Which NFL teams were the biggest all-time letdowns?
Many teams have justified offseason hype, but summer buzz can lead to bitter disappointment. Other squads have failed to either live up to expectations or keep up with their previous pace, leading to missed opportunities and/or sweeping changes. Here are the NFL’s most notable letdown teams since the AFL-NFL merger.
electric back Terry Metcalf) faded. The Cards did not make a non-strike-year playoff field again until 1998, long after they moved to Arizona.
from the 1994 AFC championship game, loaded up in Don Shula’s final year. In Year 3 of free agency, Miami paid up for wideout Gary Clark, defensive end Trace Armstrong, and tight end Eric Green and gave trade acquisition Terrell Buckley a new deal. Shula’s finale began 4-0, but Dan Marino’s age-34 season slipped to 9-7 and a wild-card slot. Oddsmakers had made Miami that year’s AFC favorite, but Shula ended up closing out his storied career with a 15-point loss in Buffalo.
move were a distraction. Meanwhile, the Colts went 5-11 during a season in which it became clear they had fallen off the AFC playoff tier. The team never made the postseason in Baltimore again.
two historically elite defenses. The Ravens and Titans rank first and third, respectively, in the 16-team era in points allowed. Jacksonville’s 1999 defense was not far off, but the unit regressed to 16th in 2000. A five-game early-season skid led the Jags — 14-2 in 1999 — to 7-9, despite Mark Brunell playing 16 games. Injuries hurt the team; 1999 Pro Bowlers and ex-Steeler teammates Carnell Lake and Leon Searcy missed the entire season. Sports Illustrated picked the Jags to make the Super Bowl from 1997-99; 2000 effectively ended this successful but disappointing era.
January 2008 speech notwithstanding) and OC Jason Garrett. The Cowboys cut T.O. soon after.
October win in a monsoon, the Chiefs were 4-1. They lost six straight, bottoming out with an ugly Monday-night loss to the Broncos that involved a Thomas-centered personal-foul spree, and finished 7-9. This year also became a QB pivot point for the Chiefs, as 1997 signing Elvis Grbac struggled through his worst season. The Chiefs, who had earned the AFC’s top seed in 1997, still chose Grbac over Rich Gannon, the future MVP who left in 1999.
ill-advised T-shirt choice. This season began — the Browns’ last in hideous uniforms — OBJ’s midcareer swoon, preceding an ugly divorce, and began to reveal cracks in the Mayfield-Cleveland foundation.
