NFL

The 2026 NFL season has reached the end of the first quarter and several teams are facing major weaknesses they need to solve at halftime. When an offense doesn’t score enough or a defense hemorrhages points, there always are calls to fire the play-callers. Most of the time, however, the issues are tied more to personnel than coaches and coordinators.

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Impatient fans are looking for quick fixes that are not there. Although the most beleaguered teams cannot make a single change and expect a significant midseason turnaround, there are little things that can be done to be more respectable.

Here’s going through the six most notable teams facing the biggest problems and what they should do.

POWER RANKINGS: Chargers, Broncos on the decline

Kiyoshi Mio/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect

Los Angeles Chargers (0-4)

The problem: Offense

Mike McDaniel was supposed to put Jim Harbaugh’s attack into overdrive armed with a good young feature back inOmarion Hampton to better set up Justin Herbert. Part of that has worked, as the Chargers are the No. 9 rushing offense in the NFL while being a 46-54 running team. To help Hampton, both Keaton Mitchell and Kimani Vidal have had some explosive and red zone contributions.

Unfortunately, the passing game has been a mess. They are No. 24 in the league at an average of 174.8 passing yards per game, which shouldn’t happen with Herbert. He’s having trouble with his accuracy and ball security and it’s clear he’s short on reliable healthy targets, especially with Ladd McConkey hurt now, too. 

The solution: Become an even run-heavier team

The Chargers, even with key blocking tight ends David Njoku and Charlie Kolar injured and right tackle Joe Alt (neck) ailing again, need to take the ball out of Herbert’s hands even more until he can get settled and adjust to more a short-to-intermediate passing game. Los Angeles should tip the balance to 50-plus percent running to give the offensive line a protection break and try to get into ball-control battles.

At 0-4 with a tough schedule sitll ahead after a difficult slate early, the Chargers’ playoff chances are slim to none, but they need to play more up to the standard of Harbaugh. That can being working on a weak Bills run defense at home in Week 5.

MORE: Four reasons why Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers are a disaster

Detroit Lions (2-2)

The problem: Defense

The Lions are last in total defense, now giving up on average 423.8 yards per game. They are the worst vs. the pass, giving up 304 yards per game. They are down to No. 21 against the run, giving up just shy of 120 yards per game. That’s adding up to giving up a league-worst 31.8 points per game.

Aidan Hutchinson is playing at a high level all-around. But the other 10 guys starting, including linebacker Jack Campbell and cornerback D.J. Reed, have been awful. The few stops the Lions do get are often caused by a Hutchinson pressure or run stop.

Coach Dan Campbell has been right to point out that defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard isn’t the problem when the personnel is a mixed bag of journeymen and youngsters. The talent is lacking, which comes with paying a ton to Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Penei Sewell and Jameson Williams as the offensive cornerstones.

The solution: Bring back Jim Schwartz

Sheppard has been dealt a bad hand. His previous work replacing Aaron Glenn says he can produce better defensive results. But the Lions need some help in trying to maximize Hutchinson and some underachieving personal.

It would make sense to reach out to Schwartz, the former Lions head coach, for at least some defensive consulting work if the intention is to retain Sheppard.That situation has worked for the Broncos’ defense, who brought back Vance Joseph as the straight-up defensive coordinator. Schwartz did great work with Myles Garrett and the Browns and at 60, he should be back in the NFL somewhere. Detroit needs a helping hand from an old friend and they are fortunate to field the necessary base 4-3 front to make it happen.

Denver Broncos (2-2)

The problem: Offense

The Broncos gave the play-calling duties to former quarterbacks coach Davis Webb, 31, to relieve some of the work from coach Sean Payton (now 62). Webb had also been the passing game coordinator before this season. He’s gone pass-happy with the offense, calling on quarterback Bo Nix to throw 61 percent of the time vs. 39 percent run plays. That’s not a huge change from 59-41 for Payton last season, but it should have gone in the other direction to recognize the passing limitations around NIx.

Despite that volume, the Broncos have fielded only the 20th-ranked passing game, averaging only 199 yards per game. They are tied for No. 29 in the league with only 6.1 yards per pass play. The running game is averaging only 3.6 yards per carry and also ranks No. 29 at 81.3 yards per game. They have run the ball only 90 times in four games as JK Dobbins, RJ Harvey and Jonah Coleman (now on IR) have been injured at some point at running back.

The talent of the offensive line says the Broncos should be much better on the ground. Just last season they average a solid 4.4 yards per carry  They also ran the ball at a clip of five more attempts per game.

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The solution: Sean Payton takes over the play-calling

The Broncos are trying with the running game to make up for Dobbins and Harvey not getting the job done. They were excited by the rookie Coleman, but he suffered a high ankle sprain. They have tried using more of Tyler Badie to no avail.

Denver needs to get back to staying more committed to the run to help Nix and the defense. They tend to abandon too early out of frustration and get stuck with Nix chucking too much, which is not good when newcomer Jaylen Waddle has been their only consistent receiver. Payton needs to restore balance, or ask Webb to adjust his play-calling.

Nix throwing short as a replacement or extension of the running game has become predictable. Teams are not respecting them downfield with no threat of effective power running. Payton and Webb have to break the tendency of the past two seasons.

Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Philadelphia Eagles (2-2)

The problem: Offense

The Eagles have struggled to pass the ball at No. 31 in the league with only 160.8 yards per game. They are also only 15th in rushing offense, down to 109.0 yards per game, despite having the running Jalen Hurts at QB.

Injuries have crushed them early. First it was tight end Dallas Goedert. Then it was wide receiver DeVonta Smith. Then it was Lane Johnson (personal) missing Week 4 against the Rams and Saquon Barkley (hamstring) getting hurt in that game, killing the rushing attack. No wonder the Eagles went 0-for-12 on third down on Sunday.

The solution: Use more 12 personnel

Whatever the health outlook for Goedert, Smith, Barkley and Johnson, new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion needs to turn back the clock. Getting Goedert back to run more two tight-end sets instead of the Eagles’ league-high use off 11 personnel (wide receivers) would be huge. They can then get run-heavier if needed, designing more run for Hurts and helping Barkley — or Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley — be more effective.  

The Eagles are thin at wide receiver when Smith is shelved with no A.J. Brown. Darius Cooper has only flashed neither rookie Makai Lemon nor veteran free-agent addition Dontayvion Wicks are reliable enough with their new QB yet. The Eagles need to lean into their classic strength and try to overpower teams with more physicality than forcing finesse, especially if Johnson’s absence is only a one-week thing.

MORE: Eagles meltdown started with Nick Sirianni’s FG decision

Dallas Cowboys (2-2)

The problem: Defense

The Cowboys have tried to fix their defense by hiring Christian Parker away from the Eagles to deliver with more 3-4 concepts. So far, they have given up almost 390 total yards per game on average (No. 30) and allowed 28 points per game. They are No. 24 against the pass and No. 31 against the run, giving up more than 150 yards per game.

The solution: Play less zone

Parker likes to play plenty of zone, up to 75 percent of the time. The Cowboys are getting gashed with short-to-intermediate passes are being softened up to be exploited by the run. Parker needs to increase some calculated blitzing and also play more man defense behind it. The Cowboys need to use stunts and other concepts to free up their best players up front, led by Quinnen Williams, and take their chances trusting the secondary. 

Their own offense with a hot Dak Prescott will put pressure on teams to keep up. The Cowboys can use that to their advantage by being more aggressive early and often.

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Houston Texans (0-4)

The problem: Defense

The Texans have the No. 21 total defense (343.6 yards per game allowed) and No. 27 scoring defense (27.3 points per game allowed) despite having top defensive talent led by Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on the pass rush. Consider they were No. 1 in total defense and No. 2 in scoring defense last season.

Their strength has become a weakness, tied to a lot of issues with linebacker and secondary coverage in the middle of the field. After posting 47 sacks last season, they actually are better there and on pace for 60 sacks this season. Anderson and Hunter are not the problem, but they need a lot of help.

The solution: DeMeco Ryans takes over play-calling

Ryans needs to throw it back to his 49ers days and take over from Matt Burke. Jalen Pitre, Kamari Lassiter, Derek Singley Jr. and Reed Blankenship are having a lot of issues on the back end. Ryans can help mask their struggles with more creative front-seven work. It might be too little, too late now, but the Texans need to be respectable to help an offense that’s actually finding some groove with C.J. Stroud.

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