What are the worst teams in NFL history?

By creammagazine, October 20, 2021

Most people that follow a sports team will choose a team early doors in life and stick with them through thick and thin, good times and bad. Some though, have been through lower lows than others. Here we look at just a few of those with a run down of the worst NFL teams in history.

Number 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 1986

Kicking off our list of the worst NFL teams in history is the 1986 Tampa Bay Buccaneers; they served up a pretty ugly season full stop. Amazingly, the team did actually start out 2-7, with a multitude of close losses. From there though things completely fell apart. The Buccs ended the season with five straight losses giving up more than 20 points in each and ended the campaign with a record of 2-14. If that wasn’t bad enough, their quarterback – Steve Young – threw 12 interceptions on just 96 total pass attempts; that’s a 12.5% interception rate, which is the highest single season mark in NFL history. What odds could you get on that record being broken?

Number 4. Cleveland Browns, 2017

We’ll be honest, it feels a bit odd to include the 2017 Browns on this list given they were actually competitive throughout the majority of the season. That said, they were 0-16 and whether you’re competitive or whether you’re battered every game that is simply not good enough. In fact, it’s the sort of thing that will give coaches, players and fans nightmares! The Browns 2017 season was exactly that; a nightmare.

Number 3. St. Louis Rams, 2009

Sincere apologies go out to Steven Jackson. He put up 1,400 rushing yards during this season but even that couldn’t come close to papering over the utter tripe the St Louis Rams served up in 2009. They wound up going 1-15 but it wasn’t just results that make them one of the worst teams in NFL history. Their stats make it look even worse! Somehow, the Rams only averaged 11 points per game and fewer than 280 yards of total offense. On top of that, they turned the ball over twice as many times as they scored touchdowns as well. The fact that this was just a decade after they were titled the Greatest Show on Turf makes this season even more of a disappointment.

Number 2. Detroit Lions, 1942

Right, we’re ready for a cheap chuckle. When you mention the Detroit Lions in combination with the phrase ‘the worst NFL teams in history’ many people will immediately think of the 2008 Lions teams that failed to win a game all season. That side, however, are not even the worst in Lions history let alone NFL history. The 1942 Lions were disgustingly bad. They even had a game in which they lost 42-0 and turned the ball over an NFL record 12 times. You think that sounds bad? Wait until you hear what we say about their offense…they scored 38 points all season long; that’s three – yes, THREE – per match.

Number 1. Pittsburgh Steelers/Chicago Cardinals, 1944

The worst team in NFL history is….shared, sort of. Back in 1944 teams were forced to merge. For some it worked, for others it was laughable. When the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals paired up it’s fair to say it was the latter. They went 0-10 that season. On top of that they had a horrific margin of defeat, over four interceptions per game and some atrocious passing stats. For example, their adjusted yards gained per pass attempt was negative 1.7, which means that they lost yards every single time that they dropped back to throw the football. Oh, and we bet you’re wondering about that margin of defeat. Well, let us tell you, they were outscored by their opponents 328 to 108. That is officially the worst record in NFL history.

There you have it, the worst NFL teams in history. TwinSpires has a slightly different list from ours, you might want to check it out: edge.twinspires.com/nfl/5-worst-teams-nfl-history/

Which of the lists you agree more? Ours or theirs? Let us know!