Intriguing Storylines to Watch for Teams Trending Toward Missing 2022 NFL Playoffs

In these late stages of the NFL season, most coverage is rightfully centered on the playoff race. But that understandable focus also makes it easy to overlook some important topics on lower-performing teams.

The reason to pay attention is simple, too: They might be part of that postseason chase next year.

Heading into Week 15, only three franchises—the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans—are officially eliminated from playoff contention. Still, it's fair to project teams with eight-plus losses (outside of the NFC South) will miss the postseason.

Before these organizations fade into temporary obscurity, we're exploring key storylines within the playoff-less group.

After the shocking announcement that Jeff Saturday would be the interim coach, the Indianapolis Colts pulled off a road victory over the Las Vegas Raiders and nearly upset the Philadelphia Eagles.

Since then, Saturday has returned to reality with losses to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys. The initial surge is simply a memory, but Saturday has visions of a long-term job. He hopes to interview for the position, per Zak Keefer of The Athletic.

There is a reasonable discussion to have on Saturday, who'd never before coached above high school, jumping the line. But, clearly, Colts owner Jim Irsay will do whatever he wants.

Given that reality, it's tough to predict what might happen. The upcoming stretch against three current playoff teams—the Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Chargers and New York Giants—might make it abundantly evident Saturday is not ready to lead an organization today.

Win a couple, though, and there may be a legitimate possibility Irsay keeps the franchise legend at the helm.

Barring an unparalleled string of chaos, the Los Angeles Rams will not be defending their championship in the playoffs.

But they might be finding some pieces for 2023.

Although it's way premature to jump on the Baker Mayfield for starting QB train, the waiver-wire addition helped the Rams break a six-game winning streak. In that victory over the Raiders—it seems Vegas is good luck for first-timers, huh?—the Rams enjoyed career-best games from wideouts Ben Skowronek (seven catches) and Tutu Atwell (five).

Maybe the receiving corps actually has more than Cooper Kupp! Seriously, though, the extended snaps for complementary players in a lost season may prove immensely valuable for LA's uncertain future.

If the Rams are going to rebound in 2023, their All-Pro receiver cannot be the only impactful option.

Where do the Arizona Cardinals go from here?

Even before Kyler Murray's knee injury, the frustration around the organization was obvious. Fourth-year coach Kliff Kingsbury sits in serious danger of being fired, possibly along with general manager Steve Keim.

And now, there's an even greater quarterback problem. Murray will likely be sidelined for most of the 2023 campaign while he recovers from a torn ACL.

Kingsbury's future shouldn't be tied to Arizona's last four results as backup Colt McCoy tries to salvage something from a disastrous year. The organization should already have formed an opinion about Kingsbury, and it'd be foolish to place any judgment on Murray-less games.

However, if the Cardinals actually win a couple of games down the stretch, it wouldn't be surprising if Arizona kept Kingsbury for what might effectively be a lame-duck season.

Would that be a wise choice? My opinion: No. But we've watched teams in better spots make worse decisions.

Back in Week 13, Deshaun Watson made his return from a yearlong absence in 2021 and 11-game suspension in 2022 that followed 25 women filing civil lawsuits accusing Watson of sexual assault or misconduct.

Watson completed 12-of-22 passes for 131 yards in his team debut, though the Cleveland Browns defeated the Houston Texans. He put up 276 yards last Sunday, but the Browns fell to the Cincinnati Bengals.

The former perennial Pro Bowler has much to prove in Cleveland, which has to determine if head coach Kevin Stefanski will return in 2023.

While the fair decision would be to retain him for a full season with Watson in 2023, we're also talking about a franchise that hadn't employed a third-year boss before Stefanski in the last six coaching hires.

From here, the Baltimore Ravens (9-4), New Orleans Saints (4-9), Washington Commanders (7-5-1) and Steelers (5-8) remain on the schedule. The offense may need to show steady—even if not dramatic—improvement down the stretch and spearhead a couple of wins for Stefanski to feel reasonably secure.

At this moment, Mac Jones and the New England Patriots are on the proper side of the AFC cutoff. No matter that outcome, last season's AP Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up has proved—in spite of 2022's questionable coaching setup—that he's an NFL starter.

But a few other franchises have been waiting on fellow 2021 first-rounders to reach a higher level of performance.

Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields are doing just that.

Lawrence has thrown for 3,202 yards with 20 touchdowns to six interceptions, leading the Jacksonville Jaguars to three victories in the past five games. Even if they're unable to climb higher in the AFC South this season, Lawrence has showed enormous progress in the first year—and especially this past month—of Doug Pederson's tenure. Inconsistency remains, but the Jags' future is brighter.

Fields, meanwhile, has finally had a chance to unleash his mobility. Although he's still not an explosive passer, the context of Chicago's teardown in 2022 is extra reason for patience. Besides, few QBs run like Fields. If he steadily improves as a thrower—and so far, so good—the Bears can build around him as a potentially dynamic long-term answer.

How they finish out the campaign will have a substantial effect on offseason perception in Jacksonville and Chicago.

This season has been an undisputed failure for Nathaniel Hackett.

Look, he's not entirely at fault—Russell Wilson deserves his share of blame, too—but the list of negatives is extensive. Hackett has dealt with game-management issues, given up play-calling duties and looks overmatched as the boss. Denver is averaging an NFL-worst 18.3 points per game.

Sure, the Broncos could give Hackett another year in hopes of progress. But if he's not the right guy, don't keep him.

The awkward part is Denver already has a top head-coaching candidate on staff. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero has guided a unit ranked sixth in yards allowed per play and fourth in points allowed per game. He's extremely likely to receive interviews this offseason.

Will the Broncos keep Hackett and risk losing Evero? Or will they make the uncomfortable decision to fire a first-year coach and hire a first-time boss for the second successive year?