By ARNIE STAPLETON, AP Pro Football Writer

DENVER

The Patriots are only slightly superior to the Panthers. The Bears are once again performing poorly. The Broncos, who have given up six high-value draft picks for a coach-quarterback duo, are also struggling to find success.

The Cardinals are playing poorly, as predicted. The Giants are also underperforming, which is surprising. The Titans, Vikings, Packers, and Chargers have all had slow starts, with Green Bay and Los Angeles only playing five games due to early bye weeks.

All of them can find comfort in the fact that Caleb Williams may come to their aid.

Despite Xavier Watts’ impressive performance against the previous Heisman Trophy winner in Notre Dame’s victory over USC this past weekend, we now have sufficient evidence to determine the teams most likely to “Crash for Caleb.”

As Week 7 approaches, there is a team without a single win (Carolina, who exchanged their first-round draft pick for next year with Chicago), five teams with only one victory – including the previously mentioned Bears – and four teams with two wins.

Other teams now have the option to participate in the Williams sweepstakes, but they will need to surpass several unsuccessful teams in order to secure the opportunity to select the Southern California quarterback and current Heisman Trophy holder. He is highly regarded as the most certain prospect since Andrew Luck in 2012, who was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts after their star quarterback Peyton Manning suffered an injury. Despite this, Manning went on to win more MVP awards and a Lombardi Trophy.

Certain scouts view Williams as the potential future of Patrick Mahomes, possessing the ability to make impressive throws at any moment or use his quickness to evade defenders.

Williams, who started at Oklahoma and then transferred to USC with coach Lincoln Riley last year, has a record of 86 touchdown passes and only 13 interceptions. However, three of those interceptions happened during USC’s first defeat this season against Notre Dame on Saturday. In addition, he has also scored 22 rushing touchdowns in a span of 32 games.

The team that selects him in the 2024 NFL draft will have a fast track to regaining respect and can continue their pursuit of reaching the top instead of falling to the bottom, as one coach has referred to him as a “generational player.”

The former coach who is now a commentator expressed in an interview last November that the pursuit of drafting Williams could potentially lead to the implementation of a lottery system in the NFL, similar to the one used by the NBA, in order to prevent tanking.

Eventually, there will be a shift towards implementing a lottery system in the NFL,” he stated, “due to the potential impact this player could have.”

The person who made the prediction was Sean Payton, who worked as a studio analyst for Fox during his one-year break from coaching for the Saints and Broncos.

The Denver Broncos, led by coach Payton, have started the season with a record of 1-5. The relationship between Payton and quarterback Russell Wilson is strained. The team has suffered three losses at home to weaker opponents, gave up a franchise high of 70 points in a game against Miami, and just lost to the Kansas City Chiefs for the 16th straight time. This trend goes against the NFL’s goal of promoting equal competition rather than rare occurrences.

During his November interview on the Colin Cowherd show, which is currently resurfacing on social media, Payton expressed concern about the impact of tanking on team morale. He also mentioned a specific player as a potential example of why the lottery system was implemented.

Deliberately losing a game in order to secure a better draft pick is discouraged by the league. Payton, who mentioned in an interview with Cowherd, shared a few cases where teams did not put forth their best effort in the final game of the season to improve their draft position. The league has become increasingly involved with legalized gambling, according to Payton.

Can a slow and gradual process lasting for weeks or even months be considered? A group may release older players in favor of promoting younger ones. Alternatively, they may choose to prioritize experienced players over younger, quicker, and potentially more talented ones. They could also stick to basic strategies or stick with their default defensive formations.

There are various methods that teams could use to guarantee a low number of wins, in hopes of securing a top quarterback to turn their franchise around.

Occasionally, the dated car requires a thorough renovation, rather than just a routine oil change.

Although numerous teams aspire to win the Super Bowl in Las Vegas on February 11, many are also eagerly anticipating the announcement of their draft pick by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in Detroit on April 25.

The Cardinals have the most challenging remaining schedule among the Caleb contenders, with only one remaining opponent having a losing record (Chicago in Week 16). They also have games against division leaders Baltimore, San Francisco, and Philadelphia.

The Bears, with a record of 1-5, have the opportunity to acquire Williams through their ownership of the Panthers’ pick. They are set to face only one division leader, the Detroit Lions, in Weeks 11 and 14. The Panthers, currently at 0-6, are scheduled to play against just one division leader, Jacksonville, in Week 17.

Tennessee (2-4): The Titans have one remaining game against a team currently with a losing record, which will be played at home against Carolina in Week 12. They also have four games against division leaders on their remaining schedule, including two against Jacksonville and away games against Tampa and Miami.

The upcoming opponents for the Denver Broncos have a combined record of 30 wins and 26 losses, with a winning percentage of .536. This makes it the second toughest schedule in the league, behind only the Arizona Cardinals with a winning percentage of .579. The Broncos will face the Kansas City Chiefs once again in two weeks, but they have yet to win against quarterback Patrick Mahomes, with an overall record of 0 wins and 12 losses. In fact, they have not beaten the Chiefs in 16 consecutive games. Over the years, the Broncos have had 12 different starting quarterbacks, five different head coaches, and have not made it to the playoffs.

The Patriots, led by Bill Belichick, have begun their season with a record of 1-5, their worst start under his leadership. In the past month, they have suffered consecutive losses to the Cowboys and Saints, with a combined score of 72-3. The remaining nine teams on their schedule all have a record of .500 or higher. It seems that Tom Brady may have played a larger role in their previous successes than originally thought.

The New York Giants, with a current record of 1-5, have two upcoming games against Philadelphia and only two games against teams that currently have losing records (the Patriots and the Packers). While they were initially seen as contenders for the Williams sweepstakes, their recent performance on Sunday showed a decline as they failed to score from the 1-yard line at the end of both halves.

The Minnesota Vikings, with a record of 2-4, had a successful 13-win season previously. However, their victories have only been against the struggling Bears and Panthers, who have a total of one win out of 11 games. Furthermore, star player Justin Jefferson is currently injured and the Vikings are set to face the strong 49ers team this upcoming weekend. They also have two out of their next three games against the top-ranked NFC North Lions.

GREEN BAY (2-3): Coming off an early bye, the Packers might not belong on this list. They’ve averaged 10 wins over the last seven seasons, second on this list only to New England (10.7). At the other end, the Giants have averaged six wins and the Broncos 6.3 since 2016.

The Los Angeles Chargers (2-3) possess a promising, experienced quarterback in Justin Herbert. However, they face a challenging upcoming schedule with two matchups against the Kansas City Chiefs and games against division leaders such as Detroit, Baltimore, and Buffalo. On the bright side, these games will be played at home.

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Source: wralsportsfan.com