No NFL team looks forward to an underwhelming season, but when expectations are high in August, finishing out of the playoff picture is even more disappointing. Inevitably, injuries, variance and mistaken optimism lead to franchises widely pegged as playoff locks falling out of the race before December. Outside of the Chiefs, it seems like no team is a lock to make the playoffs every year.
The only thing worse than missing the playoffs? Missing the playoffs again the following season. In the interest of avoiding that fate, let's lay out a retooling plan for four of the league's most disappointing franchises in 2024: the 49ers, Bengals, Cowboys and Jets. I've tried to keep things realistic and reasonable and haven't projected any extraordinary trades, but each of these teams is going to need to reimagine some elements of itself to make a deep playoff run next season.
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Two of these teams are hiring new coaches, and the other two are bringing in replacements for their defensive coordinators. One needs a new quarterback, and one needs to give its signal-caller a massive raise. I'll start with the NFL's most expensive quarterback and a team that has perennially disappointed. How can the Cowboys get back on track and return to the postseason?
Jump to a team:
49ers | Bengals
Cowboys | Jets
Dallas Cowboys (5-8)
1. Undo the 2024 offseason. Not the CeeDee Lamb and Dak Prescott contracts, of course, but every other move the Cowboys made hasn't panned out. Ezekiel Elliott has been a replacement-level back and seen his yards per carry fall for the fourth consecutive season. Coordinator Mike Zimmer hasn't built a reliable run defense. While his patented double-mug looks still lead to pressures on third downs, Dallas has the league's worst first- and second-down defense. Eric Kendricks excelled under Zimmer in Minnesota and was a great player for a long time, but he's not an NFL-caliber linebacker anymore. Teams exploit his lack of range on a weekly basis.
The Cowboys have to upgrade those spots. So Elliott and Kendricks, the two veteran free agents they signed during their all-in spring, probably are going to move on. Zimmer's tenure with the team will also likely end after one season. And in fact, he's not the only coach walking out the door ...