12 biggest winners and losers from 2015 NFL season

While we still have to sort through the playoffs, the 2015 NFL season is in the books. Since the regular season all over and all but 12 teams are completely done, now is an appropriate time to highlight the biggest winners and losers from the 2015 NFL season.

Winner: Cam Newton

We start with the man who was the best player on the best team all year long. The Carolina Panthers went 15-1 and took a very real shot at a perfect season. While they’re far from a one-man show, Cam Newton is the straw that stirs that drink.

When the awards for the 2015 NFL season are announced, nobody but Cam Newton should be named as the MVP. A few other players had great seasons and they should be recognized, but in 2015 nobody did what Cam Newton did.

Actually, in NFL history, nobody did what Cam Newton did in 2015.

He also tied Hall of Famer Steve Young for career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, and for the most games with a passing and rushing touchdown.

That’s great company to keep and since Newton is only 26, there’s no reason to think that he won’t obliterate both of those marks.

The 2015 NFL season was a good one to be Cam Newton.

Loser: New England Patriots’ division rivals

Here’s a request to everyone that has anything to do with the NFL. By everyone I mean executives, coaches, players, members of the media, fans, or just anyone who lives within 200 miles of an NFL team, or has ever watched more than five seconds of an NFL game. Can we stop heading into every NFL season asking if this is the year that some team in the AFC East is going to unseat the New England Patriots?

It seems as though that’s been happening for the better part of a decade and it hasn’t come close to happening.

The Patriots have now won seven straight AFC East titles. Granted, the Jets did sneak in consecutive trips to the AFC Championship Game in 2009 and 2010, but they did both of those as a Wild Card. For five straight years, no AFC East team besides the Pats has even made the playoffs.

The New York Jets were not bad in 2015, going 10-6. It is fair to say that Todd Bowles has them pointing in the right direction. Still, they picked some awful times to not show up for games. Most notably, they were 0-2 against their former coach, Rex Ryan, including a Week 17 defeat to keep New York out of the postseason.

While Ryan succeeded in keeping the Jets from the playoffs for the fifth straight season, it was an otherwise dismal year for the Bills, even though their general manager might disagree. The 8-8 record was a step back from last year’s 9-7 season under Doug Marrone. Worse than that, the defense, Rex Ryan’s specialty, regressed in a pretty big way.

The last time the Bills made the playoffs, Bill Clinton was President. Their 16 year postseason drought is the longest in the NFL.

The Miami Dolphins kept the Pats from the No. 1 seed with a Week 17 win, but can not claim success for much else that happened in the 2015 NFL season.

Near the end of 2014, they made a bad decision to retain head coach Joe Philbin. Four games into 2015, they acknowledged that mistake and showed Philbin the door, replacing him with Dan Campbell. Things were slightly better under Campbell, but nowhere near good enough to contend for a playoff spot.

Until further notice, the AFC East belongs to the New England Patriots.

Winner: People who say the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint

Given the fact that the NFL season is only 16 games long, prolonged winning or losing streaks at any point should mean a heck of a lot, at least when it comes to making the playoffs.

But if you’re a person who doesn’t like to react too sharply to anything that happens until about Halloween, the 2015 NFL season was definitely for you.

The Atlanta Falcons won their first five games and were 6-1 after seven. On the other end of the spectrum, the Kansas City Chiefs started the season 1-5. Not only did the Falcons miss the playoffs while the Chiefs made them, but both teams had their postseason fates sealed before their final games.

Other examples: The Green Bay Packers started the season 6-0 and finished 10-6. The Denver Broncos also started the season 6-0, and finished 12-4. The New England Patriots started 10-0 and finished 12-4. All of those make the Washington Redskins’ 9-7 finish after starting 4-6, or the Seattle Seahawks’ 10-6 mark with a 4-5 start, look rather pedestrian.

Loser: Jed York

The San Francisco 49ers CEO’s decision to part ways with Jim Harbaugh did not prove to be a good one.

Hours after the final game, the 49ers decided that Jim Tomsula’s first year as the head coach would also be his last, leading to a not so subtle shot from Harbaugh.

Tomsula was one of the most overwhelmed coaches in recent memory.

As bad as the 5-11 record was, his actions and sideline demeanor made him look constantly flustered. While Tomsula is not a capable NFL head coach, the blame for the 49ers failures in 2015 does not fall primarily on him. Nope, it falls on the man who runs the franchise, Jed York.

Judging by his own words, York would agree.

We don’t raise division championships banners. We don’t raise NFC Championship banners. We raise Super Bowl banners. And whenever we don’t deliver that, I hope that you will hold me directly responsible and accountable for it.

San Francisco’s failures go beyond the record. While the 49ers might claim strong attendance, the empty seats are unmistakable on television, and those are usually close angles. The wider views paint an even more telling picture.

York asked himself to be held accountable, so this season falls on him.

The 49ers have been lapped by the Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West. They’re even significantly behind the perpetually mediocre St. Louis Rams. If York has hopes of running a winning team again and having his new stadium consistently filled, he’s got a long way to go.

Winner: Russell Wilson

In a normal year that didn’t include Cam Newton’s brilliance for a 15-1 team, Russell Wilson would be a strong MVP candidate and possible runaway winner.

While Russell Wilson was good from 2012-2014, he always benefited from a few things, like a great running game, a strong offensive line, and the league’s best defense.

Those weren’t there for the Seattle Seahawks in the 2015 NFL season, but Wilson made up for them.

When the Seahawks were 4-5 and in serious jeopardy of missing the playoffs, Wilson put the team on his back. They won five straight games to lock up a playoff spot, and in that window he became the first quarterback in league history to have at least three touchdown passes in five straight games without an interception.

How far Seattle goes in the playoffs remains to be seen. But even if somehow they’re blown out by the Vikings in the first round, the 2015 NFL season was Wilson’s best.

Loser: Fans in Oakland, St. Louis, and San Diego

The Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers all had losing records and missed the playoffs, but that’s not why they’re on this list. There are plenty of bad teams in the NFL. The fans of these three have had it a lot worse and sadly, the misery isn’t quite complete.

All throughout the season, these fans were peppered with rumors that their favorite team might end up in Los Angeles in 2016.

All three teams played home finales that doubled as possible farewells to their cities. It’s not something that any fans deserve.

It’s a gut wrenching feeling to have your team’s future unknown. Regardless of what teams (if any) do end up moving to Los Angeles for the 2016 season, the 2015 NFL season will be remembered as a miserable one for all three fan bases.

We’ll get a better sense of these team’s futures in their current cities in the next few weeks. But no matter what happens, the threat of a move has been a black cloud.

Winner: NFL Fans in Los Angeles

When there’s a loser, there’s a winner. NFL football was last played in Los Angeles — the second largest city in the country — in 1994. Nothing is set yet, but the possibility that the NFL will return has never been stronger.

Better yet, the three teams — the Chargers, Raiders, and Rams — all have ties to Los Angeles. The Raiders and Rams were both there through 1994. The Chargers were only in Los Angeles in 1960, but they’ve been the closest team to the City of Angels since 1995.

Every rumor that’s gutted fans of the San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, and St. Louis Rams has had the exact opposite effect on NFL fans in L.A. waiting for the league’s return.

Loser: Ryan Grigson

Okay, this actually goes a little beyond the 2015 NFL season, it just wasn’t as noticeable from 2012-2014, as the Indianapolis Colts were winning.

Granted, Grigson has had a few hits in his time as the Colts general manager, notably the drafting of Andrew Luck and T.Y. Hilton and the acquisition of Vontae Davis, but he’s had some fantastic misses.

We can safely say now that Bjoern Werner hasn’t panned out. The decision to trade a first round draft pick for Trent Richardson was a spectacular failure. LaRon Landry was not worth a $24 million contract. Deciding to sign three men over 30 — Frank Gore, Andre Johnson, and Trent Cole — is indefensible. Using a first round draft pick on Phillip Dorsett instead of on an offensive lineman or really anyone on defense was just plain idiotic.

As such, the Colts missed the playoffs in 2015, despite playing in a very winnable AFC South.

If the roster isn’t good enough to make the playoffs when your division champ is 9-7, the blame for the season’s failures must fall on the man who put that roster together. In this case, that man is Grigson.

Winner: Tony Romo

In 2014, the Dallas Cowboys averaged 29.2 points per game, fifth in the NFL. In 2015, they averaged 17.2 points per game, 31st in the NFL.

In 2014, the Dallas Cowboys averaged 236.5 passing yards per game, 16th in the NFL. In 2015, they averaged 216.9 passing yards per game, 27th in the NFL.

In 2014, the Dallas Cowboys averaged 147.1 rushing yards per game, 2nd in the NFL. In 2015, they averaged 118.1 rushing yards per game, 9th in the NFL.

In 2014, the Dallas Cowboys went 12-4, won the NFC East, and advanced to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. In 2015, they went 4-12 and will be watching the playoffs at home with the rest of us.

What was the biggest difference in the two seasons? In 2014, Tony Romo played in 15 games, with the team going 12-3 in those games, 0-1 in the others. In 2015, he played in only four, with the Cowboys going 3-1 in those games and 1-11 in the others.

Tony Romo is a good quarterback and incredibly valuable to the Dallas Cowboys. Anyone who says otherwise is just not paying attention.

Loser: Kickers

The days of a touchdown being a virtually automatic seven points are a thing of the past, and that’s not going to be a good thing for how kickers are perceived or talked about, especially when missed extra points contribute to losses.

From 2010-2014, kickers were 99.4% on extra-point attempts. In 2015, they were at 94.2%. The drop is sharp, and it’s even sharper when you consider the whole numbers.

The 2010-2014 numbers included 37 missed extra points in 6,153 attempts. In 2015, the number was 71 missed extra point attempts in 1,217 attempts.

A 33-yard field goal should be all but automatic, especially when you get to choose whether it’s kicked from the left hashmark, right hashmark, or in the middle of the field, but the 13-yard drop back clearly messed with the kickers, probably more mentally than physically.

Seattle Seahawks kicker Steven Hauschka is Exhibit A for that theory. Hauschka was 29-for-31 on field goals in the 2015 NFL season. He was 6-for-6 on kicks from longer than 50 yards and 7-for-7 from 30-39, missing only two kicks from 40-49. On extra points, Hauschka was only 40-for-44.

If Hauschka is Exhibit A, Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Jason Myers is Exhibit B. Myers was was 26-of-30 on regular field goals, including 8-for-8 on kicks between 30 and 39 yards and 17-for-18 on kicks inside of 40. On extra points, Myers was 32-for-39.

The 2015 NFL season was a bad one for kickers and according to MMQB, there’s been talk that the PAT line might be moving further back.

Winner: J.J. Watt

Houston Texans defensive end is still a few months short of his 27th birthday, but is already keeping some incredible company.

Watt should also earn a third Defensive Player of the Year Award. That’s not quite unprecedented, but it’s pretty close. The only man who has three is Lawrence Taylor, the greatest defensive player the game has ever seen.

Earlier this season, Watt drew favorable comparisons to Taylor from a man who knew LT pretty well, Bill Belichick. If he does indeed win the Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2015, it will be his third win in four years, something that nobody has done.

What makes Watt’s exploits even more incredible is how offensive oriented the game has become. Defenders have a very small strike zone to hit quarterbacks and roughing the passer or late hit calls are so easy to draw, which definitely slows pass rushers down.

Like Wilson and Arizona’s Carson Palmer, in a non Cam Newton season, Watt would be a viable MVP candidate.

Loser: Cleveland Browns

How can we sum up the 2015 Cleveland Browns season in 30 seconds? Well, this NSFW video does a pretty good job of it.

At the conclusion of the 2015 NFL season, the Browns fired general manager Ray Farmer and head coach Mike Pettine. The new general manager will be the eighth since the Browns re-entered the NFL in 1999. If we include one interim, the new coach will be the ninth.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, the Browns are also headed back to the drawing board at the quarterback position.

Teams that succeed for long periods of time usually have stable coaches and quarterbacks. Look at the New England Patriots with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. Look at the Indianapolis Colts with Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning.

The Browns have been on the opposite end of that and with the 2015 NFL season in the books, are only going further backwards.