By Zack Rosenblatt, Josh Kendall, Nicki Jhabvala, Zac Jackson and Mark Puleo

Week 14 of the NFL season saw three more teams’ postseason hopes dashed, but the frustrations of those fanbases will likely range from “not surprised” to “absolute failure of a season.”

The Washington Commanders were the first eliminated team of the week, falling to the Minnesota Vikings 31-0. It marked the Commanders’ 10th loss of the season and featured yet another injury to young star quarterback Jayden Daniels. After winning 12 games last season, the Commanders entered 2025 hoping to build on their run to the NFC Championship Game, but instead will be watching the playoff action from home.

Minutes later, the Atlanta Falcons had their postseason dreams dashed after a 23-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The loss was Atlanta’s seventh in its past eight games to drop the Falcons to 4-9. Despite opening the year 3-2, the Falcons will finish with a losing record for the eighth straight year.

The New York Jets will fail to reach the postseason for the 15th consecutive season, as their 10th loss of the season came via a 34-10 beatdown by the Miami Dolphins. In its first season under coach Aaron Glenn, New York was quickly undone by an 0-7 start.

In Cleveland, a season with low expectations will somehow still be registered as a disappointment as the Browns’ 31-29 loss to the cellar-dwelling Tennessee Titans on Sunday felt befitting of their season. At least three more starting quarterbacks got added to the franchise’s running tally this season.

Here’s what the elimination means for each franchise:

What doomed the Jets this year?

The Jets elimination means they now have gone 15 straight seasons without an appearance in the playoffs — the longest drought of all four major sports leagues. The only surprise is that it took until December to become official.

The Jets started 0-7 and for a while looked to be in line with the Titans as the worst team in the NFL. They seemed headed for even worse once they traded away Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams at the deadline, but instead they’ve stayed competitive and started to show some signs of buy-ins for Glenn’s program.

Ultimately, the biggest reasons the Jets sit here as one of the first teams to get eliminated include quarterback performance (Justin Fields was a disaster) and the decline of their defense, which is tied to both a decrease in talent and coaching/scheme that simply wasn’t up to par. You don’t start the first 12 games of a season without snagging an interception if things are going well. If the Jets are going to turn things around in 2026 they’ll need to find an upgrade at quarterback and add talent on defense — and they’ll have the draft capital and salary cap space to do it. — Zack Rosenblatt, Jets beat writer

What does Atlanta need now?

Probably a complete organizational overhaul. General manager Terry Fontenot is in his fifth season and has never presided over a playoff team. Coach Raheem Morris is only in Year 2 but is under .400 as a head coach in five seasons (including a three-year stint in Tampa Bay).

This is not a Falcons team that thought it was rebuilding. In the last two seasons, Atlanta has paid out the largest free-agency deal in NFL history (Kirk Cousins), drafted a quarterback in the top 10 (Michael Penix Jr.) and traded away its 2026 first-round draft pick in exchange for a second 2025 first-rounder because it thought it was close to contention. — Josh Kendall, Falcons beat writer

What happened to Washington’s momentum?

It’s hard to believe the Commanders were 12-5 and a win away from the Super Bowl a year ago. After spending much of the last two decades mired in off-field controversies and poor play, the franchise seemed to turn a corner with Daniels and owner Josh Harris.

But injuries — a total of 22 players, many of them starters and key reserves, lost a combined 99 games through Week 14 — depleted an already thin and old roster. And defensive mistakes, including missed tackles, blown coverages and a slew of big plays allowed compounded Washington’s personnel issues and turned losses into blowouts.

The Commanders began to correct some of their defensive problems when Dan Quinn took over play-calling in Week 11 against the Dolphins in Madrid. But struggles on offense and in the kicking game continued, and Washington went a full two months without a win. The Commanders now face a critical offseason as it tries to build around Daniels and improve a roster with numerous holes and nearly two dozen impending free agents. — Nicki Jhabvala, Commanders beat writer

Where are the Browns to go for answers?

This Browns team was never going to be a realistic playoff contender. But the defense was better than advertised, and the AFC North was worse than anyone could have ever envisioned, so the struggles of the offense are especially disappointing for Browns fans — and for Browns employees hoping to keep their jobs.

Statistically, this year’s offense is no better than it was in 2024, when the Browns went 3-14. This year’s team goes forward with no real answer at quarterback after the Browns played three different starting quarterbacks for the 12th time since their 1999 return to the league. Myles Garrett should rewrite the NFL sack record, but most of the rest of this season goes down as a disappointment, even with low expectations coming in. — Zac Jackson, Browns beat writer