Having seen more of the same from some teams during Week 10 and a few surprises elsewhere, now's a good time to gauge how much fans should be biting their fingernails. In this piece, we'll grade how worried teams should be on a scale from 1-10, with perspiration levels rising accordingly.
Tennessee Titans (1-8): 2
Playoffs aren't in the cards for the Titans, but the No. 1 pick in next spring's NFL Draft could very well be.
Tennessee will have a new head coach for 2026. Things might start to change in a new direction, and with young passer Cam Ward as a pillar going forward.
Kansas City Chiefs (5-4): 3
We've seen Patrick Mahomes' team fall to Josh Allen's in the regular season before. And we've also learned not to count the Chiefs out until they're actually down for the count. No matter its record, if Kansas City gets into the playoffs, it's a boogeyman.
Miami Dolphins (2-7): 4
Why panic when you can be indifferent? The sun isn't shining on South Beach and, at this point, Dolphins fans should just shrug their shoulders. Mike McDaniel, Tua Tagovailoa and most of the rest of the team isn't having fun. Massive changes and maybe even a fire sale might be on the horizon.
Hey, at least it can't get any worse, right?
Indianapolis Colts (7-2): 4.5
It's not every day you turn the ball over six times. The Colts did in their road loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers, however. Still, Indy has the league's leading rusher and only the Jacksonville Jaguars to worry about in the divisional race. It's not the time to worry. Not yet.
Cleveland Browns: 6
Myles Garrett is being wasted. It's been the same old story for the moribund franchise.
With what we've seen from Dillon Gabriel, he's probably not the guy for the Kevin Stefanski — if the head coach is even in northwest Ohio next season. Fans will probably start clamoring for fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders, but nobody's betting their life savings that he'll be the answer, either.
Browns fans were probably happy not to have to bother watching on Sunday, being that the team was on its bye.
Green Bay Packers (5-2-1): 7
How do you go from shredding the Pittsburgh Steelers in primetime to struggling at home against the Carolina Panthers? Tight end Tucker Kraft tore his ACL in the loss, dealing a big blow to Jordan Love's offense.
Their lead in the NFC North is slipping. Up next? The defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Baltimore Ravens (3-5): 7.5
John Harbaugh's team finally has Lamar Jackson back from the hamstring injury that kept him on the sideline for three games. The Ravens have won two in a row and are a couple of games back of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC North. It's their arch-rival's dominating defensive performance over the best scoring offense in the league that should keep Baltimore up at night.
If, going forward, Mike Tomlin's team looks more like the one that beat up on the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Ravens are going to have a tough time trying to leapfrog Pittsburgh in the standings.
Dallas Cowboys (3-5-1): 8.5
If the playoffs started today, Dak Prescott and his teammates would be headed to Cancun. NFL.com gives the Cowboys a 5% chance at making the postseason. It's looking like America's Team will have to wait another year to go after that elusive Super Bowl. Sports talk shows will still find a way to pick at Dallas on a weekly basis.
Cincinnati Bengals (3-6): 9
Joe Flacco has been what Zac Taylor and the Bengals hoped he would be when they traded for him. The veteran signal-caller has done his best to keep Cincinnati on the verge of the playoff mix, but the defense decided to take a vacation during a 47-42 loss to the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
It's looking like Joe Burrow won't have much to work toward when he finally gets back in the fold.
Washington Commanders (3-6): 15
Head coach Dan Quinn had to answer on Monday why standout signal-caller Jayden Daniels was put in harm's way late in Sunday night's 38-14 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The quarterback's elbow dislocation was one that makes you grab your own arm.
“The hindsight, you don’t want to think that way, where injury could take place,” Quinn said after the big loss. “You’re more conservative in that spot, running and handoffs and not have reads to go.”
The Commanders are 3-6, too. Ouch.