Five weeks into the 2026 NFL season, the picture at the bottom of the league is starting to sharpen, and two teams that have spent plenty of time in the wrong neighborhood are still stuck there after Week 5. The Titans and Dolphins both showed up in the latest power rankings near the basement, and for different reasons, neither is giving much reason to look up just yet.
Tennessee sits at No. 32, where the offense remains the loudest problem. The Titans’ struggles have become so obvious that even the team’s quarterback situation is being dragged into bigger-picture speculation.
The piece points out that if this keeps going, Tennessee could end up with Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith, leaving the real question of who would be under center for them. Cam Ward is the name tied to that concern, and right now the message is simple: he has to play better.
There’s also a telling wrinkle involving Marvin Harrison Jr. that reflects just how little fear the Titans offense is generating. Neither the Cardinals nor the Texans, the report says, wanted anyone to know where Harrison was being traded after Week 5, and the suggestion is that Houston wanted to get its win over Tennessee wrapped up before making the deal official.
The Texans handled the Titans with ease, which only deepens the sense that Tennessee is going nowhere fast. This was supposed to be a team that could take a collective step forward if Ward made one individually, but that hasn’t happened.
The longer it drags on, the more you have to wonder whether the Titans still see him as the future beyond this season.
Miami is one spot above them at No. 31, and while the Dolphins are still winless at 0-5, their season has at least offered some moments that feel meaningful in a rebuilding year. One stretch of their Week 5 loss had Malik Willis with more interceptions, 2, than completions, 1, although that stat alone doesn’t tell the whole story of how the game unfolded. Even so, the bigger point is that Miami has not been the kind of total punchline many expected.
There’s a sense the Dolphins are using these games to figure out who belongs in the next version of the roster, and that evaluation process is underway. The record is ugly, but the performances have been competitive enough to keep things from turning into a full-on disaster.
Still, head coach Jeff Hafley isn’t collecting praise for any of it, and if Miami wants the results to start matching the flashes, the turnovers have to stop. Against the Bengals, the Dolphins gave it away three times, and that ended up being the difference.
In Other News...
Dolphins Could Be Headed For A Brutal QB Decision In 2027
Miamis ugly 0-5 start has already pushed the quarterback conversation into the long view, and that long view now appears to include the 2027 NFL Draft class. With Malik Willis still leaving plenty of doubt as a possible answer at the position, the Dolphins are at least expected to keep one eye on the next wave of passers, where Texas star Arch Manning sits near the center of the debate.
Manning was once viewed as the kind of prospect teams could anchor a rebuild around, but his college inconsistency has complicated that picture and made his pro outlook harder to pin down. For Miami, the appeal is obvious enough to understand: if the current quarterback search keeps going sideways, the franchise may end up weighing upside over certainty and betting that the right young talent can still be worth the risk. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Late Rally Ended In A Brutal Way Again
Another late surge from Miami came up just short in Week 5, this time in a 31-24 loss to Cincinnati that sent the Bengals home with relief and left the Dolphins looking at another missed chance. Joe Burrow kept the Bengals in control with three touchdown passes, and Cincinnati managed to hang onto its lead even as Miami pushed back in the closing minutes.
The ending was especially painful because the Dolphins had every reason to believe they were about to extend the game one more step. After their final touchdown, the conversion attempt drifted off the left upright, turning a promising rally into a familiar kind of frustration for a team still searching for the right finish. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Face A Risky Austin Jackson Decision After 0-5 Start
With the Dolphins staring at an 0-5 start, Austin Jackson has become one of the more interesting names to watch as the roster clock keeps ticking toward the trade deadline. Miami has until Nov. 10 to decide whether to move the veteran tackle, who is in the final year of his contract, and the timing matters because the teams bye week could shape how aggressively it weighs short-term continuity against a longer-term asset decision.
The problem is the depth chart behind Jackson does not make this an easy call. Caedan Wallace would be the most likely option to step in, but he has only two career starts, and the other tackle choices are even less proven, which raises the risk of weakening an already fragile offense if Miami chooses to deal Jackson. In a season that has already gone off the rails, the Dolphins are left trying to balance whatever return they can get against the possibility that one more hole up front makes the rest of the year even harder to survive. [Read more 🡒]