboys have been ravaged by injuries including injuries to their most important players on either side of the ball, but Cooper Rush has made enough plays the last two weeks in Dak Prescott’s absence to help Dallas to two straight divisional wins.
But let’s be honest – how could the Cowboys have lost to the Giants at home, even with their backup quarterback in the mix?
The Cowboys were just so strapped this offseason against the salary cap that it was always going to be tough for them to improve a roster that had lost so much in free agency. Not to mention, the loss of Dan Quinn has been bigger than anyone in Dallas could have possibly imagined.