The NFL season is coming to a close, and a lot of teams are not happy with the way their season turned out. There will be two teams, Denver and Carolina, that will be playing in the Super Bowl. On the other hand, there will be 30 other teams sitting at home watching.
Every season there are teams that are just bad, and others that are great. There are also disappointing teams every year. 2015 was no different. Of course, the goal for every team is to win the Super Bowl, but if you look at it that way, every team other than the Broncos and Panthers had a disappointing season.
I am not going to break down each and every team and why they did not make it to the Super Bowl. Instead, I will narrow the field to the top five teams that disappointed themselves and their fans this season. All five teams have two things in common: they finished with a .500 or lower record and obviously missed the playoffs.
5. San Diego Chargers
Phillip Rivers and the Chargers had another tough season. Finishing the season 4-12, they go into the offseason with a lot of questions. Phillip Rivers was his usual self, throwing for nearly 5000 yards and 29 touchdowns. However, other than Rivers, nobody else showed up. Rookie running back Melvin Gordon was a huge disappointment. He was a top back in the draft and led San Diego to believe that they had found their answer at running back. This proved to be wrong as Gordon rushed for only 641 yards and failed to reach the end zone once in his rookie campaign. Any good team will show that you must have a good running game to complement a good passing attack. The lack of a rushing attack led Phillip Rivers to have to throw the ball continuously, and against NFL defenses that will not work. The Chargers have the pieces; they just need to get a consistent running game to take the pressure off Rivers. Until then, it’s back to the drawing board for San Diego.
4. Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore fans were in for a surprise when they went to the stadium this year. They started out 0-3 before beating rival Pittsburgh to get off the snide. However, they lost three of their next four games. With a 2-6 record going into the week 9 bye week, the Ravens' season was basically over. Their offense was terrible and that Baltimore Ravens defense, once anchored by Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, and Ed Reed, struggled without the Hall of Famers. Injuries killed the Ravens as well, with Joe Flacco getting injured it really ended the chances of the Ravens doing anything this season. They finished with a 5-11 record, which is their worst record in years. Fans are not used to this kind of struggle, but John Harbaugh will have the team back to winning ways next season.
3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have been mediocre for years. With Matt Ryan at QB and Julio Jones at WR, they should be making a lot of noise in the playoffs. That combination tied with the running game, led by Devonta Freeman, should be unstoppable. However, for some reason the Falcons cannot figure out how to put it all together to make a run in the playoffs. They have shown signs of being able to win in the last few years, but it’s a case of a little too late. They start the season off slow, then pick it up and start winning, but by the time they figure it out, the season is coming to an end. The Falcons are just kind of stuck in a rut and can’t get out. I don’t know what it is going to take to get them going, but when they do get it together, watch out.
2. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts had a frustrating season for fans to watch. They started out slow and lost their first two games before winning three straight. Just like the Cowboys, the injury bug took the Colts QB from them for a while. Matt Hasselbeck filled in and did a good job keeping the team afloat, but in the end, the load was too much. Without Luck and free-agent pickup Andre Johnson producing the type of numbers we expected them to, the Colts' season ended without a playoff berth. They finished 8-8 and were eliminated from the playoffs just two weeks before the regular season ended. It’s safe to say that if they had had their QB and Andre Johnson, wide receiver, produced like they thought he would, the Colts would have had a successful season. Hopefully for Colts fans, the team can figure it out and return to playoff form next season.
1. Dallas Cowboys
The most disappointing team would have to be the Cowboys. Coming off a 10-4 season in 2014-15, the Cowboys had big aspirations for this season. They made it to the playoffs, and if you ask any Cowboys fan or player, they should have been in the NFC Championship game. Instead, a controversial call sent Dallas home to prepare for the 2015-16 campaign. This season did not go as planned at all. A 4-12 record was definitely not what they were expecting to end the season with. Injuries did the Cowboys in this year, but that still does not make the season any less disappointing. Cowboy fans are stuck with the thoughts of what could have been if their star quarterback and wide receiver were healthy. Fans wills have to wait another year to see Tony Romo and Dez Bryant connect for big plays. Unless the Cowboys make no changes this offseason and don’t get a better backup QB, they should be back to their winning ways in 2016.
Every team on this list could have had a better season. However, injuries and unproductive players stopped them from making the playoffs. Each team needs to make improvements and get healthy, and they will be back next year ready to take another shot at the Super Bowl.
