Author: Gil Alcaraz
This NFL season has definitely been interesting. There have been quite a few teams that have had trouble winning more than one or two games and tend to do a better job of putting fans to sleep than entertaining them. These teams, which are comprised of a minimum amount of talent and coaching ability, have taken to the field this season almost with the intent to prove to fans just how bad a team can be.
The majority of these atrocious teams have gotten their only wins during games in which they play against another atrocious team. Many of these games, sometimes referred to as “Toilet Bowls,” either end with scores that often don’t total to more than 15 points or with scores that are inflated because both teams’ defenses simply can’t stop the other team’s offense. Some of these teams include the Cleveland Browns, the St. Louis Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Detroit Lions.
The Cleveland Browns, who stand at 1-10, are considered at this moment the worst team in the league. They have only scored 12 touchdowns in 11 games, with almost half of them coming from the defensive side of the ball. With two poor quarterbacks, a has-been for a starting running back and only two outstanding players on their starting defensive lineup, their talent meter is at an all-time low.
Their only win was against the Buffalo Bills by a score of 6-3. With their only rushing touchdowns coming from their two lackluster quarterbacks, their offense has earned itself the ranking as the worst offense in the league. The Browns’ offense has managed a pathetic 230 yards of offense per game, and with the help of a talentless defense that has intercepted the least amount of passes in the league, another notch in the win column doesn’t seem possible anywhere in the near future.
The St. Louis Rams, who are considered a close second for worst team in the league, stand at 1-10. Their only win came against the Lions, in which they won the game 17-10. Their offense has failed to score points in two games and has scored less than eight points in two others. This is due to the coaching staff’s incompetence, as they have yet to put talent around one of league’s best running backs, Steven Jackson.
Their inability to score, along with their lack of defensive cohesion, have cost them 157 more points and three times as many touchdowns to their opponents than they have scored themselves. With their only solid defensive players being a 35-year-old who is well past his prime and a 22-year-old rookie who is still becoming accustomed to playing at the professional level, the defense has been unable to keep teams from scoring touchdowns while the offense can’t buy its way into the endzone.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently hold a record of 1-10 as well, and have had trouble doing anything more than swapping out player after player and firing coaches. New head coach Raheem Morris fired his offensive coordinator a week before the regular season started and relieved his defensive coordinator 10 games into the season, proving his inability as a head coach.
Their offense has been terrible, lacking a single outstanding player. Their leading receiver is their tight end, who has taken over the role as go-to-guy due to the lack of talent at the wide receiver position. Cadillac Williams, their leader in rushing yards, has a measly 480 yards on the season, which is less yards than many second-string running backs of other teams have this year. After two failed attempts at finding a starting quarterback, the team must now rely on a rookie quarterback who is going to need another two or three years before he will be mentally and physically ready to carry his team.
The Detroit Lions, who are currently 2-9, are coming off a season in which they lost every one of their games, but have managed to break that losing streak this season. Their only wins have come against the offensively horrendous Washington Redskins and off a last second touchdown to defeat the floundering Browns.
They are led by rookie quarterback Matt Stafford, who has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns, proving that he is nothing more than a young, inexperienced quarterback trying to play like a pro. The Lions’ decision to put all their chips into a rookie quarterback has turned around to bite them in the backside.
However, their offense is not their only weakness. Their defense is tied with the Browns for the least amount of interceptions and has given up the most offensive yards of any team in the league. Although they managed to break their 19-game losing steak, which was closing in on the longest in NFL history, they still have a long road ahead of them before they start to see a significant amount of wins in a season.
The NFL has seen a new low this season with so many sub par teams stumbling their way onto the field every week. These “Toilet Bowls” continue to bore fans around the nation, and the league can only hope that these teams can find some sort of solution to their inability to play solid, entertaining football before season’s end.
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