The worst teams in the NFL - and how they can improve in 2009

Yikes.

If you saw Oakland's capitulation to San Diego last night, or Detroit's humiliation against Tennessee on Thanksgiving, or virtually any St. Louis Rams games this season, you'll know that these three represent the lowest forms of existence in the NFL today.

For some teams, the rebuilding process is in full flow. Miami have improved dramatically after a 1-15 season last year, whilst Atlanta have bounced into playoff contention after the turmoil of having their franchise QB sent to prison. Even the Kansas City Chiefs drafted wisely enough to build a young team that doesn't have the pressure of needing to win now.

So here's what the Lions, Raiders and Rams need to get themselves back towards winning ways:


The Lions are a good place to start when you need to write about bad teams, because this team is appalling. There are no real positive aspects to be taken from 2008, except perhaps the acquisition of some high draft choices for WR Roy Williams. The defence is arguably one of the worst to take a field, and the offence couldn't move house, let alone a pile.

I could spell this out using statistics that show how bad the Lions, Raiders and Rams are in certain areas of the field, but there's really no need. They rank amongst the bottom teams in almost every meaningful category, and apart from that, I'd be here all night if I did that. Really, just assume they're in the bottom three unless told otherwise.

One issue that pervades with the trio is that they are unable to execute on 3rd down - on both sides of the ball. Interestingly, the issue is clearly also not with the Running Back in any of the situations. Steven Jackson of the Rams is a premier back, whilst both Kevin Smith and Darren McFadden were selected in round one of the 2008 draft. Whilst Smith has impressed, McFadden has been limited, but I'll go out on a limb and say that neither he or Justin Fargas is the real issue with the Raiders running game.

The Offensive and Defensive lines seem weakest of all the areas on all three teams. It's particularly surprising that St. Louis has allowed this to happen when you consider how much of their prior success during the 'Greatest show on turf' era was based on the solid foundations of OT Orlando Pace and DE's Grant Wistrom, Kevin Carter and their compatriots on either side of the line. They have attempted to address that over the last two drafts, bringing in Defensive Linemen Adam Carricker and Chris Long, but both have been anonymous so far in their NFL careers, and you get the feeling that the longer they play on such a poor team, the more risk that they will be seen as busts as the years go on. Pace is essentially done in St. Louis, and should be cut this year. It seems likely that the Rams would have taken Jake Long in the draft if he had been available in the draft, but it really is critical that they invest heavily in their O-line before Marc Bulger suffers some kind of internal combustion after being sacked for the 16,000th time.

In Detroit and Oakland, a rash of poor draft choices by Matt Millen and Al Davis respectively, has seen both lines ignored largely since the turn of the millennium. Bad experiences with high draft picks seems to have dented their faith in the Offensive line, whilst the D-line is littered with players who have never had to earn their money. Let's take Tommy Kelly for example. Everyone knows that D-linemen play with a hard edge that their position requires, but EVERYONE knows that you don't pay a D-lineman until you expressly have to. Why? Simple: Most players will respond better to the incentive of a bug contract, rather than the knowledge that they have already signed one. With this in mind, why the hell did Al Davis sanction a (then record) $50.5m for a player who was relatively unproven, and coming off knee surgery that ended his 2007 season? Baffling, and indicative of the decisons that seem to have backfired immensely on the Raiders this year. Indeed, it was rumoured recently that Kelly was one of a number of players that Davis was considering cutting, along with DeAngelo Hall (who was actually cut) and Javon Walker, all of whom were signed to big money deals just months prior to the 2008 season.

With the Lions, it is almost a running joke that the team invested so much in skill positions over Millen's era. Indeed, I did a feature on Millen in July that showed just how poor his drafting skills were (as if you needed to be made aware of that) and supporting the 'Millen Out' campaign. Thankfully for all concerned (except Matt presumably), Millen was fired earlier this season, and in turn the Lions secured a first, a third, and a sixth round pick for another of his selections - WR Roy Williams. It is essential that they rebuild the Defensive line, after trading away Shaun Rogers to Cleveland. They have a rash of early draft picks, but that can be a huge financial burden for a team that has been amongst the bottom of this league for a long time. These top 5 contracts aren't cheap, and sooner or later the team might have to win purely to aleviate credit concerns.

So we've established that you could essentially replace the vast majority of the linemen on all three teams with traffic cones, or perhaps a red carpet of some description. Indeed, being inanimate objects, neither would be likely to give away false start penalties. Anyway, enough about linemen, what about the offensive skill positions?

Well, as I said earlier, the Lions have hurled enough first round picks at the problem, and finally something has stuck. Calvin Johnson is essentially the next great NFL Wide Receiver. Seriously. He's that good. Consider that the vast majority of balls thrown his way have been by men fleeing for their lives, and you get an idea of how good he is both on the run and in the air. Indeed, the jump-ball is something of a trademark for Johnson now, and it's easy to see him developing into the next Randy Moss - and in my book, that equals the Hall of Fame.

Smith has also shown that he could well be a wise move at Running Back. At the very least he deserves to play behind a proficient O-line before judgement is passed, and Rudi Johnson may still have some gas left in the tank. At QB, it seems likely that the team will give Dan Orlovsky a second chance next year after some relatively encouraging displays prior to his season ending injury, whilst veteran Jon Kitna is likely done as the team seeks a fresh start. Is it possible they could draft a QB in 2009? In all likelihood no. The draft class is not impressive enough that there is a 'can't miss' prospect at the position, and they have more pressing needs in... well everywhere really.

The Rams too, should stick with Marc Bulger. Actually, my theory is that they will do just that, and that the reason he has been pulled from games recently is simply to protect his long term physical health. We all know that RB Steven Jackson is a great player, but it will be interesting to see him play with a big contract behind him. Remember that Jackson was paid peanuts compared to his on-field contributions, and again, with the carrot of a new contract removed, how will he motivate himself? The team needs to get playoff bound soon for him to rekindle that desire to win.

At Receiver it is time to cash in on Tory Holt whilst he is still a tradeable commodity. Holt doesn't want to be in St. Louis anymore, and after 9 years, he knows that he likely will not win another championship there before his contract expires in 2010. Why not ship him out and look to the future? There is no shame in doing that, and in fact it can sometimes be detrimental to a young team if they feel that they are holding back a veteran player in the Autumn of his career. If they traded him now, they'd likely get a 2nd round pick minimum, perhaps even a first. The Rams won't be winning before his contract expires, so the equation all seems to add up to Holt's exit to a contender.

Finally, in Oakland, it gets messy. JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden should be the faces of this franchise for the next five years minimum. Instead right now, Russell looks like he has never been coached properly, and McFadden has been hobbled all season. Whilst injuries can be overcome, it is worrying to see so little progress from Russell in his sophomore year. Even if you write off 2007, it's not acceptable for a second year player to be averaging less than 150 passing yards each game, and his completion ratio is actually down from his disastrous showing in the last four games of 2007.

Is that Russell's fault? Probably not. We all know he has the ability, but he has been almost cast adrift by a franchise in flux, left to fend for himself as the front office wars with itself and the coaching staff revolves constantly. None of this can be good for a player, and we've seen what that can do to a Quarterback in Detroit, where Joey Harrington was cast as the source of - rather than the victim of - the team's woes.

The first thing the Raiders need to do, before they draft anyone, before they sign a free agent, is to get some stability on the sideline. At the very least, Al Davis should be looking at a coach who can help Russell develop into the player it seemed he was destined to be as he left LSU two seasons ago. I almost feel sorry for him - yes, even with the multi-million dollar contract - having to watch Matt Ryan have such success as a rookie, despite his team being at a low ebb when he took over the reigns. The difference being that Atlanta had hit rock bottom, whereas you do feel that Oakland could well sink even lower whilst Davis remains at the helm.

Unfortunately, Davis will likely not give up the Raiders whist his health prevails, and common decency prevents me from wishing ill upon him. Indeed, Davis is not the kind of guy who we should ever see as a bad thing for the NFL considering his contributions over the years, but sadly, his legacy is tarnished with every losing season the Raiders notch up, and his questionable decision to attack Lane Kiffin publicly (inviting litigation from Kiffin) after he fired him was a sign that perhaps he needs to take a step back. You can guess what bothers him, and that is the same thing that bothers so many of the men who have given their lives to one sole objective in life: Al Davis is afraid that giving up his franchise will be the death of him.

Tragically, there may be no light at the end of the tunnel for the Raiders while Davis refuses to accept that what is in his own best interests is not always in the best interests of his beloved franchise.

Mooch agrees with us on Millen

You may remember this article we posted last week. If not, hey, may want to see a Doctor about the old short term memory.

But we digress...

Steve Mariucci, former coach of the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, and lately an analyst on NFL's 'Gameday' program, has spoken out regarding Matt Millen, and his fruitless attempts to rejuvenate one of the NFL's worst franchises.

"Matt Millen has changed 58 coaches already, and he's now finally changing players,"
- Steve Mariucci

In an interview with the Marquette Mining Journal, a Michigan based paper, Mooch lets fly, breaking what has been a relatively dignified silence since he was sacked after a Thanksgiving day defeat against Atlanta three years ago. "Sure I've stayed in touch with some of (the players) and some of the coaches, and on occasion Bill Ford Jr. I respect the heck out of Bill, he'll take that team over some day." says Mariucci, who also reveals that his future in coaching will be limited to the Bay Area - even though he is aware that could mean he never works in the NFL again.

We (obviously) agree with Mooch. Matt Millen is onto his fifth coach in seven years as Lions President - yes, he's even worse at picking Head Coaches as he is picking players in the draft.

Just how bad is Matt Millen?

While reading an interview with Detroit Lions Hall of Famer Lem Barney earlier, it was difficult not to have a spot of sympathy for the beleaguered Matt Millen, General Manager of the franchise.

I think he has the capability to be a good general manager. He's just had some ups and downs. ... You can't just blame Matt. Players have to want to win, too. You have to be hungry enough. Look at what Boston did -- (the Celtics) were hungry. One guy can't do it by himself. That's why it's called a TEAM. Together ... everyone ... accomplishes more.
- Lem Barmey

Which illicited this response from a Lions fan who commented on the site:

When a player as classy and intelligent as Lem Barney speaks, sometimes you have to listen to what he didn't say as opposed to what he did say.
He didn't say "Matt Millen is a great GM" or even "Matt Millen is a competent GM."
That is really all we need to know about his opinion of Millen.

FIRE MILLEN. HIRE DUNGY.
- outlawsrock

Obviously, getting away from the aforementioned user's clear intelligence issues, it's a widespread view amongst Detroit fans that Millen in fact is to blame for their woes, and has been ever since he took over in 2001. Even the most obviously culpable defendants still have the right to a fair trial (Like I say, we're based in Britain), so in the interest of impartiality, here are the findings of our arduous (and trust me, there is no horror like a Lions draft study) investigation into Matt Millen's (mis)management of the Detroit Lions:

He's really really bad at evaluating talent.

The numbers are staggering, frankly.

First up, the team has only four of it's eight first round picks still on the roster. Calvin Johnson, Roy Williams, Ernie Sims, and Jeff Backus. Charles Rogers and Kevin Jones are both out of work, while Joey Harrington and Mike Williams will likely never start in the NFL again. That's a 50% attrition rate, something which makes you wonder if Millen makes picks with the flip of a coin...

Only two starters (Cory Redding and Roy Williams) are still with the team from four drafts (2002-05). That's an astonishing number. Consider also, that only one player is still active on the Lions roster from the 2002 draft (John Owens). He's not even a starter. The Lions seemed to have faired slightly better in the second round, but this off-season Shaun Rogers, Kalimba Edwards, Teddy Lehman and Boss Bailey all departed Ford Field. six of Millen's ten second round picks are still with the team, however, making it easily his best statistic.

The really serious problem arises when we get to later rounds. Many teams talk about getting a steal on day two of the draft, a Tom Brady or Marques Colston who surprises everyone. For some teams, such as the Colts, the second day is just as important as the first - and they have the rings to prove it. Of Millen's thirty second day picks, only six players are still on the Lions' roster. That's a mere 20% of the players drafted since 2001.

Also of note are the number of draft choices traded away. Since 2001, Millen has given away thirteen draft choices (including nine in last year's draft) in a frivolous disregard for the conventional wisom of today's NFL. In an age where most front offices spend copious amounts of time desperately attempting to secure even late round picks, it is baffling - especially considering the players that the Lions drafted with the picks that they secured from all of those trades.

We haven't included any stats from the 2008 draft in this. It's impossible to judge who will be a star from that class, and maybe if they've learned their lesson... what's that? Already traded away their fourth round pick in 2009?

Actually outlawsrock has a point...