It doesn’t take long for weaknesses to get exposed in the NFL. Sometimes it’s merely a few snaps.
With all the talk of super teams and the Rams building an NBA-style roster and superstars being traded like never before, this is still a sport of attrition and depth, and even some of the best-regarded rosters in this league have holes. In some cases, significant holes.
Week 1 is ripe with overreactions. Perhaps, in retrospect, this column will fall into that category. And maybe Week 1 will be looked at as an anomaly and a moment of insanely high scoring because no one plays in the preseason anymore, which means no one tackles in the summer anymore. All of that is quite possible
But because this league is so trade happy, and because teams are increasingly willing to start filling needs before the midseason deadline, there were definitely some uncomfortable conversations already taking part in football operations departments about what they brought into the season as key position groups and why it’s probably not good enough.
There are some areas to watch for teams with Super Bowl aspirations.
Chicago Bears: Cornerback and Defensive Line
When Bryce Young threw to his wide receivers in Week 1 against Chicago, he was kind of unstoppable. Nearly 14 air yards per attempt with a 118 rating. This is Bryce Young we are talking about. They say that pass rush and coverage go hand in hand and the Bears don’t have enough of either. Not close.
They got buy with turnover madness and good fortune last year. The D doesn’t have to be great, but it can’t be 2024 Bengals bad. And it might be. Joey Porter Jr. and/or Maxx Crosby might be too big of an ask for an ownership group that never shows any urgency. But they need help.
Philadelphia Eagles: Offensive Line
No way they should be getting pushed around at the line of scrimmage the way Washington handled them. That’s not a strong Commanders front. Jalen Hurts isn’t as spry as he once was and the decline of this five-man unit is real. Landon Dickerson’s injury stings and when they have competed for Super Bowls, this has been a massive organizational strength.
GM Howie Roseman will think outside the box if he has. But it’s hard to think all of the answers here are within.
Dallas Cowboys: Defensive Line
Are we sure it’s good enough? Like really? Yeah, I fell for this team a little this year, but they are getting beat up on the line already and there have always been questions about the interior and I have some serious concerns about this coordinator having the good.
Life was way too easy for Jaxson Dart Week 1. This defense has to be stout if they’re going to come close to what was becoming an increasing drumbeat about them being legit this season.
Los Angeles Chargers: Interior Offensive Line
They don’t have a center, with Tyler Biadasz lost for the season. It’s been a problem forever and they invested to solve it and they won’t get a snap this season. They are rotating left guards and no one between the tackles looks even replacement-level, and the Cardinals ate them up and spit them out.
There are a half dozen or so teams that fancy themselves contenders that have a center issue. So competition for upgrades will be fierce. But this has the potential to undermine the timing and speed that new coordinator Mike McDaniel is trying to add to this offense, and it was anything but dynamic against Arizona (this might not age well).
New England Patriots: Pass Rush
They don’t have closers. They just don’t.
They couldn’t get to Drew Lock enough coming in cold and they are facing a much tougher schedule this season. Dre’Mont Jones ain’t bringing six pressures every week, and so much of their success last season, in the eyes of advanced scouts I’ve probed about New England, was because of the parade of bad QBs and weak OLs they faced.
"Everything work for them last year because they were always playing with a lead," as one advance scout whose team will face New England this year put it to me.
The schedule matters, a lot. Expectations matter, a lot. And there is no substitute for dudes who can win at the point of attack without all kinds of scheme and games to prop them up. New England will prove to be short in this regard.
They are short on impact and the line of scrimmage on D and it’s going to show up.
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