Five NFL Teams Under the Most Pressure in 2024

With training camp finally underway, that awesome feeling of football right around the corner is beginning to develop. These are some of the last weeks of the calendar year where fans from all 32 teams have all the hope in the world for what the future has in store, but it's probably beginning to set in for certain teams just how much is on the line in 2024. And as always, there's a few specific teams facing particularly high pressure this upcoming season, with a myriad of factors that could be the reason why. Let's take a look at the six teams facing the most pressure this upcoming season and dive into exactly why 2024 is such a big year.

1. New York Jets

2023 was the year things were finally supposed to change for the Jets, but a devastating torn Achilles to Aaron Rodgers just seconds into their season locked in another season of pain for the New York faithful. Expectations were as high as ever going into last season, and they now roll over into 2024 with a now 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers back and ready to go. But it's not just Rodgers - the Jets have surrounded him with one of the league's most talented overall roster, one that gives real reason to believe they're just a quarterback away from legitimately contending. The defense ranked near the very top in everything this past season, and that should continue into this year behind the league's best secondary and a well-rounded pass rush even without Bryce Huff, though not having Hasson Reddick like they expected would be a tough blow. And the offense, with a healthy Rodgers, has no excuse not to put up massive numbers. Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are already stars this early in their career, and they addressed the offense's two weaknesses - WR depth and the o-line - with a productive offseason Rodgers has to be satisfied with. Rodgers hasn't been shy to reveal his plan going into New York was to play two seasons. Who knows how 2023 will ultimately play into his long-term plans, but the clock is ticking fast for this window in New York, and a healthy roster anything short of competing for a championship would be a massive disappointment in 2024. Not only should this team break their NFL-long postseason drought, Rodgers and co. should be expected to find real playoff success as well with the roster they've constructed.

2. Philadelphia Eagles

After a trip to the Super Bowl and an ensuing 10-1 start to last season, it would've taken a lot for the Eagles to be anywhere near this list, let alone near the top. But the Eagles fell apart, losing six of their final seven games including a lifeless wild-card loss to the Buccaneers, and just like that the walls could be closing in with a lackluster start to 2024. All of a sudden the 'tush push' got a lot less scary, Nick Sirianni's raunchy personality got a lot harder to get behind, and the defense couldn't get a stop to save its life. The Eagles stuck with Sirianni for at least another year, but they switched it up at both offensive and defensive coordinator hiring Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio respectively. And Philly did what they could to address the defense, even with Fletcher Cox calling it a career, drafting a pair of defensive backs with their first two picks this April. Questions began to surround Jalen Hurts down the stretch last season as well, and with so much talent around him it'd be hard to justify a continuation of that. The Eagles were humbled last season, and a quickly shutting Super Bowl window leaves them in dire need of a bounce-back year in 2024, with a microscope undoubtedly going under Nick Sirianni as he approaches a critical year four.

3. Miami Dolphins

It's back-to-back years of a tale of two seasons for the Dolphins, where they can do no wrong in the first half before falling down to Earth and then some in the second, ultimately looking overmatched in the postseason. Now 2022-23 can be attributed to the Tua Tagovailoa injury, but last season was inexcusable. Even with a defense hit hard by injuries, an offense with all the talent in the world was lighting it up for much of the year but suddenly looked a shell of themselves once the weather turned cold. Miami had no shot in the frigid temperatures of their lone playoff game in Kansas City, leaving Tua still winless in game's under 40 degrees an 6-13 under 70 degrees. To sum it up, when it's not a beautiful warm day in Miami or an early September/October day, Tua hasn't been reliable. And he's had all the talent he needs, possessing the top WR duo in the league in Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle and the NFL's leader in rushing TDs last season in Raheem Mostert. With Tua in the market for a massive new extension, the time is now to prove he's the man for the job, and it's going to take a full season of production and far more in the postseason to make it the right decision.

4. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys have been regulars on this list for years, and perhaps the only reason they're this low is cause I really don't expect much more. Dallas' latest playoff flop came at home at the hands of first-year quarterback Jordan Love, with a defense that had outstanding all year looking completely helpless and Dak Prescott making far too many critical mistakes to overcome. Somehow Mike McCarthy survived that, and there really doesn't seem to be a way he's got a leash longer than one more underwhelming year. The Cowboys have looked fantastic at times in recent regular seasons and have been no stranger to some dominant wins in years past, but they've won just one postseason game this decade and simply don't look to be on the same level as the true contenders in the NFC. All you can hope for is a breakthrough, as they're pretty much stuck with Dak at quarterback - not a bad option by any means - and the defense couldn't have played much better than it did last season, not to mention one of the league's best offensive lines and maybe the second-best receiver in football in CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys are running it back for one more year, but with Dak entering a contract year and McCarthy's seat as hot as ever, the pressure is extra urgent to finally move forward this season.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

Few saw Jacksonville's collapse last season, as after riding their huge finish to 2022-23 into a great start to this past year, Trevor Lawrence and co. looked like the class of the AFC South for years to come. It's hard to pinpoint one specific thing on what went wrong for the Jaguars down the stretch, but it certainly wasn't enough to stray them away from locking down Trevor Lawrence on the massive extension he'd been long awaiting. But all of a sudden for the Jaguars, they're another rough year away from real questions beginning to arise, potentially involving the former No. 1 pick. No team spent more money than the Jaguars this offseason and they're going to have to deal with a rising Texans squad entering as the AFC South favorites, and falling back on Lawrence's injuries and poor WR play won't be looked at nearly as reasonably this next season. While Lawrence has showed more than a few flashes of elite quarterback play in his early season, this is the year Jacksonville is expecting it all to come together.