The last seven weeks there has been a lot of talk surrounding the teams that have turned their franchises around in a positive way. The Lions, Bills, Bengals and 49ers for example are all putting remarkable seasons together. Fan bases in these cities are filling up message boards with renewed enthusiasm for their teams. Playoffs are in the foreseeable future and life is good.
There is a flip side to that coin. While the NFL prides itself on being a league with incredible parity with an average of five new teams making the postseason annually since 2000, not all teams find themselves in the mix. Some teams in fact have taken great strides in the wrong direction. Outright challenging the established protocol of the NFL. The guilty parties here are the Chiefs, Colts, Seahawks, Rams, Eagles, and Dolphins.
The six teams completed strong 2010 campaigns, with three out of six winning their division and a fourth (St. Louis) within one game of making it to the playoffs. All six had eventful off-seasons as they planned to take the next step forward or at the very least maintain the status quo. But even the best laid plans often fall victim to chance and circumstance. Here’s a closer look at how each team contributed to the continued parity of the league, just none in the way they had hoped.
Kansas City Chiefs
Having their number one running back go down almost immediately put them behind the eight-ball before their title defense could even get under way. After starting out with three consecutive losses the Chiefs followed up wins over two struggling teams with a victory against an Oakland squad that was far from its best.
Carson Palmer obviously didn’t have a firm grasp of the playbook and protection schemes, and the Raiders were banged up on both sides of the ball. Certainly the Chiefs deserve a lot of credit for digging themselves out of a 0-3 hole, but based on their whole body of work rather than only this one game, they aren’t yet better than the team they just shut out.
By the numbers
2010 record: 10-6, AFC West Division Champs
Total Offense: 22.9 points a game, 14th in NFL
Total Defense: 20.4 points a game, 11th in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 3-3
Total Offense: 17.5 points a game, 26th in NFL
Total Defense: 25 points a game, 25th in NFL
Indianapolis Colts
If ever a player meant more to a team, it is Peyton Manning to the Colts. With roughly the same cast as in 2010, the 2011 version already has more losses than that unit. Some players, like tight end Dallas Clark and receiver Austin Collie, are absolutely pedestrian without Manning taking the snaps for the Colts. Defensive misplays that used to be covered up by the Colts quick strike offense have been completely exposed.
Predictably, over 61% of the Colts pressure has come from the duo of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Of the 21 players on the Colts to play a snap on defense, 17 have negative overall ratings according to ProFootballFocus.com. Everything about the Colts’ defense has come into question. They can’t tackle, they can’t cover, they can’t do much of anything, and that has nothing to do with Peyton Manning. That’s just a bad football team going nowhere.
By the numbers
2010 record: 10-6 AFC South Division Champs
Total Offense: 27.2 points per game, 4th in the NFL
Total Defense: 24.2 points per game, 23rd in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 0-7
Total Offense: 15.9 points a game, 29th in NFL
Total Defense: 32.1 points a game, 32nd in NFL
Seattle Seahawks
Coming off of an improbable playoff run and division title in 2010, Seattle parted ways with long time quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and opted instead for Tarvaris Jackson. It was a huge gamble, but with the addition of Sidney Rice it looked to be a solid partnership that would make Seattle contenders again in 2011. Turns out Rice was must better when he was catching passes from Favre. Add to that parting ways already with your 1st round draft pick from only 3 years ago and things are not looking so good.
After their brutally ugly 6-3 defeat to Cleveland, I’m not sure where Seattle goes from here, but it needs to start with getting a franchise quarterback. Good news for the Seahawks, it looks like a good year in the draft for college quarterbacks. It’s not too early to say that Seattle got snookered on the Charlie Whitehurst deal. When the offense you’re running can’t produce more than 137 yards and a field goal against Cleveland your boss probably has buyer’s remorse.
Going largely unnoticed, though, their defense has improved in Pete Carroll’s second year. Assuming this trend holds true, and that they get a real quarterback, a quick rebound is possible.
By the numbers
2010 record: 7-9, NFC West Division Champs and Divisional round playoff winner
Total Offense: 19.4 points a game, 23rd in the NFL
Total Defense: 25.4 points a game, 25th in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 2-4
Total Offense: 16.2 points a game, 27th in NFL
Total Defense: 21.3 points a game, T-11th in NFL
St. Louis Rams
A near Cinderella story last year, the Rams came into 2011 with lofty expectations. Franchise quarterback Sam Bradford had a year under his belt and offensive mastermind Josh McDaniels was brought in to sharpen the unit. Well, pretty much since the lockout was lifted the Rams have not been able to get out of their own way. Poor tackling, injuries, dropped passes, you name it. Plain and simple they have been beaten and embarrassed at the point of attack with alarming regularity. It has been the kind of display you want to just pretend never happened.
The Rams, already without their top three corners for the remainder of the season, lost corner Justin King to a groin injury last week. His status remains unclear. Right tackle Jason Smith could be out indefinitely after suffering neck and head injuries at Dallas. Left tackle Rodger Saffold missed practice with an illness Wednesday. Sam Bradford remains booted on the sidelines, and Danario Alexander has been held out as well. With 2011 a wash, a season which offered such promise quickly turned into a joke. The only positive is that the Rams learn from this.
By the numbers
2010 record: 7-9
Total Offense: 18.1 points per game, 26th in the NFL
Total Defense: 20.5 points per game, 12th in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 0-6
Total Offense: 9.3 points a game, 32nd in NFL
Total Defense: 28.5 points a game, 31st in NFL
Philadelphia Eagles
At some point during the offseason, the Eagles decided to take the Washington Redskins approach to building a team. A strange approach since it has not worked for the Redskins either. Loading up on talent via free agency, the “Dream Team” soon found out that it takes more than talent to build a team. And it takes more than the mystique of Michael Vick to create a stable offense. Still scoring at a clip similar to last year is a positive, but failing to stop the other team is not. And as good as Vick is, building an offense around a quarterback who in his entire career has never played a full 16 games is a risk.
One of the problems the Eagles’ defense has had is missed tackles: they’ve missed 44, tied for the league lead. They’re 2-4 and one of the most disappointing teams in the league so far. Going forward this season, the Eagles need to lean much more on LeSean McCoy than they have in the past. If they can lead the league in rush yards, they have a chance to recover, save their quarterback from getting killed, and perhaps save their playoff and Super Bowl dreams. If the Eagles can cut out the turnovers and get more stops on defense, they can still be a factor.
By the numbers
2010 record: 10-6, NFC West Division Champs
Total Offense: 27.4 points per game, 3rd in NFL
Total Defense: 23.6 points per game, 21st in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 2-4
Total Offense: 24.2 points per game, 13th in NFL
Total Defense: 24.2 points per game, 21st in NFL
Miami Dolphins
Early in the preseason, Miami appeared to target Denver’s Kyle Orton as their signal caller, only to pull back from a trade at the last moment. They needed someone under center to make the Dolphins relevant in the AFC East once again. Now having gone through Chad Henne and Matt Moore, JP Losman takes his turn throwing passes that Brandon Marshall will drop. The Dolphins are awful. There’s no way around it. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Miami became the first team since the merger to blow a 15-0 point lead in the final three minutes. On top of that, the Dolphins became a punch line by blowing the game to Broncos quarterback/sensation/Batman/savior of the universe, Tim Tebow.
It was another blow for a young defense that has taken a step backward this season. That, more than the struggle at quarterback or to rebuild the running game around broken-down Reggie Bush and semi-invisible rookie Daniel Thomas, may be the reason Tony Sparano’s seat feels a little warmer than usual.
Looking ahead at the remaining Miami schedule I don’t see any easy wins. The Dolphins may catch someone off guard and steal a game or two. But this team will remain at or near the bottom of the NFL the rest of the season. When does a loss look like a win? When it’s a loss suffered by the Miami Dolphins. Congratulations, Phins, you’re still one of the favorites in the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes.
By the numbers
2010 Record: 7-9
Total Offense: 17.1 points per game, 30th in NFL
Total Defense: 20.8 points per game, 14th in NFL
2011 record through 7 weeks: 0-6
Total Offense: 15.0 points per game, 30th in NFL
Total Defense: 24.3 points per game, 22nd in NFL
