While watching Monday Night Football I found myself cheering for a team that I would be rooting against in just one week. As the Indianapolis Colts received at least one extra fan that night, I started to feel bad for all Colts fans this year.
The Colts are arguably the biggest disappointment of the year. That’s through no fault of their own. They’ve simply had bad luck. They didn’t plan on Peyton Manning missing the whole season with a bad neck or the starting job going to an inexperienced Curtis Painter.
Although Painter did deliver a good effort against the Bucs this week, he’s no Peyton. The Colts are just one of many teams that might have to wait until next year.
The Philadelphia Eagles were all over the news in the offseason, making big signings in free agency while touting quarterback Michael Vick’s improvement. Many considered them to be a solid early Super Bowl favorite. Personally, I also thought with the additions that there was a good chance they would get the ultimate prize.
After offseason acquisitions like defensive lineman Jason Babin, cornerbacks Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Nnamdi Asomugha, tackle Cullen Jenkins, quarterback Vince Young and running back Ronnie Brown, many thought this was Philly’s year to shine. But after a surprising defensive struggle and numerous injuries, their 1-3 record isn’t the kind of start they wanted to the season.
The Minnesota Vikings didn’t have such a great season last year, finishing at 6-10. Quarterback was the main problem with the team, but after Donovan McNabb couldn’t find his groove with the Washington Redskins he decided to make a fresh start in Minnesota. With an experienced quarterback who knows how to win (and arguably the best running back in the NFL in Adrian Peterson) the offense should be good enough to carry the team to success. Although the rushing offense and defense has been near the top of the league in averages, both passing offense and defense have been the Achilles’ heel of this year’s team and they’ve struggled to a 0-4 start.
As much as it pains me, another disappointing team this year is the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs came off a year in which they made it to the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The only reasons for the poor performance thus far are underperforming by the starters and the injuries of most of the star power on the team. With running back Jamaal Charles, tight end Tony Moeaki and safety Eric Berry all out for the year with torn ACLs, it has been an uphill battle so far.
Elsewhere in Missouri, the Rams are winless after last year’s solid rookie season from Sam Bradford nearly carried them to the playoffs. They haven’t been able to match last year’s success and it doesn’t help that they have had a tough schedule as well.
Most teams that start out with poor records like these teams don’t have a good chance at making the playoffs. But there is still time to get back on track and get the season heading in a positive direction. It’s still early in the NFL season and right now for these teams it is not too late for them to shed the label of having a disappointing season.