WR Jermaine Burton of the Bengals is surprisingly inactive as a healthy scratch.

Time may be running out for a handful of presumptive contenders whose early-season struggles carried over into the second quarter of the schedule, leaving those teams in holes that will soon prove impossible to climb out of.

After showing a surge of activity, winning two games and coming back from a 1-4 start, the Cincinnati Bengals lost at home to the Philadelphia Eagles last week. Currently 3-5, they’re hoping a date with the hapless Las Vegas Raiders will allow them to take a step back in the right direction. Joe Burrow simply can’t get the support of a healthy arsenal or solid defense when he needs it most. Luckily for the Bengals, who trail the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North, the Raiders are in even worse shape.

Meanwhile, division rival Cleveland is also in do-or-die mode. With a 2-6 record, turning the season around and making the playoffs seems unlikely. However, Jameis Winston took over at quarterback and provided a spark in the upset of Baltimore last week. He’ll try to do it again on Sunday when the Browns host the Los Angeles Chargers for their first two-game winning streak of the season.

In the AFC East, Buffalo, 6-2, hosts Miami and looks to take another step toward finishing the division before the regular season reaches its final month. However, the Dolphins have their guy Tua Tagovailoa back at quarterback and are hoping he can build on last week’s promising performance in a heartbreaking 28-27 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Pointing to a 2021 season in which the Dolphins rebounded from 1-7 to finish 9-8, Tagovailoa and his teammates refuse to give up hope. They believe that with a strong second half of the season they will be able to return to the playoffs. But without the disappointment of the Bills owner on Sunday, such a quest will be almost impossible.

And then there’s Dallas. At 3-4, the Cowboys were definitely not out of the game mathematically. But their warts are many, and solutions to their failing crimes do not seem readily available. Their defense could get some reinforcements soon, but Micah Parsons doesn’t appear healthy enough to return this week. So this week’s trip to Atlanta, where the 5-3 Falcons are looking to cement their lead in the NFC South, could be Dallas’ toughest test yet. Another loss could put Mike McCarthy’s team too far behind Washington and Philadelphia in the NFC East.