NFL's worst teams in 2024 and beyond: Which need to rebuild? - ESPN

It wasn't a good week to be a bad football team. Week 7 started with a Thursday night blowout, as the Broncos took a 30-point lead on the Saints in New Orleans before allowing a garbage-time touchdown. Sunday night ended with the Jets melting down in Pittsburgh, as the Steelers scored 31 unanswered points after an Aaron Rodgers interception before halftime and eventually won 37-15.

In between, four other teams with losing records also lost by double digits. A fifth, the Browns, were only saved from that fate by a late touchdown pass by Jameis Winston, although they might have had the most painful day of all: An organization that spent the week committing to Deshaun Watson lost its quarterback to what appears to be a season-ending torn Achilles. The 2-5 Raiders fell to the Rams by five points, but they also came out of the game missing a quarterback after newly promoted Aidan O'Connell suffered a broken thumb.

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Which struggling team is in the worst shape moving forward? None are in great shape to make it to the postseason, but which of the league's worst teams are furthest away from building the sort of roster that would compete for a Super Bowl? To repurpose a famous phrase from the Harbaugh family (who won't be appearing in this piece), «Who has it worse than us?»

There are nine candidates, and I'll eliminate three as honorable mentions, all of whom are in the AFC East. The 2-5 Jets are in a tailspin and appear to have fired Robert Saleh with no meaningful or tangible positive impact, but they're closer to a potential playoff berth than most of the other teams on this list. The 1-6 Patriots haven't looked good on defense since Week 1 and have their coach calling them soft, but