NFL Season Preview Part 4: Teams That Will Let You Down

At the end of the season, 31 out of 32 teams will have "let you down." However, this category is not meant for all that disappointment. Instead, I have picked four teams that have made an art of letting their fans down. These are the maestros of disappointment. Some of these teams have been doing it for years, while others are new to the art, yet mastering it quite quickly. Either way, they will all let you down in gut-wrenching, tear-jerking fashion.


Indianapolis Colts (Last Season: 8-8)

2017 Prediction: 6-10

The Andrew Luck era started promisingly back in 2012, with three straight playoff seasons. However, since then, the Colts have finished at 8-8 in back to back seasons. Normally, this wouldn’t be too disappointing for a typical NFL franchise, especially since the Colts have been good for a long time. So, a couple of down seasons should not be too much to worry about. However, the Colts continue to be the only team in the division with a half-decent quarterback, so they should really be winning this division every season. Yet, the Texans have taken control of the South lately, while being led by the likes of Brian Hoyer, Brock Osweiler (lol), and Tom Savage. The Colts’ deficiencies are clearly at offensive line and on defense, yet management fails to address either problem. Luck is continually battling injury. Not because he is fragile, but rather because he is constantly getting hit due to a line that simply can’t protect him. The Colts are so close to dominance again. The AFC South has been ripe for the taking for multiple years, yet all four of the god awful teams that comprise this embarrassingly terrible division have failed to capitalize. If the Colts don’t fix their issues, they may fall out of relevancy sooner rather than later.


Detroit Lions (Last Season: 9-7)

2017 Prediction: 7-9

The Lions proudly join the ever-growing list of teams happy to pony up ridiculous amounts of money for slightly above average quarterback play. Matt Stafford recently became the highest paid player in league history, which is the same as saying, “Matt Stafford just became the most recent half-decent quarterback to sign a contract.” Stafford was able to sneak the Lions into the playoffs last season, even though Detroit only won 9 games. However, they were handed their 9th straight playoff loss by the Seattle Seahawks, further perpetuating their consistently disappointing trend as a franchise (no wonder Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders retired young).

Detroit is your classic down on your luck city, looking for a good team to raise their spirits. Unfortunately, the Lions may be the worst-suited team for this job. The few recent times that Detroit has found a way to make the playoffs, they have crashed out immediately. While this trend may seem repetitive and comforting for the fans, the intricacies of each disappointing season are unique, thereby making each one its own special brand of disappointment. One season Calvin Johnson is considered the savior. The next season it is the defense that will finally carry this team to prominence. And the season after that, it is the lethal passing game that is adapting ahead of other teams, as they choose to throw the ball on like 70% of plays. Yet, even with all this change, every season produces the same result. One shitty playoff game, or no playoff games at all. Being a fan of this team sucks.


Cincinnati Bengals (Last Season: 6-9-1)

2017 Prediction: 10-6

The Bengals and Lions have pretty similar histories of disappointment. The Bengals are on an ever-so-slightly less embarrassing playoff losing streak of 8 games, compared to Detroit’s 9. However, what makes Cincinnati’s playoff disappointment even more disappointing is the fact that they had made the playoffs for five straight years from 2012 to 2015, losing in their first game every single time. Finally, in 2016, the Bengals were able to end that five year streak, by simply not making the playoffs. That was a kind gesture to their fans who must have been tired of all of the postseason disappointment. Personally, as a neutral observer, I find it hard to forgive the Bengals for wasting the best years of Carson Palmer's career, before refusing to honor his trade request, forcing him into early "retirement."

This franchise is hopelessly disappointing. However, they have to win a playoff game eventually, right? Dalton is certainly no elite quarterback, but the roster is still strong enough to at least get into the playoffs and luck into an easy matchup against a lousy team, right? I mean, the Texans won a playoff game with Osweiler last year. Of course, it was all about finding that lucky matchup. For Houston, their matchup blessing was having the great fortune of facing the Derek Carr-less Raiders, a game that almost any NFL team would have won (having homefield advantage by virtue of winning the awful AFC South helped as well). That’s where the hope for the Bengals lies! It is so simple. All they have to do is make the playoffs, get super lucky that their first round game is against a team whose quarterback just broke his leg, and then not blow the easy opportunity to win. Hear that Bengals fans? There’s still hope! (Disclaimer: There is no hope).


Arizona Cardinals (Last Season: 7-8-1)

2017 Prediction: 8-8

If you read my post on the Saints, then you will recognize that the Cardinals are also a team that suffer from “Old Quarterback Syndrome.” Palmer is trying to squeeze a couple of decent years out of his career, and the Cardinals are willing to let him do that, all in pursuit of trying to force the team into the playoffs now. Ultimately, it will all be for nothing. The NFC West is not a good division, but the Cardinals are certainly not the team to unseat the Seahawks. For the time being, Seattle owns the division. None of this disappointment is new for Arizona fans. In the Super Bowl era, the Cardinals have only made the playoffs 8 times and the Super Bowl once. This would be acceptable if Arizona was a recent expansion team. However, this is a franchise that has been around for quite awhile now. Since the NFL playoffs began in 1932, the Cardinals have won the championship one time, in 1947. Disappointment is the way of the Cardinals. Whether in St. Louis, Chicago or Phoenix, it always has been. This season, even with an incredibly talented David Johnson and one of the stronger defensive units in the NFL, will certainly end in the usual disappointment.