Most Disappointing NFL Teams in 2024
Before the season, many teams are predicted to be great, and others, not so much. ESPN, NFL Network, FS1, and other networks had analysts predict division and league standings in anticipation of the season. Many teams have a major consensus to make the playoffs and finish with 10-plus wins, and when that doesn’t happen, it’s a disappointing season. This list will compile a handful of teams who were predicted to be playoff teams and are at best on the outside looking in and at worst a complete bottom-feeder of the league.
San Francisco 49ers
The defending NFC Champions were projected to return to the Super Bowl, garnering +600 odds to win the Super Bowl before the season, the highest odds in their conference. Unfortunately, the injury bug bit the 49ers harder than possibly any other team this season. Dre Greenlaw was the first domino to fall, tearing his ACL in Super Bowl LVIII. Then, in training camp, 2023 Offensive Player of the Year Christian McCaffrey suffered an Achilles injury that forced him to miss half the season; returning in Week 10 before being re-injured shortly after that, but not before fellow 2023 Pro Bowler Javon Hargrave had his season ended due to torn triceps. In the middle of the season, injury luck didn’t improve as Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, and Charvarius Ward missed a combined 11 games. All of these injuries coupled with an offense that has significantly declined have accumulated to a very underwhelming 6-9 season to this point that will see the 49ers fight with the Cardinals for third place in the NFC West.
Cincinnati Bengals
Though they have certainly turned their luck around lately, the Bengals are far from the spot that they were envisioned in before the season. Despite coming off of a number one seed with an MVP quarterback and seemingly getting better in the offseason, the Ravens had a slim lead in betting odds—+145 odds to Cincinnati’s +165—to win the AFC North. With Joe Burrow healthy again, big things were expected out of the Bengals. While Burrow has certainly been great, he needs to be prime Dan Marino every single week because of how bad his defense has been. Cincinnati’s bottom-five defensive unit has been so bad that the team has eight losses even though Burrow has thrown for over 4,600 yards while completing 69.8 percent of his passes for 42 touchdowns and eight interceptions. A great illustration of this was from weeks 8-13, the defense gave up an average of 34.8 points per game in the Bengals’ five games played, which included a 44-38 loss that brought the team down to 4-8. They’re arguably the hottest team in football now, but who would have thought that they wouldn’t be in control of their own destiny and relying on Carson Wentz to get them in the playoffs?
New York Jets
The Jets were hyped up all offseason in a very satisfying turn of events for Bills Mafia. Some pundits picked the Jets to not only break their postseason drought but actually win the AFC East and go all the way to the AFC Championship. Why were they expected to bulldoze through the NFL after a well-established history of losing? Well, because they had 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers coming off of a season-ending injury. Many people thought that even if Rodgers was mediocre, their defense would be so good that they would be carried to wins since they finished 7-10 with horrible quarterback play in the previous two seasons. In hindsight, the predictions for the Jets seem to give off major “prisoner of the moment” vibes. The Bills traded Stefon Diggs a few weeks before the draft and they were touted as one of the only teams that didn’t improve their roster from 2023. Everyone now knows that the Jets were the one to take a step back at 4-11 while the Bills are looking to clinch the two seed against them at Highmark Stadium.
Miami Dolphins
Yet another team that was supposed to dethrone the Bills, but instead Sean McDermott made even more analysts eat crow. To be fair to the Dolphins, they looked a lot more like a team that can dethrone the Bills as opposed to the Jets. Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and De’Von Achane just screams ‘top-five offense,’ but things have gone awry this season in Miami. Tagovailoa suffered another heart-breaking concussion in Week Two against the Bills which led to him missing a crucial four games from September 22nd to October 20. Hill and Waddle struggled immensely with Skylar Thompson and Tyler Huntley under center; Hill was targeted 24 times in those four games, accumulating 14 receptions for 140 yards and no touchdowns while Waddle caught 13 balls on 21 targets for 119 yards and no scores as well. Tagovailoa has been the MVP of this team, but he just hasn’t been able to overcome his two kryptonites, the Buffalo Bills, and his own health.
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears had fairly high expectations going into 2024 considering they were going into it with a rookie quarterback. Caleb Williams, one of the most highly touted quarterback prospects in recent memory, was a can’t-miss prospect, forcing the hand of Bears’ management to ship out Justin Fields just as things were getting good in Chicago. Williams was brought into the organization with an exceptional cast of pass-catchers; DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Rome Odunze, and Cole Kmet. However, Williams hasn’t lived up to the expectations that this team was supposed to have. A lot of blame has been placed on Chicago’s offensive line, but Williams simply holds on to the ball too long at an average of 3.09 seconds, the fourth-longest time in the league. When all’s said and done, the offense runs through him and the fact that the offense has scored more than 20 points just once in their past 10 games is why this team got eliminated from the playoffs two weeks ago.
