Most Disappointing NFL Teams Of 2015

Most Disappointing NFL Teams Of 2015

The 2015 NFL regular season has come and gone, with twelve teams punching their tickets to the playoffs. But while those 12 teams fight to see who will win a Super Bowl championship, 20 other teams will be looking back to see where it all went wrong. Among those 20 teams are three teams that stood out above the rest as the most disappointing teams of the 2015 NFL season, whose championship dreams turned into nightmares.

3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Earning the number one pick in the NFL Draft for having the league’s worst record last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had surprisingly high expectations heading into this year, with many NFL experts tabbing them as a possible playoff team. However, the Buccaneers were never able to be a serious threat in the NFC South this season, and found themselves out of the playoff race by the middle of the 2015 campaign.

A huge reason for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers letting everyone down this year was their inability to get rookie quarterback and number one draft pick Jameis Winston off to a good start. He turned out to be decent toward the end of the year, but never lived up to the hype surrounding him throughout this season. While the Buccaneers will stick with him, and deservedly so, he will need to improve if his team wants to keep moving forward.

2. Miami Dolphins

Miami Dolphins management put a lot of faith into Ryan Tannehill heading into this season, signing him to a lucrative contract extension based on his continued improvement in the early stages of his career. But Tannehill plateaued this season, not doing any better than his good, but not great, numbers in the 2014 campaign. As a result, the Dolphins failed to improve and became bottom feeders in the AFC.

To make matters worse, the Dolphins were so bad at times this season that they fired head coach Joe Philbin. Interim head coach Dan Campbell did an okay job at times during the season, but doesn’t appear to be a serious contender to win the job permanently. So now the Dolphins may regret signing their quarterback to an expensive and long term contract, and also need to find a new coach, while hoping that coach and quarterback can work well together. This is going to be an interesting spring and summer for Miami.

1. Detroit Lions

Just a blown call away from advancing to the NFC Divisional Playoffs last year, the Detroit Lions went into a tailspin this year, becoming the last team to win a game in the NFL this season. They never got Calvin Johnson involved enough, and showed no offensive spark despite having a ton of highly priced weapons in it. It was an abysmal season for a team that was supposed to contend for the NFC championship.

It looks like the Lions will keep head coach Jim Caldwell, but will need to make sure that he can get the offense in order for his team unless he wants to waste the prime of Calvin Johnson’s legendary career on a losing team.

By: Jason M. Sanin