It’s time to check in on the teams that can’t get out of their own way. The first few weeks of the 2022 NFL season have been somewhat unpredictable, but there are always a few teams we expect to disappoint their fanbases. Now let’s get into the Powerless Ranking for Week 6.
Teams on the doorstep: Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, Arizona Cardinals
Houston had a Bye in Week 6, which gives the Texans extra time to gameplan for the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7, who will also be coming off a Bye. It’s been a slow start for Lovie Smith’s team, with the offense barely averaging 17 points per game. Smith being the defensive specialist he is, has this defense playing well — Houston is allowing under 20 ppg.
But as we know, in this league, it’s all about offense and, most notably, the quarterback position. You either have a guy that can win you games, or you don’t. The Texans don’t, and while Davis Mills hasn’t been the worst QB in the NFL, he doesn’t exactly have franchise savior written on his forehead. Houston won’t be bad enough to get the No. 1 pick in the draft, but it could be in the Top 5.
Las Vegas had a Bye this week as well, but with the team’s record and the way it started the season, the Raiders belong on this list until they win their way off. All of the Raiders’ losses have been by six points or fewer, which doesn’t sound bad, though it points to a lack of execution. The best teams need to catch a break every now and then, but sometimes you make your own breaks, and the Raiders haven’t done that when it matters.
Just like players, all wins are not created equally. Thursday night’s win over the Chicago Bears was not pretty, but Washington came away with the 12-7 victory. Carson Wentz seems to have hit rock bottom, completing just 12-of-22 passes for 99 yards and suffering a fractured finger on his throwing hand in the process. Now it’s being reported that Wentz will miss the next 4-6 weeks.
The stat sheet does this game no justice. You had to watch this to get a genuine feel for how tough it was to watch. The Commanders were out-gained by nearly 180 total yards by the Bears. Neither QB completed more than 14 passes and the signal-callers were sacked a combined eight times. It was just sloppy football, but they did manage to record a couple of TDs, unlike the prior TNF snoozer. It’s time for Washington to take its chances on drafting a young QB. This Wentz experiment has already failed.
The Steelers defense came through in Week 6, stopping Tom Brady and the Buccaneers from tying the game on a two-point conversion with less than five minutes left. Kenny Pickett departed the game with a concussion, which meant Opening Day starter Mitch Trubisky was back in the saddle. He didn’t look bad, throwing a TD pass while completing 75 percent of his throws. That was enough for Pittsburgh to beat a struggling Tampa team.
This Steelers offense hasn’t been lighting up the world, no matter who is under center, but Trubisky getting the win in relief was a good sign. The running attack underperformed again, with Najee Harris rushing for 42 yards on 14 carries. Even with a game like this, where the defense stepped up, it will be tough for Mike Tomlin to keep his streak of non-losing seasons alive. In 16 years as a head coach, Tomlin’s teams have never finished below .500. That streak is in serious jeopardy this year.
The sky is falling in Carolina as this team continues to implode after losing to the L.A. Rams on Sunday. With Baker Mayfield out and Sam Darnold on injured reserve, QB duties fell to P.J. Walker and Jacob Eason. Both players saw time and passed for a combined 119 yards. That wasn’t even the worst part of the loss, as wide receiver Robbie Anderson got himself ejected by interim head coach Steve Wilks after getting into a shouting match with Carolina’s wide receiver’s coach.
On Monday, the Panthers wasted little time parting ways with Anderson trading him to the Arizona Cardinals for multiple late-round draft picks, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Anderson had been unhappy with the team, so this wasn’t unexpected, but the sideline incident with the coach probably sped up the process.
Carolina is the first team in the league to record five losses and its top two QBs are out of action. The Panthers front office appears to be throwing in the towel and will likely take a QB in next year’s draft. Nothing seems to be going right for the Panthers, who are even open to trading star running back Christian McCaffrey at this point.
In back-to-back weeks Carolina has fired its coach and traded away one of its best young talents on offense. Another rebuild looks to be on the way.