Overreaction Monday: 3 playoff teams from 2023 destined to fall short in 2024

The fate of an NFL team can change mightily year over year. We've seen good teams miss the playoffs due to some bad breaks, and bad teams make the playoffs thanks to some lucky bounces. Already this season, we've seen some playoff teams from last season stumble out of the gate.

Some of those teams will find their footing, but others have struggled enough — or have gotten unlucky enough — to wonder if they have what it takes to make a run back to the postseason.

Cleveland Browns (1-3)

Cleveland (1-3) is a bizarre team. Last year, the team lost its starting quarterback Deshaun Watson in Week 10, and relied on Joe Flacco the rest of the way. Flacco played well, but the Browns lost to Houston in the Wild Card game. This season, Watson is back, but he might end up being the main reason Cleveland doesn't make it back to the playoffs. Weird.

Watson wasn't the reason Cleveland lost on Sunday, but he does still possess the worst QBR in the NFL among starters at 23.8. He has never thrown for over 300 yards with the Browns and has never once looked worthy of the $230 million Cleveland paid him.

Is there a world where Nick Chubb returns from injury and fixes the Browns run game, opening up new avenues for Cleveland's offense? Maybe. But relying on that to save the season isn't a recipe for success. Cleveland is digging itself a whole that will be hard to climb out of.

Miami Dolphins (1-2)

This one is a bummer, and fits more into the "bad luck" category than anywhere else. Miami lost Tua Tagovailoa to a concussion in Week 2, and though nothing has been confirmed yet, it wouldn't be a surprise if Tua missed the whole season.

Skylar Thompson started at quarterback last week and Tyler Huntley is starting on Monday Night Football against the Titans in Week 4. Both of those guys will give respectable efforts, but it won't be enough to carry the Dolphins to the playoffs.

Los Angeles Rams (1-3)

Could Los Angeles beat the Packers and Raiders in their next two games and get back to .500 barely one-third of the way through the season? Absolutely. This could age really poorly, in part because Matthew Stafford is still very good (fifth in the NFL in passing yards) and Sean McVay is still a very good coach.

Plus, LA already has a good win this season, a 27-24 win over San Francisco. But its last two losses — most recently an ugly defeat against rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears — have done anything except inspire hope.