Which NFL pre-season teams have the most reason to worry?

It is difficult to determine what is real during the first weeks of the NFL season. There are still returns from early September that seem inconceivable at the end of December. In the third week of last season, the Patriots – you know, the team that eventually won the Super Bowl – lost to the modest Lions and fell to 1-2. The Colts, who were going to finish 10-6, also dropped to 1-2 after losing to the Eagles. And the Bills embarrassed the Vikings in a 27-6 win that looked like a possible Josh Allen feast. (Narrator: It was not.)

After three games this season, however, some teams that had significant pre-season hype began to slow their starts – and asked about their rival status. This group is featured by the Cleveland Browns. After a terrible 20-13 loss to the Rams on Sunday night, they fell to 1-2 – but the fact that Cleveland and his young quarterback seem to be regressing is even more troubling than that. The sensational season of Baker Mayfield rookies and the Browns trade for Odell Beckham Jr. have made Cleveland a chic choice for the playoffs and arguably the most exciting team in the league to come in 2019. Three matches, Mayfield and coach-player Freddie Kitchens failed to find any offensive flow. And it goes beyond inexplicable draw on a fourth and-9.

The Browns have holes along the offensive line, but their problems are much deeper than two below average tackles. At the finish of Sunday's game, Mayfield put an average time of 2.78 seconds, the fifth highest mark in the NFL. He seemed uncomfortably in the pocket all season, and this problem persisted in a new sloppy series against the Rams. Mayfield finished 18 of his 36 goals for just 195 yards and a touchdown by taking three sacks, bringing his season total to 11. That the ball be held too long while looking for retreating ground gains or pulling in pockets unobstructed, the Mayfield calibration the internal clock just seems off. Except for a few RPOs to hit the Rams quickly, the Cleveland offensive has never been paced and it's starting to become a worrying theme for this group.

In the Browns' last attempt in the fourth and end of the match towards the end of the match, Mayfield, who had the opportunity to play a leading role in the pocket, drove right shortly after taking the shot, cutting half of the field and put under pressure. His off-balance shot was intercepted in the end zone and the return effort was over. While desperation partly explains the decision made at that time, mistakes like this are all too often happening for Cleveland this season. In 2018, during Mayfield's second electric half, a significant portion of his big shots were late as he improvised and pushed the ball down. The Browns have not managed to create these games so far this season, and Mayfield's tendency to try to push them anyway makes the whole unit look like it. The scariest aspect of all this may be that it will not be easier from here. The next four Cleveland games are on the road against Baltimore, the 49ers, home for the Seahawks and the Patriots. What does this attack look like, it is not hard to imagine this team falling to 2-5 or 1-6 during this period.

Cleveland is not the only pre-season darling to have had three tough games. The Eagles were also a popular player in the playoffs and the Super Bowl, but after a 27-24 loss to the Lions on Sunday, Philly now has a record of one game and two games behind the Cowboys in the NFC East . The injuries have already impacted what some saw as the most comprehensive NFL training at the start of the season. The Eagles were without Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson on Sunday, and a series of mistakes made by their receivers – including a lost fumble from Nelson Agholor and a pair of penalties for interference from Mack Hollins' offensive pass – played a role in defeat. Jason Peters was sick on Sunday and was forced to not play in the second quarter, but the 37-year-old left-backer was put back in the game after Andre Dillard's foot injury. There is currently a distinct atmosphere of "our animal heads are falling!"

Apart from all injuries, there are also concerns about the healthy areas on this list. The side team was probably Philly's weakest position at the start of the season and played that way in three games. Cornerback Ronald Darby has struggled to cover himself so far this season. Malik Jackson and Timmy Jernigan, both of whom have suffered serious foot injuries, have not been able to control their games as before. Detroit was encouraged by a return touchdown and a 44-yard gain on a flush, but the Eagles' defense is still far from the lock-down group it had the potential to be this season. When Jackson and Jeffery come back, there's a good chance the Eagles offense will open and Carson Wentz will look more like the quarterback we saw in the first week against the Redskins. Over the last two weeks, Wentz has been trying to carry the offensive by himself and has sometimes held back the ball too long, while waiting for a receiver 's reception. With its two main targets back in the next two weeks, this offense should resume its normal course. But the Eagles have already lost a lot of valuable ground in the playoff picture of the NFC.

Neither the Falcons nor the Chargers had the same pre-season enthusiasm as the Eagles and Browns, but both teams were still considered playoff contenders. Now, after the Falcons lost 27-24 against the Colts on Sunday and the Chargers dropped a 27-20 bite against the Texans, the two players also sit 1-2. But if the Falcons may still have a chance in their division, the prospects of the Chargers seem much darker.

The story of the Chargers season is so far familiar. The injuries have torpedoed many of the team's talented players in recent years, and that's what happened again in 2019. Derwin James was already on the reserve with a foot injury when the Chargers lost safety, Adrian Phillips, against a broken forearm ending the season last week. With James and Phillips on the shelf, LA has turned to 2017's fourth round pick, Rayshawn Jenkins, and unprepared rookie, Roderic Teamer, for safety. It is therefore not surprising that high school dropped a lot of big gains later on Deshaun Watson and Texans. The hope against the game of vertical passes in Houston was that the Chargers' four leaders, led by Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram, are enough to overwhelm a suspicious offensive line and hide some of the problems in the back. The defense had six quarterback hits and a pair of sacks, but the pressure was still not enough to slow Watson down, who had 351 yards and three touchdowns in just 34 attempts. Part of that production, like the second and tenths of the fourth quarter, when Watson moved away from Ingram to give Jordan Akins a small pass for a 53-yard touchdown, was the result of the quarterback, but there were also a lot of coverage issues. Parts like Watson's 15-yard touchdown against Akins on a simple sewing pattern in the third quarter are just too easy.

The injury virus has also hit key areas of the chargers' offense. The left starting half, Russell Okung, is still absent because he has problems with blood clots. His absence further aggravated an already fragile offensive line. J.J. Watt and the Texans front settle in the backfield of the Chargers. Watt finished with two of Houston's five sacks and the overworked right tackle Sam Sami Tevi all afternoon.

Even with their early problems, however, the Chargers still have a lot of talent in attack – which makes the latter scourge so tragic. Philip Rivers and Keenan Allen were both magnificent against the Texans. Rivers finished with 318 passing yards, and Allen grabbed 13 absurd receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns from Rivers. At the end of the match, it seemed that Rivers was trying to win his team. He put a perfect 40-yard bomb on Travis Benjamin, which would have been a touchdown, but escaped Benjamin's responsibility after the last safety challenge, Tashaun Gipson. The Chargers' lineup is great, but for the moment, it seems that the injuries inflicted on two groups of key positions will make it almost impossible for them to keep pace with the West African Chiefs.

Fortunately for the Falcons, they do not have to deal with a juggernaut of their own division. The defeat on the Atlanta road against the Colts may have given the team a loss record, but the Falcons still have only one game behind the Saints in a division where the Panthers and the Bucs.

Since they were decimated by the Vikings during the first week, Atlanta's attack has found a little more rhythm and the group of Matt Ryan really started on Sunday. Ryan launched another grueling interception early in the second quarter to bring his season totals to six, but this group showed that when Ryan, Julio Jones and Atlanta's other offensive weapons click, they can score points very quickly . In the end, the offense should go well with the new coordinator Dirk Koetter.

Defense is another story. This season, head coach Dan Quinn was named de facto coordinator for the defensive team, resuscitating a unit that finished 31st in the DVOA last season. The hope was that Quinn's new role and a better chance of injury would help Atlanta finally solve a problem that puzzled the franchise during the five years of his tenure. So far, this has not happened. This scheme is built to prevent big games while often conceding shorter shots in the middle of the field, and the Colts exploited this plan throughout the match. The quarterback Jacoby Brissett was away from the lower areas of defense while Indianapolis was walking effectively on the ground. A week after racking up five hurried runs and three quarterbacks against the Eagles, Takk McKinley was held largely in check, and the Falcons' rush did not bother Brissett. To make matters worse, Atlanta also lost starting safety, Keanu Neal, following an injury to Achilles, his second season-ending injury in as many years. The Falcons may have thought that this season would be different, but at three games, it seems that once again, the best hope of the team is to rely on Ryan and the offensive.

With injured Drew Brees and the confusing NFC South, the Falcons are in a much better position than the Eagles, Browns and Chargers – all of whom have Super Bowl ready contenders in their own divisions. It also seems that the Falcons' stumbles at the beginning of the season – especially in attack – can be corrected as the season progresses. The same goes for the Eagles, who desperately need to bring back players like Jackson and Jeffery to the field. The problems of the Browns and Chargers, however, seem more difficult to solve. Both teams are moving in the wrong direction and, unless they quickly correct the course, they will continue to lose ground that may not be catching up.