We are just over a quarter of the way through the NFL season and one can already see the makings of teams going into the tank. Whether it be that they just aren’t that good (San Francisco, Tennessee, Jacksonville, etc.) or are managed horribly (Chicago, Detroit, Miami, et al), the NFL’s yearly race to the bottom has begun. The law of averages say that at least one or more of these teams will find a way to turn it around. The bad thing for the teams headed towards a solemn winter is that there is no real jewel to strive for in the 2016 NFL Draft. With that being said, let’s look at how these teams have got themselves to where they are and the reasons why they most likely will stay there.
WAITING FOR DEVELOPMENT
There are several teams that came into 2015 knowing that anything positive would be gravy to yet another season of losing. Jacksonville is getting some silver linings in the connection growing between Blake Bortles and his pair of Allens, Hurns and Robinson. Tampa Bay has to be elated to see Doug Martin back in the form that had many pegging him as the league’s next big thing after his rookie season. Both teams know though that they’ll be picking in the single digits come next April, but they’re OK with that. As they develop their youngsters and try to hit home runs filling the gaps with affordable veterans, these two Florida clubs (unlike Miami) have been looking towards next year from day one.
Teams like Tennessee and Oakland are putting on good displays on a weekly basis, but are trying more to keep their future quarterbacks upright and integrated into their respective offenses than attempting to win. Marcus Mariota thus far looks to have shed the negative connotation that comes with being an Oregon quarterback entering the NFL. Derek Carr is working with the chip on his shoulder that he should have been the first signal caller taken last year in an overall week QB class. Both organizations know they’ll only go as far as their young QB’s will take them and are trying to give them both the protection and weapons to succeed. Oakland’s improved defense has put less of a burden on Carr to consistently make plays. Amari Cooper gives him somebody with whom they can build a solid camaraderie for the next half decade. For Mariota, all those toys are sure to come next season.
RAPID FALLS FROM GRACE
Nobody got a bigger punch in the gut this offseason than the San Francisco 49ers. Coach Jim Harbaugh departed to Ann Arbor. Seemingly all their defensive leadership retired. They got several players, such as Navorro Bowman, back from injury but they knew that this was going to be a transition year to put it politely. However, they look to have the next heir to the San Francisco running back throne in Carlos Hyde and play hard for Jim Tomsula even when they are getting smoked. That is something that is hard to do when you come in each week as heavy underdogs. They just need to find a way to close games out.
While the 49ers previously unseen exodus has left them in their current state, their opponent in Super Bowl XLVII, Baltimore, has had their own issues. The main one is the fact that they’ve gotten real old, real quick. Their once vaunted defense has been carved up this season, most infamously this past week by the Josh McCown-led Browns who couldn’t get out of their own way beforehand and even for most of the first half. Every “adjustment” John Harbaugh has made on either side of the ball has gone horribly awry. The offense looked lost without their main weapon, the mesozoic Steve Smith. The organization can’t even get on the same page with Smith as to his status for this Sunday’s game against…the 49ers. This Super Bowl rematch could now very well determine who gets that much closer to the other end of the NFL spectrum.
HARD KNOCKS
The Dolphins have been a tropical storm of mediocrity since Joe Philbin deadpanned his way through a season of Hard Knocks. That storm was upgraded to a hurricane thus far in 2015 culminating with the unsurprising canning of Philbin after the Dolphins’ dreadful performance across the pond against the Jets. Ryan Tannehill can’t get through the scout defense and the real defense looks anything but the domineering force they were advertised to be entering the season. Coming off a bye week, new head coach Dan Campbell better get his mop and bucket because he’s got one hell of a mess to clean up. Settling on a starting running back, keeping continuity on both lines, and instilling some semblance of work ethic are just a couple of bullet points he could hit from jump street.
The team who graced the screen on HBO’s training camp drama this year, Houston, has been just as big a calamity as the Dolphins. Head coach Bill O’Brien cannot settle on a quarterback, but in his defense neither Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett seem to interested in taking this week’s allotted beating behind a poor offensive line. They’ve rushed Arian Foster back from an injury because his stand-ins played more like extras than lead actors. Not even two time Defensive Player of the Year J.J. Watt can cover up the smell of the landfill that is the Texans defense. The Texans play in the worst division in the NFL and even with big names like Watt, Foster, and DeAndre Hopkins are clearly the worst team in it.
DUMPSTER FIRES
Look at this picture of Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell. Did his team just score a touchdown? Win the Super Bowl? Throw an interception? Did Bane interrupt the game and sink his entire starting lineup into a pit? You would never know because Caldwell constantly has the blankest of expressions painted on his face. To be honest, you would too if you had to deal with the maddening inconsistencies of a team oozing with talent. Batted balls aside, this Lions team has easily been the most disappointing club in the NFL this season. There isn’t even a close second place candidate. The losses of Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley on the defensive line have sent shockwaves through each line of the defense. NFL sack leader Ziggy Ansah can’t get to the QB on EVERY down. Matthew Stafford and the offense find new ways each week to make Lions fans lose years off their life. They aren’t bad enough to replicate the historically inept 0-16 Lions of 2008, but they will surely be looking at the top of the draft to answers to a multitude of questions.
Though the Lions are the last winless team in the league, you need not look further than the same division for the hardest team in the NFL to watch this year, the Chicago Bears. Though they’ve eked out wins the past two weeks against the Raiders (covered already) and the Chiefs (up next), the Bears have been one of the most miserable collections of footballers the NFL has to offer. With either Jay Cutler or Jimmy Clausen (yup he’s still in the league) under center, the offense is cringeworthy. Wideout Alshon Jeffery seems content to prolong his stint on the sidelines for as long as humanly possible. The defense has stepped it up against the bottom of the AFC West barrel, but has otherwise looked listless.
Kansas City was in a constant state of shooting themselves in the foot even before Jamaal Charles tore his ACL (again) ending his season. When your quarterback is getting trolled by a retired kicker, things aren’t going too well. But the thing is a couple plays here and there and the Chiefs could totally have flipped the script. Untimely turnovers kept them from dealing the first loss to two undefeated teams, Denver and Green Bay. They hung in with a third, Cincinnati, despite having all their offense come off the foot of kicker Cairo Santos. It just seems like the football gods aren’t smiling down on the Chiefs this year and Andy Reid and company may just have to chalk it up to bad luck, take their high pick, and hope for a better 2016.
I tried to come up with an analogy to describe the differences between the disasters that the Chiefs have experienced as opposed to the self-inflicted wounds the Browns have given themselves. While Kansas City lost their winning lottery ticket in the laundry, Cleveland took their winning numbers, set them on fire, and then crapped out the flames. It is tough to get excited about these Browns even after taking advantage of a collective coma from the Ravens this past Sunday for their second victory. Josh McCown being at the helm of an NFL team in 2015 is mind boggling, but he only has kept that post because Johnny Manziel keeps pulling shenanigans like this. Mike Pettine’s play calling and personnel decisions are those of a man who either doesn’t know what he is doing or is intentionally trying to get himself fired. I’d say that at worst he was tanking for a high draft pick but that may not be the smartest ploy with Cleveland’s history in the so-called NFL “lottery”.
So who do you think will win the NFL’s race to the bottom? Tweet me @TREVORutley or the site @sportsftb with your opinions! Enjoy the NFL action each weekend, but try to avert your eyes from direct contact with the play of any of these cellar dwelling organizations.