NFL Panic Index 2017, Week 13: The NFL’s mysterious vanishing offenses

Dak Prescott is having the worst stretch of his career, but it’s hard to put the blame on his shoulders. He’s played games without his left tackle in Tyron Smith, where Adrian Clayborn was able to get to Prescott five times.

Then of course, Ezekiel Elliott has been out serving his suspension, after leading the NFL in rushing last season. In the three games he played before his suspension, the Cowboys were rolling behind his best performances of the season.

Without him, it’s becoming easier for teams to read the Cowboys:

But it goes beyond the offense. Jason Garrett has benched Anthony Brown in favor of Jourdan Lewis, and signed pass-rusher Datone Jones. They are also dealing with injuries to Zack Martin, Sean Lee, Anthony Hitchens, Justin Durant, and La’el Collins.

At 5-6 and on the outside looking in on the playoff race, the Cowboys don’t have much more room for error.

Panic index: If they lose on Thursday, the Eagles clinch the NFC East.

The fall was a hopeful time in Kansas City. Alex Smith was throwing the deep ball, we couldn’t get enough Kareem Hunt and the Chiefs jumped out to a 5-0 start. You didn’t have strain your ears to pick up whispers about a Super Bowl bid.

Then the Steelers paid a visit to Missouri in Week 6, beating the unstoppable Chiefs, 13-19. The wheels came off. An offense that was scoring an average of 32.8 points per game against powerhouses like the Patriots and Eagles hit the skids, unable to muster even 20 points against miserable also-rans like the Giants and Cowboys.

The 2017 Chiefs joined some exclusive, but tough company this week. They’re only the fourth team of the Super Bowl era to shake off a 5-0 start with a 1-5 run, or worse, through the next six games. They join the 2016 Vikings, the 2015 Falcons, and the 2009 Giants on that list.

None of those teams made the playoffs.

All three of the past teams that slumped after a 5-0 start got much better a year later. The Vikings are one of the hottest teams in the NFC, and the Falcons made it all the way to the Super Bowl. The 2010 Giants did not make the playoffs, but they finished 10-6 (and kinda got jobbed because a 7-9 Seahawks team won the NFC West that year).

Panic index: As Geoff Schwartz pointed out, it’s not impossible for KC to turn its offense around this season, and that’s with Alex Smith hanging onto the starting job. If things don’t improve this year, you can at least count on things getting better in 2018. That, and Patrick Mahomes.

The Browns have the worst scoring offense in the NFL and no team turns the ball over more (that’s not a coincidence). They’re also, as we all know, still winless. So yeah, the Browns have problems, this is not new unless you’ve been dead for the past 50 years.

But maaaaan, poor DeShone Kizer. His quotes after last week’s loss were gutting. All credit to the rookie quarterback, though: He shook it off and came out against the Bengals like he was going to end the 0-16 threat right then and there. (He didn’t.)

He threw for a career-high 268 yards and rushed for 39 yards and the Browns’ only touchdown of the game. He didn’t turn the ball over once. And some of his passes were beauts:

So that’s the bright side.

Now to the Browns’ side of it all: No one will help Kizer a damn bit. After that 44-yard completion to Corey Coleman, receiver Bryce Treggs got a 15-yard taunting penalty (who does he think he is, Case Keenum?). Then Zane Gonzalez whiffed on a 43-yard field goal try.

Oh, but that’s not all. Not even close.

*Virtual hug for Kizer*

Panic Index: Here’s a sliver of hope for Kizer and the Browns: Josh Gordon’s coming back — and Hue Jackson has “big plans” for him. That will hardly solve all of the team’s issues, but his return after three years is at least something worth celebrating in Cleveland.

The Broncos fooled us all earlier this season with their 3-1 start, which included a total domination of a healthy Cowboys team that included Elliott and the worst game of his career.

Since that four-game stretch, the Broncos have fallen flat. They’ve lost seven games in a row, but perhaps things might be finally turning around with Trevor Siemian starting. Because, well, Paxton Lynch hasn’t exactly been great himself!

It’s taking a toll on the team, but they seem to be trying to keep their spirits right.

“It’s definitely a challenge,” Chris Harris Jr. said. “Something that we have to do is keep everybody tight knit,” he said. But that is helped by winning, and it’s been a long time since that’s happened for this team. “We just gotta figure out something.”

Panic index: Their defense won’t quit — it still has Von Miller, after all. Their remaining schedule includes winnable games, and they have to get at least one, right?

Tennessee avoided disaster by scoring two touchdowns in the final 17 minutes to erase a 16-6 deficit against the Colts. But that doesn’t mean the performance of the Titans’ offense hasn’t been concerning.

The team finished with 276 total yards and 20 points against a Colts defense that may be the NFL’s worst and has allowed the most points in the league through 12 weeks.

Marcus Mariota’s play is the most disconcerting for the Titans with the quarterback throwing six interceptions in the last two games. The third-year passer threw just five interceptions over a 12-game span last year and his four-pick game in Week 11 was the first time in his NFL career, or even his college one, that he had more than two in a game.

But the Titans’ offense did a disappearing act earlier in the year when it was held under 200 yards in back-to-back weeks against the Texans and Dolphins, and turned the ball over seven times in those two losses.

Panic index: Even with Mariota not playing well in the last couple games, the Titans have still won five of their last six and are back in the driver’s seat of the AFC South.

The battle for the division may come down to a Week 17 game against the Jaguars, but the Titans get the Texans, Cardinals, and 49ers in the next three weeks. They should have plenty of time to get things back on track again.