This year, some embarrassing team will emerge from the NFC South as a division winner and subsequent playoff team. The NFL has only had one team with a losing record make the postseason, although we could have a second in 2014 should the New Orleans Saints not win out.
Since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, there have been some truly bad teams that found their way to the playoffs. Let’s look at the top five and mock them.
5. 2002 Cleveland Browns
How many times does a team quarterbacked by Tim Couch and Kelly Holcomb win five games, let alone make the playoffs? In 2002, the Browns made it happen with Butch Davis as head coach. It’s the only postseason run for Cleveland since being reintroduced as a franchise in 1999, but it barely counts.
The Browns were 9-7 and qualified as a wild-card team, not having one player who reached 1,000 yards rushing or receiving. Couch threw 18 touchdowns but also 18 interceptions, and the defense was led by Mark Word (who?) and his eight sacks. Not shockingly, Cleveland was bounced in the wild-card round by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
4. 1970 Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals became an AFL franchise in 1968 and made an unexpected jump to the playoffs in 1970 under head coach Paul Brown. Cincinnati began the season 1-6 before reeling off seven straight wins to take the AFC Central crown. In the playoffs, the eventual Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Colts bounced the Bengals in the Divisional Round, 17-0.
Jess Phillips led the Bengals in rushing with 648 yards while Chip Myers amassed a team-high 542 receiving yards. Looking at the roster, you wonder how this team won a game. Then you realize Brown and Bill Walsh were coaching the team, and it makes sense. Together, those minds had the Bengals scoring 22.3 points/game, seventh in the NFL.
3. 1999 Detroit Lions
Detroit was a weird team during the 1990’s. It seemed the Lions would always start with a record of 3-6 or 4-7, before finding a way into the playoffs only to be pounded. In 1999, Detroit actually began the season 8-4 before losing its final four regular-season contests, then dropping a 27-13 wild-cad game to the Washington Redskins.
Gus Frerotte and Charlie Batch split the quarterbacking duties with Greg Hill playing the role of leading rusher with 542 yards on 3.8 yards per carry. The only bright spot was the receiving core, with Johnnie Morton and Germane Crowell combining for 2,467 yards and 12 touchdowns.
2. 1991 New York Jets
The 1991 Jets had Bruce Coslet as a head coach, suffered two three-game losing streaks, had Ken O’Brien throw more interceptions than touchdowns, and did not have a receiver or back with 1,000 yards. Yet, New York somehow made the postseason with an overtime win over the Miami Dolphins in Week 17 before losing 17-10 to the Houston Oilers in the wild-card round.
It’s always incredible to look at some of these head coach-quarterback combinations and wonder how they enjoyed any amount of success. The Coslet-O’Brien duo certainly ranks up among the most hilarious, unless you’re a Jets fan.
1. 2010 Seattle Seahawks
Outside of a strike-shortened year, the Seahawks are the only team with a losing record to make the postseason, let alone with their division. Seattle won the dismal NFC West with a 7-9 mark, prompting many pundits to call for a change to the playoff system. However, the Seahawks shut some folks up with a 41-36 victory over the New Orleans Saints.
Seattle was atrocious on both sides of the ball, ranking 23rd offensively and 25th defensively. The team had a point differential of -97, checking in 28th of 32 teams. Amazingly, only one player had more than 575 yards at the skill positions, with Mike Williams totaling 751 receiving yards.
