NFL Panic Meter: Eagles offense, Lions defense are big problems for 2 marquee NFC teams

The two powerhouse teams in the NFC two seasons ago were the 15-2 Detroit Lions, and a Philadelphia Eagles team that went on to win a Super Bowl.

The NFL moves fast. It's only four games into this season but the Eagles and Lions both look incredibly flawed, for different reasons. The Eagles can't move the ball and the Lions can't stop anyone. Both teams can blame injuries, though there are personnel issues too.

The Eagles played most or all of Sunday's game against the Rams without running back Saquon Barkley (hamstring), receiver DeVonta Smith (hamstring), tight end Dallas Goedert and right tackle Lane Johnson (personal reasons). That's arguably the Eagles' three best skill-position players and their best lineman. Without them they gained 172 yards, averaged just 3 yards per play and blew a 10-point lead in the final five minutes. Not great.

Barkley will be week-to-week with his injury and backup Tank Bigsby is going on injured reserve for a core muscle injury. There is no explanation for what's going on with Johnson.

Head coach Nick Sirianni is getting a lot of criticism. Quarterback Jalen Hurts is catching some too; he hasn't played well all season and wasn't great last season either. The offense seems to miss the presence of A.J. Brown, who was traded this offseason. Next up for the Eagles is a tough game at London against the Jaguars. Hurts, who had only 10 yards passing in the second half on Sunday, probably isn't in danger of losing his job if he continues to play poorly. The Eagles just switched backup quarterbacks, demoting Andy Dalton for Tanner McKee. The fact that both have been No. 3 on the depth chart already this season indicates neither one is threatening Hurts no matter how bad he plays. But a productive game would be a reprieve.

Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles had a very quiet second half in a loss to the Rams.Mitchell Leff via Getty Images

There's a way out of the mess for the Eagles, once they start to get healthy. That might not be the case for the Lions.

The Lions have been in prime time twice. Both times a big audience got to see a team that can still move the ball fine but can't get a stop. The Carolina Panthers look much better on offense in Bryce Young's fourth season, but after punting on their first drive here were the Panthers' next six drives: touchdown, touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown, field goal. The Lions are last in the NFL in yards allowed per game and last in points allowed per game. For those who prefer advanced stats, they're last in EPA (expected points added) per play allowed, 29th in success rate allowed and 31st in DVOA. The Lions' offense is top eight in all those stats; that group isn't the problem.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he and the Lions knew the Panthers would go to receiver Tetairoa McMillan often with No. 2 receiver Jalen Coker out due to injury. The Lions did nothing to stop him though. He had 14 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns.

At this point the Lions' defensive issues seem unfixable. A coordinator change can't turn everything around, but Campbell was asked if replacing Kelvin Sheppard was on the table.

"I'm not talking about all that," Campbell said. "I'm talking about getting better right now with what we've got. And that's what we're gonna do. We're going to find a way to get better with what we got."

Cornerback D.J. Reed defended Sheppard, saying after Sunday's game "It's not a coaching thing, it's a players' thing." He might be right, and that brings another set of problems. They're without starting safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch, and also lost defensive back Avonte Maddox to a season-ending injury. Add in the loss of Terrion Arnold, who was cut this offseason after he was arrested, and the Lions secondary is a shell of what it was. At least Branch is "very close" to a return, according to Campbell. Joseph's return doesn't seem imminent. Branch is a good player but even if he returns soon it's not like one safety completely fixes a defense allowing 423.8 yards and 31.8 points per game.

Panic meter: A bad defense seems like it might ruin the Lions season. The same could be true for the Eagles and their offense, though there's some slight hope for a rebound.

Broncos' offensive woes continue

In four games the Broncos have 13 first-half points. That's the second-fewest in the NFL through four games over the last five seasons, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press. The 2023 Giants had just nine first-half points through four weeks.

The early problems indicate the script to open the game is not working. That's one of the many problems with the Broncos offense.

Denver has struggled with Sean Payton giving play-calling to offensive coordinator Davis Webb to start the season. Payton has been asked regularly since a terrible Week 1 performance what he thinks of the play-calling, or if he'll take it back. Payton has not given any indication that he will do that. But it will be hard to resist if the offensive problems persist.

"I think the frustrations just come within the losses," quarterback Bo Nix said, according to the Broncos' transcripts. "Obviously, we want to have a really explosive offense and that'll come, but we've played really good teams."

The Broncos have played good teams: Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams and 49ers. That doesn't completely excuse an offense that is 27th in yards per game this season. Something better change soon, or the play-caller will change.

Panic meter: It's early, the Broncos are in decent shape at 2-2, but there are a lot of warning signs.

Lamar Jackson hurt again

The doctors on social media were in overdrive on Sunday, trying to diagnose Jackson's latest injury. Most of them speculated that it was a mild high ankle sprain.

That's not great for Jackson, but any injury for the Baltimore Ravens quarterback is bad news. We saw how the Ravens' season fell apart last year when Jackson suffered a hamstring injury and wasn't the same when he came back. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's worth keeping in mind because another significant injury to Jackson changes the entire NFL landscape.

Panic meter: No worries yet. Hopefully.

Will Cardinals make a QB change?

Jacoby Brissett is good enough to run a competent offense. He's also not good enough to make a big difference for the Arizona Cardinals when it comes to winning games.

The Cardinals are 2-14 over the last two seasons when Brissett starts. On Sunday, the Cardinals played a Giants team they could have beaten, but Brissett threw three interceptions, including one on the final play that was returned for a touchdown.

Soon, Brissett will face a series of problems. The Cardinals are realistically going to be out of the playoff race quickly. He hasn't played well enough that the Cardinals would keep starting him despite the losses. He's 33 years old and clearly not the future. The Cardinals have a third-round rookie, Carson Beck, who played well in the Hall of Fame game in the preseason and probably needs a longer look before the end of the season. All of that adds up to a quarterback change sooner rather than later.

Panic meter: Brissett needs to play better quickly, and even that might not be enough.

Rams win, but issues persist

Had Sunday's Rams-Eagles game ended with five minutes left, the conversations this week would have been intense.

The Rams trailed by 10 points and looked to be on the way to a 1-3 start. Matthew Stafford threw two interceptions, giving him six in four games. He had eight all last season. The Rams can't even blame the offensive issues on injuries. They were reasonably healthy. And while the Eagles have a good defense in theory, they were six days removed from being picked apart by Case Keenum, the 38-year-old Bears third-string quarterback.

The Rams saved themselves a week of angst. They scored two late touchdowns to win. They're 2-2, which isn't great, but it's a lot better than 1-3. The Rams get a tough test against the Bills on Monday night in Week 5. Los Angeles avoided a week of grief with a win Sunday, but falling to 2-3 with a loss to the Bills might spark up the discussion about how good the Rams actually are.

Panic meter: The thought that the Rams might just not be great this season is creeping in.