Off- and On-Field Drama Forces a Shuffling of NFL’s Must-Watch Teams

Eric Kendricks of the Dallas Cowboys runs with a recovered fumble during the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders at Northwest Stadium on Nov. 24 in Landover, Maryland. Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Before the season, this column predicted the NFL’s top five must-watch teams, those that provide drama on and off the field.

But that list needed some mid-season revision, and the new grouping, arriving in time for Thanksgiving Day, includes two turkeys that the NFL is serving up to its national TV audience.

The original five featured the New York Jets in the top spot, followed by the Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs, and finally the Jerry Jones-led Dallas Cowboys.

But all the drama in New York has required a reconfiguration. The Giants have stumbled onto the scene with the culmination of a series of moves that read like a rejected movie script.

Meanwhile, Caleb Williams, the top pick in the 2024 draft, was supposed to turn the Bears around immediately and be the next big quarterback sensation. He drew extra eyeballs with his exploits in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” ahead of the regular season, but he and the 4-7 team have taken more lashes than a circus bear that can’t remember its tricks.

An 18-15 loss to the Washington Commanders on a long final-play touchdown pass on Oct. 28 and coach Matt Eberflus being under fire every Sunday–and all days between–have been a big draw, but the Philadelphia Eagles have replaced them on the list.

Here’s the new top five:

5. Eagles

This is a fan base and media swarm that is constantly treating its coach like a stalker. The Eagles are 9-2 and looking like a real threat to make a postseason run, challenging the Detroit Lions for the NFC’s top seed, but supporters and media members seem to want coach Nick Sirianni excommunicated if the offense has one bad series.

Sirianni’s more likely to be hit by a Philly cheesesteak than to be served one. The slightest flaw draws the ire of everyone with an interest in the team.  It’s great for the rest of the league to sit back and have a chuckle, and it earns Philadelphia a spot on the list.

4. Chiefs

There are no swift kills for these Chiefs. Kansas City was the last undefeated team standing until falling to the Buffalo Bills 30-21 on Nov. 17. In fact, nothing comes easy for the team, wins or losses.

All the close games and walk-offs—including a blocked field gold and a kick of their own for two wins—have certainly made the 10-1 Chiefs appointment viewing. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes has been so good in difficult late-game situations, the outcome never seems to be in doubt.

Life on the edge has the Chiefs staggering toward the postseason, but judgment is not the focus of fans. They just keep counting the wins, and K.C. delivers week after week, even for casual viewers of football.

3. Cowboys

Just consider the fact that the 4-7 Cowboys are free entertainment. No need to fork over tons of cash for a special streaming service and cable TV. Just flip on the tube, kick up your heels  and don’t even try to hold back the laughs.

Forbes ranked Dallas as the most valuable sports team in the United States (2023 numbers), but its owner—the mic-seeking Jones—can’t admit he’s not running a potential championship team, and the players can’t seem to get the job done.

Quarterback Dak Prescott, top wideout CeeDee Lamb, and linebacker Micah Parsons have been reduced to footnotes in a season that appears to be lost. Still, waiting to see how the Cowboys win or lose and what Jones says afterward is worth the investment of time.

2. Jets

The always crash-landing Jets seemed to skid off the runway without ever getting off the ground this season.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers’s era is more like a bad facelift procedure that leaves the patient in pain every time they try to smile.

Rodgers looks old and the Jets look bad.

The team jettisoned coach Robert Selah after just five games. The defense, which was supposed to be strong, is toward the bottom of the league in yards allowed. The offense is mostly a sputtering mess and the special teams aren’t especially great, either.

Drama, bad losses and Rodgers sniping at the media and the world make for a fun afternoon as the football gods obviously enjoy a good laugh. That’s pretty much all this team has been providing to casual fans for decades. For actual Jets fans, it’s constant turbulence.

1. Giants

With more hard turns than a New York subway train, the Giants have outdone the rest of the league when it comes to high drama, bumping the Chargers from the list and taking over the top spot with moves that have brought the franchise to a screeching halt.

Any 12-year-old watching half a game during running back Saquon Barkley’s rookie year in 2018 could see he was a better player than quarterback Daniel Jones. But the team not only reached for Jones with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft, but it prioritized the signal caller by paying him $160 million in a four-year deal instead of turning its focus to the running game and Barkley.

The Giants in the offseason let Barkley walk away to the rival Eagles as a free agent. The current MVP candidate torched the team that drafted him with the second overall pick in the 2018 draft, running for 176 yards and a TD as the Eagles routed the Giants 28-3 on Oct. 20.

Barkley stepped all over the Rams on “Sunday Night Football,” running for a club-record 255 yards in a 37-20 beatdown in Los Angeles.

Even the Giants’ standout rookie wideout Malik Nabers couldn’t hold back his frustration in a postgame media scrum, calling his team “soft,” with an f-bomb dropped in.

This is utter organizational failure. Oh, and what does the NFL give football-loving fans on Thanksgiving Day? That’s right, a Cowboys-Giants matchup of turkeys to gobble up.