We are 7 weeks into the NFL season and a lot has taken place in a short amount of time. There are some things we expected, like the Kansas City Chiefs still being good, and like the Detroit Lions getting off to a hot start. But there have also been some things nobody was expecting through the first 7 weeks – and I think the Washington Commanders having the success they’ve had is a good example. But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for all 32 teams – not even close. And in today’s video we’re going to break down the biggest concerns I have with 4 NFL teams – not just for the next couple of weeks – but for the remainder of the 2024 NFL season and even into the 2025 offseason and beyond. One big thing to remember is that not every NFL team enters the year with Super Bowl aspirations – as let’s be honest for a second – the Panthers didn’t enter the 2024 season just a year removed from going 2-15 – thinking they were going to win 14 games this year and represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. That may have been what they said publicly, but the goal was to be a competent team and to develop second year quarterback Bryce Young. And we bring this up because you don’t have to have Super Bowl or bust aspirations to have a disappointing season. And there are a lot of concerns with the teams we’re going to break down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by discussing the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are 3-4 on the year after a 28-18 loss against the Chiefs in week 7 and we mentioned it briefly during the week 7 recap – but there’s a lot of concern with this team. Having 4 losses through 7 games obviously isn’t ideal – but it’s even more concerning when you play teams like the Bucs, Packers, and Bills all on the road in the next few games and there is very little margin for error. This was a team that was on thin ice entering the year with very little margin for error to begin with – and now there’s been seemingly injury after injury. The Christian McCaffrey situation is obviously bad, but it’s not just CMC. There is fear Brandon Aiyuk tore his ACL and that may be confirmed by the time you’re watching this video – but there’s several other big players that are hurt. Javon Hargrave – who is a very good interior defensive lineman and a guy who has been to the pro bowl two times in the last 3 years is done for the year. And sure with how star studded of a roster San Francisco has – Hargrave may get lost in the mix – but he signed a 4 year $84 million dollar contract during the 2023 offseason and is amongst the highest paid at his position.
Talanoa Hufanga is on IR, and after tearing his achilles in the Super Bowl – Dre Greenlaw is still recovering from that injury. The 49ers also have been hot and cold to start the 2024 season and there’s games where you watch this team play and think they can beat anybody – and the Seattle game in week 6 was a prime example. They put up 36 points on the road, they had over 480 yards of offense, and they ran for over 220 yards as an offense. But the Chiefs game in week 7 was kind of a microcosm of the past few years for the San Francisco 49ers. They turned the ball over 3 times in this game – and they were all in Kansas City territory. And it happens. Every team is going to have multi turnover games. Obviously it stinks when it happens, but why I think this was a microcosm of their past few years is because it signified what the past few years have been for the San Francisco 49ers. They’ve been close time and time again – but they haven’t been able to reach the mountain top. And this is one of the concerns I have with San Francisco in 2025 and beyond. Trent Williams is 36, George Kittle is 31, Javon Hargrave is 31, and Talanoa Hufanga is in the final year of his rookie deal. No team is obviously going to last forever – but you can start to see where this franchise is headed. It’s incredibly difficult to win a singular Super Bowl and appearing in 4 conference championship games in 5 years is a very big accomplishment in itself. But my concern is this is a great team when healthy – but they’re not healthy and they’re also an older team at key positions.
Not only that, but one of the biggest benefits this franchise at the moment – is going to go out the window very soon. And that’s having good quarterback play at a fraction of the cost. Having Brock Purdy make $1 million dollars in 2024 while other quarterbacks around the league are getting paid well over $50 million dollars is a ticking time bomb for San Francisco. And the bill is going to be due soon for Brock Purdy. And when the bill is due and he gets paid over $200 million dollars – because that’s a matter of when – not if – the 49ers are going to have to make a lot of difficult decisions. I thought 2023 was their best chance to win the Super Bowl and when they didn’t – I still thought 2024 was going to be a good year for them – but if they didn’t do it last year – I didn’t think they would do it this year. And there’s a lot of concerns with the 49ers moving forward – and money, age, and injuries are all major factors.
The Tennessee Titans are another team I have major concerns with and it’s for a few reasons. They have one game in 2024 in which they’ve put up more than 17 points and that was during the week 4 Monday night game against the Dolphins. Aside from that game – they have been very disappointing and the most recent game against Buffalo was another example. Mason Rudolph started in place of an injured Will Levis and after getting out to a 10-0 lead – they were outscored 34 to zero. This was a team I was very excited to see play in 2024 and I thought they could be a legit pain in the rear end for several great teams – as long as the offense was ok. The offense didn’t have to be elite, or even be top 10 – just as long as they were close to average. And they haven’t been.
The turnovers have been crucial and they have 12 turnovers in 6 games which ranks 31st in the NFL. They have throw 6 touchdowns to 8 interceptions in the first 6 games of the year and not surprisingly they have a 1-5 record. I think what concerns me the most about the Titans moving forward is they have no real direction. They have several good players on their roster, but they don’t really have a plan for 2025. They play the Lions on the road in week 8 and I think everyone would agree that they’re probably going to lose that game which would put them at 1-6 through their first 7 games. I think there’s going to be questions of whether or not to keep Brian Callahan after this year too because the final record for this team is going to be bad.
I think at best at this point they’ll finish 6-11 but even if they finish 6-11 – is it worth having the number 9 pick and being just good enough to miss out on one of the best players in the 2025 draft class because you beat the Patriots, Jags, and win a few of the toss up games at the end of the 2024 season? No. And hopefully for the future of the Titans – that doesn’t happen. But I worry that their defense will play really well in a couple of games down the stretch and hold opposing teams to 10 or 13 points – and that the Titans will inevitably win a few too many games. This team also opted to pay Calvin Ridley this past offseason which was a move I liked – but over the last two games Calvin has been targeted 17 times and has just 3 receptions for 42 yards. That is unacceptable. Now the main reason why I liked this signing for the Titans was because their receiving room in 2023 outside of Deandre Hopkins was truly awful – and they had to give Will Levis a chance in 2024.
But I am out on Will Levis at this point as the future quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. He puts the ball in harms way more than you would like and the flashes he’s shown are getting fewer and further between. Will Levis is also a different player under pressure and opposing defensive coordinators know this. Under pressure he has completed just 55% of his passes and has thrown 3 interceptions and has a passer rating of just 40.3. When kept clean the numbers are better – which you would rightfully expect – but there’s time where Will Levis is under pressure and that’s when you get the meme plays and your head coach saying to you on the sideline – what the bleep are you doing? They have a quarterback problem and I also think they’re going to be sellers at the deadline with the assets they have and I do think Deandre Hopkins days in Nashville are numbered. But when you think about it – what are the Titans going to do to get this roster to the point where they’re serious contenders. Because they are far from that right now. And to be honest – I don’t know what the answer is.
I hope you enjoyed today’s article! Below is a breakdown of all 4 NFL teams including the New York Giants, and Atlanta Falcons on camera! Thank you for reading and have a great day!
