NFL Dead Teams: Four Franchises Officially Written Off Before October

Five weeks into the NFL season, it is time to officially declare four franchises dead for now. We use the phrase write off to mean these squads are going nowhere fast. Their fans ought to worry more about draft position than any actual accomplishments this year might bring.

It hurts to concede a whole season before mid-October hits. That sting is real. It remains the reality for specific teams though. This report includes affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may receive compensation. Our content team works independently from the main newsroom.

Let's begin with two squads that are not tanking in the traditional sense but were simply never built to contend this season. The Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals perform about as poorly as expected, even though the latter managed an early victory.

The good news is both teams have stockpiled young talent while positioning themselves for a high draft pick. Miami's rookie class stands out with Kadyn Proctor, Chris Johnson, Jacob Rodriguez, Caleb Douglas, and Chris Bell all in the mix. Arizona holds Trey McBride, who looks like the best tight end in football right now. Jeremiah Love has generational upside too, despite his current injury status.

Unfortunately, the 2027 quarterback class does not appear nearly as promising as anticipated. Arch Manning hardly resembles the prospect analysts projected him to become at this point.

Elsewhere, the Tennessee Titans might be worse than both the Dolphins and Cardinals. That fact is particularly concerning because Tennessee spent the offseason actively trying to improve its roster and coaching staff. Through Week 5, the Titans rank last in the NFL in both scoring and total offense. They average just 11.6 points and 246.4 yards per game. The winless Titans should not be expected to win many games this season.

After five weeks, we can also write off the Los Angeles Chargers, who entered the season with nearly the same Super Bowl odds as the Kansas City Chiefs. A team coached by Jim Harbaugh and quarterbacked by Justin Herbert should not be this inept. And yet, they are. At 0-5, with games remaining against the Rams, Ravens, Chiefs twice, 49ers, and Patriots, it is difficult to find many wins left on the schedule.

A midseason parting with offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel now seems more plausible than a late-season surge toward the playoffs. The Chargers season, at least in terms of meaningful aspirations, is over. Based strictly on their play, the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers should join this list too. Both teams have won just one game and suffer deficiencies on both sides of the ball. Despite relatively high expectations entering the season, the Saints have a minus-33 point differential.

Neither team figures to be much of a factor in the postseason if they get there at all. However, both remain just one game out of first place in the perpetually mediocre NFC South. Likewise, the 1-3-1 Washington Commanders remain viable playoff threats largely because of the lackluster state of the rest of the NFC East. Granted, it is hard to take seriously a team that did that in overtime on Sunday.

The 2-3 New York Jets are the final team worth discussing. As WWE commentator Michael Cole told OutKick last week, the Jets remain poorly coached and overmatched in the trenches. In all likelihood, they are probably a bottom-10 team in the NFL again. But we cannot, in good faith, write off a team that sits just one game behind the Patriots and Bills, who play the Rams on Monday night, in the AFC East.

We suspect the Jets will join this list by the end of October. For now though, they have played well enough, including competitive games against the Lions and Packers, to keep the light on for a few more weeks. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

So through Week 5, the Dolphins, Cardinals, Titans, and Chargers are the only four teams we are officially declaring season over. The rest of the fan bases should at least have hope, even for just a short while longer.