The Dirty Dozen

The NFL Playoffs begin this weekend. There is plenty of information available about the eight teams that are still playing. Just to be different, I’d like to talk about the twelve teams that won 7 or fewer games in this 17 game season. Do the math - these teams all lost at least 10 games; I’ll call them the Dirty Dozen.

The first group of losers turned in a sparkling 3-14 record. They are Tennessee, Cleveland, and the New York Giants. (Listed in draft order) They jockied for position all year to “earn” the #1 draft pick. The Giants seemingly had this locked up with a nice late season losing streak, but “rallied” to beat the Colts on December 29, and dropped from 1st to 3rd, Great timing.

Our next group of underachievers at 4-13 are New England, Jacksonville, and Las Vegas. The Raiders won 2 out of their last 3 games to drop out of the top five in the draft. Not the first time money was lost in Sin City.

At 5-12 the next vanquished accumulation is the New York Jets, Carolina, New Orleans, and Chicago. These teams were all consistently mediocre, with varying degrees of optimism for their future.

The San Francisco 49ers were decimated by injuries and an aging roster which slid to a 6-11 record. Was this a one year aberration or has their long run of dominance in the Western Division come to an end? We’ll see.

And finally, how many of you thought that Dallas would wind up with a better record than San Francisco? And that would be 7-10? The Cowboys managed to lose their last game to finish in the Dirty Dozen.

All of the teams listed above obviously had problems this season. Some of these can be attributed to an inept ownership/front office. How bad? I want you to decide. I will list the 5 worst in my opinion, along with reasons they deserve the coveted Spiro Agnew Leadership Award.

Chicago Bears - At the beginning of the season, Thomas Brown was an assistant coach, working with the passing game. After the team fired their Offensive Coordinator, Brown was named interim OC. Before he could get his feet wet in this job, the Bears fired their Head Coach, and named Brown Interim HC. They still have their General Manager in place, but stay tuned, When he is fired Brown might move up to Interim GM!

New York Jets - Hitched their wagon to a falling star. For two years Aaron Rodgers has called the shots and the team has floundered. It has been rumored that some team personnel decisions have been guided by team owner Woody Johnson based on his son’s recommendations from his extensive knowledge gained from playing Madden NFL.

New York Giants - Built their team around Daniel Jones, then gave up on him this year. Decided they didn’t want to keep Saquon Barkley on the roster. Good call - he has only gained 2124 yards rushing for the Eagles this year.

Cleveland Browns - Guaranteed a jillion dollars to quarterback Deshaun Watson. The worst contract in the history of football. This should really rub Browns fans the wrong way. Pun intended.

Dallas Cowboys - Jerry Jones.

OK - it’s your turn. Vote for your choice and let me know. I’ll share the results.

That’s my opinion - what’s yours?