I can’t think of anything worse than being a fan of a bad NFL franchise. It’s heartbreaking to watch them time and time again, only for them to keep losing. The luck of some teams just never seems to turn in their favor, leaving their fans stuck in a perpetual state of anguish and disappointment. It’s no wonder why franchises like these often get referred to as the “worst of the worst”.
Take the Cleveland Browns for example. They’ve legitimately had a terrible track record since 1999 – 22 straight seasons without a playoff birth to be exact. They’ve been through 15 head coaches in this time period and, more recently, had the dubious honor of becoming the first team in NFL history to go 0-16 in a season. Yikes.
But even the Browns have seemed to get somewhat lucky this season with the signing of their new head coach, Kevin Stefanski and the acquisition of Pro-Bowlers like Jarvis Landry and Sheldon Richardson. It’s a bleak season still, but at least they’re not having one of the worst runs in recent years.
The Oakland Raiders, on the other hand, are another story. Considering they had a 17 year span without a winning record, you could say they’re having a much more difficult time. They’ve had their troubles over the years and had to go through multiple head coaches, not to mention, one of the strangest trades of all time when they decided to move to Las Vegas.
Their luck seems to be picking up, with the signing of three-time Pro-Bowler, Kerryon Johnson, who even returned their 3rd round pick after suffering a season ending knee injury. Despite their current hardships, their schedule against divisional teams remains promising. It’s just too bad they’ve had such a tough ride to get here.
The Washington Football team has been in a similar boat to theRaiders, going through several head coaches in a brief span of time. They’ve had some of the worst offenses ever seen in the NFL, and this year their hard schedule has taken its toll, with losses to divisional teams with top tier quarterbacks.
The team just hasn’t been able to get out of its own way, and with the NFC East remaining intact, the team just doesn’t have much chance of finding success. Even if they were to find a way to surprise their opponents, their collective lack of experience could prove to be too much of a hurdle to overcome.
Even though the Miami Dolphins have made some risky trades and hired an impressive head coach, Brian Flores, they have been unable to replicate the success they had in the past. Flores’s inexperience is something the Dolphins have paid for several times over the last two seasons, leading to blowouts and huge losses against teams they should have beaten.
The hiring of rookie quarterback, Tua Tagovailoa, was a great move at the time, but his injury recovery process has seen the team take multiple steps back. With their current luck yet to turn around, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dolphins continue to remain rock bottom in the league’s standings.
Speaking of inexperience, the New York Jets are currently dealing with the same issue. The team has been rebuilding since the retirement of quarterback, Mark Sanchez, and have just been unable to produce any results. Between mess after mess of a front office and consistently poor drafts, they’ve been stuck between mediocrity and incompetence for a while now.
They have the talent, with receivers such as Denzel Mims and Jamison Crowder, running back, Le’veon Bell, and a couple of good linemen, but their rookie QB, Zach Wilson and head coach, Robert Salah, have so far failed to prove themselves. Between injuries and bad luck, this season has all the makings of a lost one, which is a shame for the Jets faithful.
Of course, these aren’t the only dismantling franchises out there. Teams such as the Indianapolis Colts, Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and the Carolina Panthers have all had several bad years in a row. It’s a bummer a lot of talented players have to go through this, but it’s kind of the nature of the beast.