Five struggling NFL teams trending downward

by | Nov 24, 2015

 

Every year in the NFL, November has a way of exposing the pretenders.

In 2015, some teams that started the season strong don’t look so good in the second half of the year. Other up-and-coming franchises that looked like they’d make the playoffs sooner than expected have been huge November disappointments.

Here’s a look at five teams that are taking the name of this fall season a little too literally.

Raiders

The Raiders (4-6) crashed the playoff picture with a 34-20 home win over the Jets, 4-2 at the time, in Week 8. Oakland improved to 4-3 with that win and looked like a young team on the rise.

Since then, the Raiders have lost three in a row. The first loss, 38-35 at Pittsburgh, was excusable. The Raiders lost a shootout to another AFC playoff contender. The next one, 30-14 at home to Minnesota, was a little more worrisome. The Vikings took the NFC North lead with that win, but the Raiders couldn’t defend their home turf.

On Sunday, though, the big “OKAY, PANIC” sign from the movie Airplane lit up when the Raiders lost 18-13 at Detroit (3-7). Against the lowly Lions, Derek Carr failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time since Week 1 and Latavius Murray ran for 28 yards, his lowest total of the season.

Now the Raiders are a game out of the final wild-card spot with three 5-5 teams between them and the No. 6 seed.

Jets

The Jets (5-5) started the season 4-1 and forced 15 turnovers in those five games, including 10 in the first two. They lost 30-23 at New England but led halfway through the fourth quarter and even in the best of times an “L” can be penciled next to “at New England” on the Jets’ schedule.

Then in Week 8 the Jets lost the battle of worst-to-first contenders 34-20 at Oakland. Ryan Fitzpatrick left the game early with a thumb injury but was back the following week for a 28-23 win over the Jaguars that improved the Jets’ record to 5-3.

Since then, however, Rex Ryan got his revenge in leading the Bills to a 22-17 win at New York and the Jets fell to backup quarterback T.J. Yates and the Texans 24-17 Sunday at Houston.

DeAndre Hopkins caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns, torching Darrelle Revis on one of them. The Jaguars’ Allen Robinson had 121 receiving yards and teammate Allen Hurns went for 122 receiving yards and a touchdown two weeks earlier. Is the 30-year-old Revis starting to show his age? He has a concussion and could miss Sunday’s home game against Miami.

In losing four of their last five, the Jets have forced just five turnovers, none in their losses to the Patriots, Raiders and Bills. They’re one of four teams tied at 5-5 for the final wild-card spot, but tiebreakers currently place the Chiefs in the No. 6 seed.

Eagles

After an 0-2 start the Eagles worked their way to 3-3 with convincing home wins over the Saints (39-17) and Giants (27-7). Then they lost at Carolina, which happens to a lot of teams, and came back from their bye with 33-27 overtime win at Dallas.

But the Eagles have lost two straight at home to teams that came to Philadelphia under .500. They blew a 16-3 lead and lost 20-19 to the Dolphins (4-6). Sam Bradford completed 19 of 25 passes in that game before suffering a concussion. Mark Sanchez threw an end zone interception with the Eagles trailing by one and less than five minutes left in the game, and he threw three more interceptions in Sunday’s 45-17 loss to the Buccaneers.

The Eagles allowed Jameis Winston to throw five touchdown passes, tying a rookie record, and yielded 521 yards of offense. They had the momentum to take control of the NFC East with two home games after that dramatic win in Dallas. Instead, they’re a game out of first place in the division and only one game ahead of a Cowboys team that lost seven straight before Sunday.

Falcons

Even though the Falcons’ 5-0 start was a soft 5-0, they’ve suffered three November losses that seemed unthinkable when they were sitting pretty in the middle of October.

Maybe the signs were there when the Falcons (6-4) could only muster a 10-7 win over the Titans (2-8) in Week 7, their last October game. The Falcons started November with a 23-20 overtime loss at home to Tampa Bay. That loss doesn’t seem so bad considering the Bucs’ recent rise, but the stench still permeates from Atlanta’s 17-16 defeat at San Francisco (3-7) the following week.

Then after their bye, the Falcons squandered a 14-point lead in a 24-21 home loss to 40-year-old backup Matt Hasselbeck and the Colts. Matt Ryan threw three interceptions, including a ugly pick-six from his own one-yard line that tied the game in the fourth quarter.

Devonta Freeman, fifth in the league with 764 rushing yards, had a lot to do with the Falcons’ hot start. But he was held to 12 yards in San Francisco and left Sunday’s game with a concussion after gaining 43 yards on three carries.

The Falcons cling to the No. 6 seed in the NFC, but the improving Buccaneers and the been-there-done-that Seahawks lurk a game behind.

Rams

The Rams (4-6) looked like a team that could sneak into the playoff conversation with a ground game led by Rookie of the Year candidate Todd Gurley and a pass rush that generated 27 sacks through the first eight games.

St. Louis improved to 4-3 with a 27-6 win over visiting San Francisco and took the Vikings, who are contending for the NFC North title, to overtime before losing at Minnesota. But the Rams fell 37-13 at home to the Bears (4-6) and lost 16-13 Sunday at Baltimore (3-7). 

The Rams were held to three sacks in those two games and Case Keenum, the newly appointed starting quarterback, couldn’t take advantage of  the Ravens’ 26th-ranked pass defense.

It’s looking like a 12th straight season without a playoff berth for the Rams.