Who are the WORST Teams in the league? Week 1 Power Rankings from #17–32
With Week 1 of the 2025 season finally upon us, I decided that it’s time to dish out the very first power rankings of the season. In this article, I’d like to go over who I believe are the 16 WORST teams in the league, as I have already done a list covering the top 16. So, without further ado, here are the worst teams in the league from best to worst.
17. Seattle Seahawks
Moving off QB Geno Smith and deciding to go with Sam Darnold moving forward. Darnold had a great year last year in Minnesota but was also heavily supported by one of the best supporting casts and head coaches in the league. I do think this team will be good this year, especially with the talent that litters this roster from top to bottom. That said, my belief in Sam Darnold is still not solidified, as I have serious doubts about his abilities outside of a highly beneficial situation. Due to this, I can’t justify putting them higher than this, as the teams above are fairly certain at the most important position.
18. Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta comes into the season with a growing sense of optimism, mainly stemming from the tremendous talent that litters the skill positions on offense. WR Drake London, RB Bijan Robinson, and TE Kyle Pitts are all quality playmakers who, as a trio, would make every team in the league jealous—outside of maybe only Philadelphia. Even with all this talent, however, there are serious questions that need to be answered before I can place this team any higher, starting with Michael Penix III. Penix showed flashes of being a skilled passer at the intermediate level last season after replacing Kirk Cousins during the year. However, Penix’s rookie campaign was far from perfect—as to be expected—but I have questions about how big of a jump the former Washington QB could take in Year 2.
On the defensive side, this team is severely lacking pass rush, as they finished second to last in sacks a year ago. Atlanta chose to address this issue mainly in the draft by selecting two edge rushers in the first round—Georgia’s Jalon Walker and Tennessee’s James Pearce Jr. Obviously, this is quite a gamble for ATL, as they traded next year’s first to move back up for Pearce in hopes that this rookie duo can wreak havoc on opposing QBs—a gamble that I’m not convinced will pay off in Year 1.
19. San Francisco 49ers
For the first time in a while, this 49ers team is not at the top entering the year. As things stand, the offense is highly questionable, with Brandon Aiyuk set to miss time with an ACL tear and uncertainty surrounding the team’s ability to fill the void of Deebo Samuel, who they traded away to Washington. If you throw in the ever-present topic of Christian McCaffrey—and how much he can give you without getting injured—you have a recipe for disaster out of the gate.
QB Brock Purdy received quite the payday to start the offseason to be the guy who can hopefully overcome these types of situations, although I’m not convinced he is that player. The young QB noticeably struggled without his top targets a year ago, and now, yet again, he is set to be shorthanded to begin the year. One thing the Niners do have going for them, however, is the defense. With former DC Robert Saleh now reprising his role with the organization full-time after his firing a year ago, I expect this defense to be damn near dominant, led by LB Fred Warner, if the offense can provide some quality time of possession.
20. New York Giants
OK, so maybe this is where my fan bias starts to bite me in the behind, but I do truly believe that this Giants team will be vastly improved from a year ago. With the additions of Russell Wilson at QB and rookie Abdul Carter adding his tremendous talent and upside to an already loaded front seven, I honestly can’t help but have high expectations for this squad. Despite all this, let’s come back to earth a little bit. New York is facing the hardest strength of schedule of any team in the league this year, and while I think they will be improved, I don’t think they belong in the upper echelon just yet.
This team has real weaknesses on both sides, starting with the thin depth at receiver and offensive line. If LT Andrew Thomas is severely injured and isn’t able to go for Week 1, this team is in TROUBLE. The same could be said for Malik Nabers—who is healthy—but in the case of an unprecedented injury, things could go from optimistic to bleak very quickly. Defensively, this team has holes at corner and interior defensive line that they tried to fill in the offseason with the additions of CB Paulson Adebo in free agency and rookie DT Darius Alexander in the draft. While the effort was there, the gaps at cornerback two and a DT next to Dexter Lawrence have yet to be fully addressed. It’s going to be an interesting year for New York, especially considering the possibility of them thrusting first-round rookie QB Jaxson Dart into the fire right away. Ultimately, however, I don’t believe this is the best-case scenario, and an early insertion of Dart could be a red flag for disaster.
21. Dallas Cowboys
It’s sad to see what has happened with Dallas over the past few years, with contract disputes resulting in departures as well as injuries to Dak Prescott effectively ending the season, as happened a year ago. With the loss of edge rusher Micah Parsons in a trade with Green Bay, the loss of future Hall of Famer guard Zack Martin to retirement, and the loss of key contributor DE DeMarcus Lawrence in free agency, I really have questions about how competitive this team can be in 2025. While I like the addition of George Pickens—acquired via trade with Pittsburgh—I think this offensive line is possibly the weakest it has ever been in the Dak Prescott era (2016–present).
With Dak coming off a season-ending injury, having him play behind a line that is very weak compared to what he has seen in the past could be a recipe for disaster, especially since this run game is non-existent. Furthermore, a brand-new coaching regime could brew some unforeseen problems, especially with Matt Eberflus as offensive coordinator—someone who failed to have any type of offensive success with the Bears as head coach. Kenny Clark is also a good player who was part of the return for Micah Parsons, but he alone is not enough for me to have faith in a team that defensively struggled even with one of the best pass rushers in the game a year ago.
22. Las Vegas Raiders
Vegas is a team that I actually believe became significantly improved from a year ago with the additions of QB Geno Smith and head coach Pete Carroll. With that said, however, this team severely lacks talent from top to bottom, especially in the secondary. They’re looking at a starting corner room of Damien Porter (a third-round rookie), Eric Stokes (a veteran who can be serviceable in a good secondary), and former Giant Darnay Holmes at nickel—again, serviceable but not a game-changer.
Maxx Crosby and company along the defensive line will have a heightened focus to get pressure quickly before the group behind them falls apart, and I just don’t believe you can win that way in the league now. In short, this team will be better than last year, but not significantly enough for me to put them higher.
23. New England Patriots
New England is a curious case because I could see this team moving up into the middle-of-the-pack range with a significant leap from second-year QB Drake Maye—which he is certainly capable of. Despite the additions of WR Stefon Diggs and head coach Mike Vrabel, I don’t think this team has enough talent on offense to really compete unless Maye takes that drastic leap.
The offensive line is a serious question, even with the addition of fourth overall pick Will Campbell at left tackle. Campbell struggled a bit in preseason—which cannot be overanalyzed, as it’s to be expected from a rookie playing one of the hardest positions in football. This defense, however, is good enough to have anyone excited, led by CB Christian Gonzalez. Vrabel was also able to bring in one of his former Titans, Harold Landry III, a dynamic pass rusher who will make his presence felt in his first year with New England. All in all, this team is going to have to grind out games with a suffocating defense paired with a low-turnover, grit-and-grind type of offense.
24. Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville has a lot of optimism surrounding the team this year, with new head coach Liam Coen looking to bring over some of the things that made Baker Mayfield show significant growth in Tampa last year. A coaching change, paired with the high-profile selection of second overall pick Travis Hunter, has fans more excited about this team than they’ve been in a long time.
This team struggled across the board last year, even with the emergence of rookie receiver Brian Thomas Jr., who showed the league he is an elite talent. QB Trevor Lawrence is on the hot seat this year, as I believe this is make-or-break for him. He’s been given chance after chance and has shown flashes of being the elite player he was said to be coming out of the draft. Ultimately, outside of drafting Hunter and swapping coaches, I don’t think this team did enough to shore up the holes that needed to be filled. While expectations are high, we must remember this is Year 1 of a new regime; things take time—and so will this.
25. Arizona Cardinals
Arizona is a team that I just don’t believe in, simply put—starting with QB Kyler Murray. He’s failed to put it together, making the playoffs one time in a game he played horribly in. Murray also has an injury history that, if one were to occur (god forbid), would completely derail this team and effectively end the season.
Defensively, this team added along the line with first-round rookie DT Walter Nolen and DT Dalvin Tomlinson. Despite these additions, I’m just not sold that they can compete in an evolving NFC—especially in a very hard NFC West.
26. Miami Dolphins
Maybe I’m lower on Miami than the overall consensus, but I truly believe this team has hit rock bottom morale-wise. After Tyreek Hill requested and then rescinded his trade request last year, multiple players—including QB Tua Tagovailoa—have spoken out on how problematic comments like that can be. Hill has even been stripped of his captaincy for this upcoming season, which may just be coincidence, but I think not.
To follow up on Tua, I don’t think he is the man for the job anymore in Miami, as he’s not someone who can elevate a team when things aren’t shaping up well. If I’m being honest, I think this team should’ve pivoted toward a rebuild instead of a retooling, and it blows my mind that Hill was not traded after his comments.
27. Carolina Panthers
I tried and tried to put this team higher on this list—especially after they caught fire at the end of last year, with Bryce Young playing some pretty great ball to end the season after his early benching. However, as much as I tried, I just could not validate doing it with the amount of uncertainty I think surrounds them.
Overall, this team is still in what I believe to be a rebuild, even with Bryce Young entering Year 3. A team that ranked dead last offensively last year in first downs accumulated also ranked 31st in passing yards and 23rd in points scored. Offense isn’t even the worst of it, as this defense was horrendous a year ago and really didn’t do much to change anything outside of bringing in second-round edge Nic Scrouton and safety Trevon Moehrig. Carolina ranked dead last in yards allowed, touchdowns allowed, and passing touchdowns allowed, and ultimately the small changes just aren’t enough for me to see sizable improvement this year.
28. New York Jets
The good old New York Jets this season are going to perform about as well as the good old New York Jets have in the past 50 years: terribly. Let’s start with the offense. New QB Justin Fields, despite having all the physical traits in the world, is just not a good QB. Over the course of the offseason and in the preseason, Fields struggled to complete passes down the field when given the chance. This is nothing new; Fields has continuously struggled to find his footing as a passer in the NFL up to this point.
As things stand, I just can’t imagine this team thriving on offense with a one-dimensional, run-heavy approach in today’s pass-heavy NFL. Despite the well-known talent on this defense, I also have concerns about how good this unit will be. After the midseason firing of head coach Robert Saleh, this team took a noticeable dive in performance—nearly 10 points per game—from 17 points allowed all the way to 26.6. Honestly, I don’t even know what the Jets can do to dramatically change the trajectory they are on, but hopefully, under new head coach Aaron Glenn, they can show signs of improvement—for Jets fans’ sake.
29. Tennessee Titans
The Titans addressed their number-one problem at QB with the first overall selection of Cam Ward out of Miami. Ward is someone I believe can be a difference-maker for this team and potentially turn them back into what they were at the end of the 2010s. However, that day is very far off from where this team is now.
While I do think Ward will be a successful QB in this league, to expect a rookie season akin to the likes of Jayden Daniels a year ago or C.J. Stroud the year before would just be hearsay—and that’s OK. Seasons like those are genuinely generational and are NOT the norm for a rookie QB entering the NFL. One tendency Ward will have to work on is how long he holds the ball. With a team that was 27th in sacks allowed, Ward will have to speed up that internal clock.
Defensively, this team will be better if they can get off the field, unlike last year. With the second-worst turnover differential a year ago, this defense played a lot of football and still was the best in the league in pass defense. Even with the departure of pass rusher Harold Landry III in free agency, I think this unit, led by veteran Jeffery Simmons, can be one that causes mayhem. Still, with a rookie QB leading the charge, I just can’t justify putting them higher until I’ve seen something in the regular season.
30. Indianapolis Colts
Oh man, what is going on in Indy this season? The Colts named Daniel Jones the starter over former fourth overall pick Anthony Richardson, and while I do believe this is the correct choice, I don’t believe it makes them any better as a team. Realistically, regardless of who is starting at QB, I think the Colts have one of the bottom-three QB rooms in the entire league. There’s really not much else to say regarding this team that has talent but doesn’t have the key piece to put it all together.
Head coach Shane Steichen is on the hottest seat of anyone in the NFL and most likely will be fired after this team has yet another bad season—fair or not. While I’d like to dive deeper into this team and the actual great players on it—like Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., and Quenton Nelson—I just can’t make an argument to put this team higher given the QB situation being as poor as it is.
31. Cleveland Browns
Cleveland, much like Indy, is in a hopeless spot at the QB position. Head coach Kevin Stefanski named 40-year-old Joe Flacco the season starter, which may be the correct call, but in my eyes, it’s not moving the needle any differently than what rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel would provide. It’s a damn shame that this team is going to be this bad when they have a generational talent on defense with Myles Garrett.
Offensively, this team is just too inept to create a path for me to put them higher, as they have a weak rushing attack led by Jerome Ford and what is likely to be a very poor passing game under Flacco. Even with the talent on defense—Garrett, CB Denzel Ward, and rookie DT Mason Graham—this unit will be forced onto the field for extended periods, making it extremely difficult to consistently perform at a high level. Ultimately, I see Cleveland landing right where they have been for the better part of their history: right at the bottom.
32. New Orleans Saints
I’m trying not to beat a dead horse, but the last three teams on this list all share a common denominator: they have terrible QB play. Head coach Kellen Moore announced that second-year QB Spencer Rattler will take the reins in Week 1 as the team’s starter. Rattler, who played in seven games last year, had a career record of 0–6 when starting. It’s safe to say that this squad will not have much success this season on offense.
This Saints team is squarely in the middle of a long-overdue rebuild—and that’s fine—but don’t expect this group to be competitive in 2025 with the way things stand.