Top 10 Most Disappointing NFL Teams of the 2021 Season

Last year they almost beat the Chiefs. They looked poised to go back to the playoffs and make a deep run. Everyone thought, "Oh, they could win it all." What on earth happened to them?
They had injuries on both sides of the ball, and OBJ left the team. They had a great rushing attack with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and should have made that the center of the offense. Baker Mayfield's performances ranged from okay at best to horrible at worst. He is getting surgery after battling through an injury, but he had several costly turnovers. There's a reason why he has so much heat on him right now. His performance in Progressive ads is better than his performances in games. If he was slightly better with fewer turnovers and more accurate throws, this team could have been much better than their record suggests.

When I look at this team on paper, they should have been so much better than they were. The Vikings defense was not good. The offense was alright, but the number of close games they lost was insane. Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and Dalvin Cook made the offense decent, while Kirk Cousins had a decent season.
I think the main culprit here was Zimmer himself. He held the team back. It's time, Minnesota. Fire him. If Denver can fire their coach, you can too.
They had bad luck, but this is the Vikings. Do you hit the reset button completely or what? They should probably find their identity first.

I know a lot of people don't really want to consider it, but I believe Pete Carroll's time has passed. Seattle is a talented team, but the questionable trades and spotty drafting of the last five or so years have finally caught up to them. Their secondary is in shambles, their pass rush is mediocre at best, and Russell Wilson is still running for his life on every play.
This is a team that I believe needs a reset. Take out Pete Carroll and John Schneider, and start fresh. Maybe even trade Wilson if that's what he wants. Seattle has fallen behind their entire division, and if they want to catch up again, serious organizational change needs to be made.

In 2020, Washington after 87 years got rid of the Redskins trademark due to it being labeled racist to native culture. It was named the Washington Football Team until February... read more
Washington last year rode a strong defense to the playoffs. This year, what happened? That defense fell off big time. I know Chase Young got hurt, but even with Chase Young, this defense did not look good at all. Taylor Heinicke did alright, but they took a step backward.
I thought they were supposed to be good on defense. And that isn't getting to that stadium that rained sewer water on fans and had a railing fall. This team wasn't just disappointing on the field, but the stadium itself was a disappointment.

Now, yes, I'm aware they can make the playoffs with a win against the Raiders, but the fact of the matter is they shouldn't have been in that position to begin with. This team had an opportunity to take the division but lost to the Chiefs. Somehow they have fallen to barely making it if they win against the Raiders.
It's like they're inconsistent and only show up when they want to. In a year where the Chiefs are in a weird roller coaster of a season, they had a golden opportunity to take the division. Instead, they Chargered like always.

This may be a little unfair to Baltimore. The Ravens lost literally all their top running backs before the season started. Lamar Jackson has missed time, and they've had plenty of other injuries throughout the season keeping them from reaching their potential. Yet they were still competitive with almost every team.
Baltimore is still in the playoff hunt, just barely. They would need a miracle to make it in, but the fact they're still in contention is impressive. I just feel like people had higher expectations for them this season, and unfortunately, they're probably going to fall short of the playoffs.

Remember when they were 3-0 and we all thought this was a playoff team? That felt like an eternity ago. I can't believe I thought they were on the right track in their rebuild at one point. Matt Rhule seems in over his head and is completely clueless.
The offense is still carried by CMC, and the quarterback became a giant experiment with Sam Darnold, then PJ Walker, then Cam Newton. He just kept rotating quarterbacks because he didn't know which one worked. It's like trying to find the charger that works when none of them do, so you just frantically plug them in continuously. That's what the Panthers did at quarterback. It sounds like he'll have another year, but after that? It might be time for a new coach.

The Dolphins last year came out of seemingly nowhere and barely missed the playoffs. This year we were expecting them to pick up where they left off. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
To their credit, they won 7 straight games after losing 7 straight games, but it just wasn't enough to overcome in the end. The defense was okay, but that offense struggled, and they had almost no run game whatsoever.

At #4 on my list, the Denver Broncos. This team put up a good fight against KC but fell short for the 13th consecutive time. They already fired Vic Fangio after a forgettable season.
This team has some intriguing pieces to work with: Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick, Noah Fant, Melvin Gordon, Jerry Jeudy, and Javonte Williams. That's just the offense. They also have Bradley Chubb, Justin Simmons, and Pat Surtain. They brought in Teddy Bridgewater, who was serviceable for the most part, but he is the "safe play" quarterback. This team is a good quarterback away from being good again. I expect there will be a lot of coaches interested in the Denver Broncos job. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that they drastically underachieved with all the guys I listed above.

I know this team is horrible, and expectations were still low, but coming into this season they had Trevor Lawrence as the #1 QB prospect. There was James Robinson and Travis Etienne. There wasn't a lot of optimism, but there was a feeling they would be mediocre.
But then Urban Meyer happened and turned out not to be a fit in the NFL, and now Jacksonville basically has the rights to the top draft pick again. Oh, and that's not even mentioning their GM Trent Baalke who, um, why did they hire him again? The man who drove the Niners into the ground is doing the same thing? What a surprise. Jaguars fans are apparently dressing up as clowns to protest Shad Khan letting him stay with the organization.
The Newcomers

The Texans were a disappointment simply because they won more than the one game they were picked to win. Despite not having the talent to compete, they did show flashes of a potential bright future with Davis Mills being the second-best rookie quarterback in the draft. Houston still has a long way to go, but from what fans saw, the potential was there.



Now, granted, they did stumble mid-season. The defense has been good for the most part, improved aside from stopping the all-star running backs. The only thing disappointing about this team is the inconsistency on offense. However, they now seem to be clicking at the right time.

They were expected to stink, and that's exactly what we got in New York. The worst offense in football (not named Jacksonville). Everybody on offense couldn't stay healthy on the field even before the regular season started. A disaster team from the start. How fitting with a 3 and 9, everybody gets broomed, which would be in their best interest to fully rebuild from the ground up.


The Colts were a team that had question marks coming into the season, especially with Wentz constantly getting hurt. Even after a tremendous seasonal performance by Jonathan Taylor, he wasn't enough to get this team in the playoffs. Falling short in Jacksonville and just missing the cusp of the playoffs was a somewhat disappointing result.


It was disappointing that they only won 3 times, lost 13 times, and had one tie.

Now, granted, the Cowboys played well and beat their division handily. The fact that it had to end the way it did, with a running play to end the season, is disappointing. You could see an argument for a disappointing end to what was a great rebound. Not winning a playoff game has got to sting, especially for a coach like Mike McCarthy, who has previously gotten to a Super Bowl.

The money was put to good use, but getting punched in the mouth three out of four times to end your season can't feel any better.


For the duration of the season, sure, but they are still in it as one of the final eight teams left. It's do or die for Jimmy G at this rate.

It was disappointing that they only won 4 times and lost 13 times.

