We have learned a lot since the start of the NFL season over two months ago. Heading into Week 11, there are unfortunately some teams with their heads still buried deep in the sand.
As has been the case for the past two decades, Cleveland Browns fans have little to smile about these days. Each week, their hopes of winning just one game go down in flames.
Furthermore, weren’t the Jacksonville Jaguars supposed to be the team to beat in the AFC South this year? This is clearly not happening.
And finally, there’s one team in this list that sports a far better record than its actual on-field performance would indicate. With Week 11 upon us, let’s look at the six-worst teams in the NFL thus far this season.
6. Chicago Bears: 2-7
We thought the Bears turned over a new leaf when they pulled off an upset win against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 8. Then, Jay Cutler and Co. lofted back to reality after their bye, posting an ugly loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
We are talking about one of the NFL’s worst passing defenses that Cutler should have shredded in Week 10. But instead, in typical Cutler-like fashion, he completed only 16-of-30 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and three turnovers, including this pick-six (watch here). At this point, the only bright spot on the Bears’ offense is rookie running back Jordan Howard.
Even off the field, the Bears’ woes are continuing with this latest dose of bad news. Alshon Jeffery, the team’s best wide receiver, has just been suspended for reportedly using PED’s. Jeffery will not be eligible to return to his team until Week 15. Perfect timing.
Jeffery’s absence is a gut-punch to a Bears offense that is struggling to improve on the lowly 15.7 points its averaging per game.
On the defensive side, Chicago ranks No. 12 overall. But the weak spot is the Bears have managed only eight takeaways all season. Furthermore, opposing teams are averaging over eight points more than the Bears are scoring per game.
Currently, Chicago sits in last place in the NFC North and might as well write this season off, pretty much like what Cutler’s teammates have already done with him. While the team continues to unravel, its main focus should be on Cutler’s replacement come next year’s NFL Draft. There’s also some major questions regarding John Fox’s job status moving forward. What a mess.
5. Jacksonville Jaguars: 2-7
We are not exactly sure what is going on with the Jaguars at this point in the season. But, what we do know is they look resolved to finish last within the AFC South. This is after the franchise opened up the season as one of the most hyped-up teams in the league.
The Jaguars’ offense, headlined by quarterback Blake Bortles, is regressing. The third-year quarterback is on pace for 28 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. This is compared to Bortles’ 35-to-18 touchdown-to-interception ratio from last season. He is also averaging just 6.4 yards per pass.
As a result of all of Bortles’ efforts to win games, the Jags have tallied the 12th-most passing yards in the league. Unfortunately, a lot of the yardage is pure garbage time. The team is compensating for a practically non-existent run game. Through nine games, the Jags have scored only three times on the ground.
Defensively, the Jaguars are giving up an average of 327.7 yards and 26.6 points per game. And, they have only recorded three interceptions all year. Under this passer-friendly environment, quarterbacks are completing 64.2 percent of their passes against this unit.
Looking ahead, the Jaguars face some tough squads. This is coupled with the team already riding a four-game losing streak. Head coach Gus Bradly can only hope he still has a job by the end of Week 16.
"I don't see anything in the future that shows Blake Bortles is not our guy."
— #Jaguars HC Gus Bradley on if he wants death to come quickly— Big Cat Country (@BigCatCountry) November 14, 2016
All the while, a sneaky-good Tennessee Titans unit is the AFC South team that is trending upwards.
4. Los Angeles Rams: 4-5
How is it that the Rams have four wins but also sport the lowest-scoring offense in the league? It is a completely mind-numbing realization to come to.
More than this, two of those four wins were about as ugly as it gets. Los Angeles took out the Seattle Seahawks by the score 9-3 earlier in the season before defeating the New York Jets by the score of 9-6 last week. The Rams failed to score a touchdown in either of these games. And each was just miserable to watch. All said, the Rams have tallied 13 total touchdowns in nine games. Ouch.
The team is winning by field goals and limiting their opposition to an average of just 19.2 points per game. We can give the defense a shout-out here. Should the offense find some way to improve, the Rams would have an even better standing in the NFC West.
Yet week in and week out, head coach Jeff Fisher committed to starting Case Keenum. All the while, the first overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft has wasted away on the bench.
But apparently, Fisher has finally listened to his disgruntled fans who literally chant during games to see their rookie quarterback under center. Yes. Fisher has decided that Jared Goff can finally ditch the clipboard and start in Week 11. Despite this, there’s still concern over his readiness to play.
We will see soon enough if the young rookie can steer his pathetic offense in the right direction.
3. New York Jets: 3-7
Last year’s high-flying Jets are one of this season’s hottest messes. About as depressing as ever, is the Jets dumpster fire of a quarterback situation.
After a stalemate of an offseason between Ryan Fitzpatrick and the team, the Jets finally re-signed him. Unfortunately, Fitz has performed nowhere near the level of his outlier of a 2015 campaign. Eventually, he was benched in Week 7 in favor Geno Smith.
Smith’s run was then cut short after he sustained a season-ending ACL injury in his first start of the year. Since, it has been Fitzpatrick back under center up until Week 9. Now, Fitz is nursing an MCL sprain and fans have had to watch Bryce Petty in action. Week 11 brings the Jets a much-needed bye to sort out their quarterback disaster. It might be time to roll with rookie Christian Hackenberg at this sad point.
Other than Matt Forte and Bilal Powell actually heading up the fourth-best rushing offense, the team Has been a disaster.
Defensively, the Jets are generously giving up 345.9 yards and 24.4 points per game. And, nobody is afraid to take a trip to “Revis Island” these days. The corner looks washed up, with Pro Football Focus rating him 78th among his fellow cornerbacks.
The silver lining in all this mess is that the Jets are only one win behind Rex Ryan’s Buffalo Bills in the AFC East.
2. San Francisco 49ers: 1-8
With their only win of the season coming against the Rams back in Week 1, the 49ers are definitely worthy of this spot. For a club equipped with talent at nearly every position and a good head coach, San Francisco comes up short once those 60 minutes of play get underway.
Through nine games, the 49ers’ offense ranks 28th in the NFL. This is only magnified by a defense that ranks 31st. The 49ers are allowing their opposition a ridiculous 429.7 yards and 31.4 points per game. Both of those numbers represent league-highs.
Meanwhile, a former Super Bowl quarterback and a bust of a first-round pick are leading an offense averaging just 19.4 points per game.
The combination of Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick have passed for only 10 total touchdowns. For the sake of comparison, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had 11 passing touchdowns after Week 4. Thankfully, the 49ers have been able to subsidize a struggling pass offense with a decent run game. Between their quarterback’s mobility and the various running backs they have deployed, the 49ers are averaging 119.6 yards and 1.2 touchdowns per game.
Unfortunately, this does not amount to much when the team has 18 turnovers on the books. That stat is fifth-worst in the league.
A tough schedule, one that perhaps will allow a couple of wins against the Bears and Jets, lies ahead. Fans need to strap in tightly and grab a barf bag for the remainder of this bumpy ride.
1. Cleveland Browns (0-10)
Sadly, the winless Browns must sit as worst on this list, simply based off their 0-10 record. Try as it might, Cleveland just cannot win. The Browns are compiling a decent amount of yardage, but at the same time averaging just 17.5 points per game.
The typical chaos at the quarterback position does not help. The Robert Griffin III project lasted about 10 minutes. Then, due to injuries and sporadic poor production, various signal callers from Josh McCown down to rookie Cody Kessler have been under center.
That really should not come as that much of a surprise.
On the other side of the field, Cleveland’s defense is practically a nightmare. It self-implodes on a weekly basis, and is the worst in the league at nearly every stat. This would include the outrageous average of 419.1 yards and 30.1 points its giving to opposing teams each week.
A Week 13 bye is about the worst gift the Browns could be dealt. A team and brass in serious need of a reset button just cannot catch any type of break at this point. We will see if things turn around down the stretch. Cleveland plays the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, the New York Giants, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers.
As beatable as these teams are, fans are advised not to hold their breath.