By ROB MAADDI, AP Pro Football Writer

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Nine NFL teams have nearly no chance nine weeks into the season.

The Patriots, Raiders, Jaguars, Browns, Giants, Saints and Panthers are 2-7. The Dolphins and Titans are 2-6.

On the opposite side, 11 teams have at least six wins.

So much for parity.

The league’s goal has always been to have every team stay in contention for as long as possible. But 28.1% of the teams — more than a quarter of the league — will likely spend the second half battling for draft positioning.

Maybe Miami still has a chance to stage a turnaround because Tua Tagovailoa is back and playing well. The Dolphins went 1-3 when Tagovailoa was out with a concussion, averaging just 10 points. They’ve lost both games since his return but scored 27 in each.

Oddsmakers are giving Miami respect. The Dolphins are just 1-point underdogs on the road against the Los Angeles Rams (4-4) on Monday night.

“I live in real hope, which is how are people’s games getting better? Are we getting better?” coach Mike McDaniel said Thursday. “Does that mean it’s up to standard or that losses are acceptable? Absolutely not but vital to football teams having success in any NFL season is that they master the art of getting better in the noise, and don’t confuse noise with just losing.

“Noise is also very loud when you’re winning, and sometimes you can have that – you could be sitting at 6-2 and if the ball isn’t getting better through all the noise, I don’t have real hope. My hope is real is because the football that I’m watching and detailing is improving, and I think the team is focused on trying to have a game where they feel like their brand of football was mastered. I think the football team knows that when that occurs, things will take care of themselves in the win column.”

The Dolphins are one of two of the two-win teams that made the playoffs last season. Cleveland is the other. Both finished 11-6 and lost in the AFC wild-card round.

The Jaguars, Saints and Giants had playoff aspirations coming in.

Jacksonville was 9-8 in each of the previous two seasons, winning the AFC South in 2022 and advancing to the divisional round. But this year has been a disaster for coach Doug Pederson, quarterback Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. They’ve lost five games by five points or fewer.

“You got to build them back,” Pederson said. “You have to get them back ready to go for another challenge. I need to show them and talk to them in a way that is accountability, ownership, do your job, do it better, do the little things.

“I have to show that in a team setting, bring it to light and just show the guys, ‘Listen, this is what’s holding us back right now, plays X, Y, and Z,’ whatever it is.”

The Giants also made the playoffs in 2022 when Brian Daboll was AP Coach of the Year in his first season in New York. They went 6-11 last year when quarterback Daniel Jones missed 11 games because of injuries.

Jones is back but things haven’t gone any better for the Giants.

“Well, these guys, everybody, coaches, the players, again, you see that we all do this to try to win,” Daboll said. “We spend a lot of time here. We practice the right way. We work hard. When you don’t get the results, certainly it’s frustrating. You do everything you can do to get a win. Ultimately, that’s my job and my job is to support and lead. Again, it should fall on me, not these guys. They’re working their butts off.”

New Orleans finished 9-8 last season and got off to an impressive start this year, going 2-0 and scoring 91 points in the process. Nothing has gone right for the Saints since Week 3. The losing cost coach Dennis Allen his job this week.

Carolina, New England and Tennessee were supposed to be rebuilding so it’s no surprise each team has struggled.

At least the Patriots have reason for optimism because rookie Drake Maye looks like he can be a franchise quarterback. Las Vegas, Cleveland, Tennessee and Carolina have question marks at that important position.

“I know everyone’s excited about our quarterback, and he’s a good player for us,” coach Jerod Mayo said. “He will continue to develop going forward, but he understands there are a lot of things to work on for himself personally as well. You see some of the other guys, and they’re at different points in their rookie year. Your rookie year, no matter what position you play, it’s always tough. Again, those guys, it’s about getting better every single day, and you’re going to deal with different situations every single day, whether you’re talking on the field or off the field.”

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Source: wralsportsfan.com