The heat is on.
And, not just because the oppressive heat and humidity have arrived in the Northeast, and just about everywhere else.
As the NFL season approaches, the pressure is on several Super Bowl contenders to either turn things around or finally punch their ticket to the Big Game, and on other rebuilding organizations to show meaningful progress.
Inside this column, we’ll take a deep dive into the four teams facing the most pressure, with insight from sources across the league and hear from some of the most vital figures to the trajectory of those organizations from minicamps that are in full swing.
But first … Some Between The Hashmarks Housekeeping …
This is the last 4 Downs column written by me that you’ll see for the next several weeks. With the family out of school, we’re about to head off on a family vacation, create some magical memories, and then my plan is to spend a couple of weeks recharging the batteries for the marathon of an NFL season ahead. But, fear not! There will be guest columns in this space, written by NFL players and folks in or around the league … Stay tuned in the weeks ahead.
You will still be receiving content from or involving me over the next month. Our series ranking the top-five players in each division will still come your way on Tuesdays, and there is at least one panel I’ve taken part in for a column that will be dropping, as well.
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End of commercial, now into the NFL crucibles …
First Down: Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia is and always has been a pressure cooker of a market, but no team is under more pressure to deliver this season after a stark regression in 2025 and a dramatic offseason overhaul of the offense than the Eagles.
Just two years removed from the second Lombardi Trophy in franchise history, and the second Super Bowl appearance in four years, there might not be a head coach sitting on a hotter seat than Nick Sirianni or a quarterback with a ring on his finger under more scrutiny to deliver than Jalen Hurts.
Sean Mannion was hired as offensive coordinator, in hopes of infusing an identity into what became a listless offense under Kevin Patullo, but there are serious questions about whether Hurts’ weakest traits can operate the most vital aspects of the new system.
Hurts has been efficient on throws over the middle of the field, posting a 123.7 passer rating on those routes, which are about to become foundational in Mannion’s scheme, but his reluctance to exploit that part of the field has been well documented, given that he only attempted 28 such passes in 2025.
Last season’s frustrations across the board on offense led to a tumultuous A.J. Brown departure, with the alpha receiver traded to the New England Patriots, leaving a 128-target vacuum that the Eagles are hoping that distributing between DeVonta Smith, Dontayvion Wicks, first-round rookie Makai Lemon, Hollywood Brown, tight ends Dallas Goedert, and rookie tight end Eli Stowers infuses some unpredictability and a far more diverse passing game than the Eagles wielded last season.
“No one knows what that offense looks like,” a rival quarterbacks coach tells Between The Hashmarks, on the condition of anonymity to speak freely about another team. “Does the head coach stay out of it? Does Jalen buy in or resist as he has in the past?
“There are a lot of unknowns. All I know is Philly will have better players than the other team most of the time, thanks to Howie Roseman.”
Amber Searls-Imagn Images
So far, even without Brown, things have gotten off to a copacetic start at the Jefferson Health Training Center.
New Eagles quarterbacks coach Parks Frazier has been impressed by Hurts’ nose-to-the-grindstone mentality this spring to master all aspects of the offense, in hopes of turning the page from last season’s disappointment and hitting the ground running come September.
“Just like anybody, it’s starting from the ground up,” Frazier told reporters during the Eagles’ mandatory minicamp. “You learn terminology, you learn what is my role in the offense, what are the most critical things for me in my position. Like I just said about Jalen, he is willing to do anything. He takes whatever is in front of him and he attacks it. That’s what he’s doing right now, and he’s doing it well.”
No one doubts that Hurts is going to attack mastering this scheme with everything he has, that’s a defining trait of him as an athlete, and a quarterback who powered two Super Bowl runs.
That’s tangibly translated this spring into Hurts placing a significant added emphasis on rebuilding and reworking his footwork in the pocket, building himself from the ground up as Mannion is the system.
Mannion’s propensity for complementing the short, quick, intermediate throws over the middle of the field built around creating YAC opportunities for his receivers with the deep shots off play action that Hurts has always thrived on, there is a vision taking shape of an offense that shrugs off last season’s struggles and starts dictating to defenses, again.
Smith averaged 3.8 Yards After the Catch per reception last season, Wicks 2.3, and Goedert finished 31st among tight ends, averaging 4.1, so this collection of weapons is going to need to rise to the moment right alongside Hurts.
“Sean Mannion is very cognizant of having a paper thin resumè,” NFL Network’s Brian Baldinger tells Between The Hashmarks. “But, he is very sure of what he wants that offense to look like.
“I think it’s going to be a big improvement over an offense that had 50 three-and-outs last season.”
It’s going to have to be.
This is the second time in five seasons that head coach Nick Sirianni has cycled through failed offensive coordinators, the second time that Hurts experienced a step back after a stellar season the prior year.
If Mannion is right, if Hurts answers the bell and plays his way back into the MVP conversation with the Eagles’ talent fueling a Super Bowl run, no one is going to remember the questions and skepticism that’s dogged this organization for months, and the first-year offensive coordinator will be springboarded into potentially becoming a first-time head coach next spring.
However, if Hurts is Mannion’s square peg being jammed into a round hole, the entire operation could look entirely different in a year, after being swallowed up by the Philadelphia pressure cooker this fall.
Second Down: Green Bay Packers
Tork Mason / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst pulled off the kind of aggressive heist last summer he hoped would shatter Green Bay’s recent glass ceiling, but may have found out he was trying to punch through plexiglass.
There is absolutely no doubt and no question that trading for Micah Parsons was a dramatic upgrade and the kind of move that instantly jumpstarts a defense, an entire culture, while also shifting the expectations into overdrive.
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