The 2024-25 NFL season has reached the halfway point. Entering Week 9, the reigning champions in Kansas City are undefeated (7-0) and sitting in pole position to win a third straight Super Bowl, a popular preseason title favorite in Detroit owns the best record in the NFC (6-1), and one division (the NFC North) has nothing but teams with winning records.

But we’re not here to hear about winners. They’re getting enough attention. Let’s look at some of the league’s biggest losers — teams that are either sitting in last place in their division or fully in the race for the No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft.

Before you check all the way out on these struggling squads and toss them into your NFL Sunday Ticket trash heap, there’s at least one reason to keep watching them play:

Carolina Panthers (1-7): Chuba Hubbard

In 2022, running back Miles Sanders rushed for a career-high 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns for the Eagles. He was voted to the Pro Bowl and helped power Philly to the Super Bowl, where they came up short against (of course) the Chiefs. That offseason, Sanders cashed in on his career year, signing with Carolina for $25.4 million over four years. But then, his first season with the Panthers was a disaster; he posted career-lows in rushing yards and yards per carry, while the team went 2-15. Sudden falls from grace are too common among NFL running backs, but usually it can be chalked up to age or injuries. Sanders missed only one game in 2023, and he’s only 27 years old. More likely, it seemed Sanders was hindered from the Panthers simply being worse than the Eagles, from the offensive line to the quarterback situation to the coaching staff to the front-office decision makers.

What does that have to do with Chuba Hubbard? Halfway through Sanders’s second year in Carolina, he’s been pushed to the bench as the backup to Hubbard, who outperformed Sanders last season and has become the team’s best offensive player this season.

Through eight games, Hubbard’s 593 rushing yards ranks sixth in the NFL. But how’s he doing it? He’s running behind the same leaky O-line and unimpressive QBs that Sanders has had. So what’s the difference? Hubbard is more elusive, able to break tackles, and has the vision and cutback skills to create something out of plays that might be nothing when someone else has the ball.

Tennessee Titans (1-6): The Burden of Blocking T’Vondre Sweat

It might sound like a chore to train your eyes on an interior defensive lineman, but if you find yourself watching the woeful Titans, take a long look at T’Vondre Sweat. The rookie is listed at 6-foot-4 and 362 pounds, and apparently that’s too much for just one offensive lineman to block.

The Ringer‘s Diante Lee put it best:, “Sweat has already become one of the 10 most valuable interior defensive linemen in the NFL, though his individual greatness is being lost in Tennessee’s overall struggles.”

Like a lot of elite DTs, Sweat doesn’t have great fantasy football stats — he’s made 9 solo tackles and 12 assists this season — but he can impact a game and wreck an opponent’s offense simply by forcing teams to stay out of his way.

New York Giants (2-6): Will They Be Worse Than the Brooklyn Nets?

New York is as hot as any sports city in 2024. The Liberty won a WNBA championship. The Yankees went to the World Series. The Mets went to the NL Championship Series. The Rangers went to the Stanley Cup semifinals. The Islanders made the playoffs, too. The Knicks are coming off a good postseason run and might be a legit NBA title contender this season. The Jets? Well, they at least have some star power and irresistible intrigue.

The two New York teams boasting that dreaded combination of being bad and boring are the football Giants and the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets. The Nets entered this season projected to be arguably the worst team in their league, and the Giants began this season looking like arguably the worst in theirs.

But Brooklyn already has a couple of wins and competitive losses against projected NBA playoff teams, while the Giants have lost three in a row and haven’t looked good in about a month. Which team will sink to the bottom of the barrel in the Big Apple?

Cleveland Browns (2-6): The Jameis Experience

Things might be looking up for the Browns. Last week, they snapped a five-game skid with a win over the Ravens. Star running back Nick Chubb’s workload has increased heading into his third game back from a serious knee injury (11 carries in his return, 16 carries in his second game). And they got the solid quarterback play they desperately needed after Jameis Winston replaced injured starter Deshaun Watson against Baltimore.

Winston is the most famously up-and-down QB in the league right now — maybe ever. No one will forget Winston’s 30/30 season (33 touchdowns, 30 interceptions, over 5,000 yards and a losing record) with the Buccaneers in 2019, the last time he was a full-time starter. He’s also one of the most entertaining talkers in the league right now — maybe ever. No one wants to miss Winston’s pre-game speeches or post-game interviews, where he’s liable to bring up any topic under the sun and make some nonsense make sense.

Las Vegas Raiders (2-6): The Aura

All due respect to All-Pro pass rusher Maxx Crosby and tight end rookie sensation Brock Bowers, but the best thing the Raiders have going for them is the fact that they’re the Raiders. The history, the mystique, the fans, the merch, the city, the stadium … so many of the things that’d make you want to go to a football game. There just isn’t a very good football team for you to watch once you get to the game.

Living in Vegas and listening to Raiders fans and local media, whatever positivity remains is almost always about the past and the time people have put in with this team — rarely if ever is it excitement for the present or the future of what the Raiders are building. I’m 100 percent against the idea of tanking, but if there was ever a franchise that needed a No. 1 draft pick to infuse some optimism in its fan base, it’s the Raiders.

New England Patriots (2-6): How Much Will Drake Maye Play?

Unlike the Raiders, the Patriots already have their QB to build around. That would be Maye, the No. 3 pick in the 2024 draft. How the team manages its rookie gem is more intriguing than its performance between the lines.

New England initially wanted to bring Maye along slowly, making him the backup to veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett at the start of this season. But after the Pats failed to score at least 14 points in three straight games, Maye was given his first start in Week 6. In his debut, the team managed to score 21 in a loss to the Texans while Maye threw for three touchdowns. The rookie again put up good numbers in a loss to the Jaguars, but then in Week 8 against the Jets, he left early after suffering a concussion.

Going into a winnable Week 9 game against the Titans, Maye’s status is uncertain. But how much should the Patriots play him in the season’s second half? They’ve already been making the roster moves of a rebuilding franchise that isn’t trying to win right now, and reports are New England will continue to be sellers ahead of the November 5th trade deadline. So how much do they want to risk their prized young QB in difficult games with a depleted roster? Do they want to give Maye as many reps as possible, hoping he’ll be better in the long run from the growing pains of this season? Or limit his exposure and make sure he’s intact for Year 2, when the roster will (presumably) be better around him?

Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6): The Next Big Move

Looking at things from a distance, the Jaguars shouldn’t be losing as much as they are. They have a young franchise quarterback, Trevor Lawrence, who’s actually won a playoff game in his career; a young running back, Tank Bigsby, who’s shown potential to be an explosive contributor with two 100-yard games this season; a young wide receiver, Brian Thomas Jr., who could have a case for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year; one edge rusher, 2022 No. 1 draft pick Travon Walker, who ranks top-10 in the league in sacks; and another, Josh Hines-Allen, who’s a two-time Pro Bowler at 27.

There’s a lot of individual talent — and a lot of young talent — but for some reason the team just isn’t coming together and producing wins. Good players and bad results is a quick recipe for coaches to get fired, and Jacksonville’s HC Doug Pederson is definitely one of the “Hot Seat” regulars.

Is that how the Jaguars plan to fix what’s wrong? Or will they try making a big splash before the trade deadline? Start tanking/trading their way toward a high draft pick? Team owner Shad Khan (the only Muslim majority team owner in the four major American sports leagues) has some big decisions to make.

Los Angeles Rams (3-4): They Can Still Make a Run

The Rams are in last place in the NFC West and have a losing record, but don’t get it twisted: This team is still in the playoff chase. After a 1-4 start the Rams won two in a row, including last week’s win over a very good Vikings squad. So now everyone can’t stop bringing up last season, when L.A. started 3-6 before winning seven of their final eight games to get into the playoffs.

Star receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua just rejoined L.A.’s lineup after missing time with injuries, meaning the offense is starting to look like the high-powered unit that QB Matthew Stafford was expected to lead this season. The defense may still be reeling from Aaron Donald’s retirement, but they may be coming around as well; in the two most recent victories they held their opponents under 21 points.