• ShareCopied to clipboard

Built to Win, Doomed to Fail: The NFL’s Biggest Letdowns

January 7, 2026

Every NFL season has its contenders and its surprises, but it also has teams that completely unravel. Whether it’s injuries, poor coaching decisions, locker-room tension, or simple regression, several teams entered the year with expectations only to watch their seasons collapse in real time.

Indianapolis Colts

The Colts’ season is a textbook example of how instability can derail a team. Between inconsistent QB play, questionable late-game decisions, and injuries at key positions, Indianapolis never found a rhythm. What started as a playoff-hopeful campaign quickly turned into a weekly struggle to close games. Defensive breakdowns and a lack of offensive identity ultimately cost them when it mattered most.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers’ season was defined by inconsistency and missed opportunities. While flashes of string play kept them in playoff conversation, Tampa Bay never managed to put together a complete, disciplined stretch of football. Close games became a recurring problem, with late turnovers and stalled drives undoing otherwise solid performances, resulting in a dire situation for the Bucs to make the playoffs.

Baltimore Ravens

The Ravens’ season is one of the most frustrating to analyze because the talent and dominance were clearly there. Baltimore looked like one of the league’s most complete teams for large stretches until Lamar Jackson got injured leaving Tyler Huntley to take over. However, critical mistakes at the worst possible moments derailed what could have been a championship caliber run.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles’ collapse was one of the most surprising. A team that looked dominant early suddenly lost its edge. Defensive struggles, especially  in the secondary, exposed them late in games, while the offense became predictable. As losses piled up, confidence faded, and a once-feared roster looked ordinary by season’s end.

The Common Thread

What connects all these teams isn’t just losing, it’s how they lost. Missed opportunities, failure to adjust, and an inability to finish games defined their seasons. In a league built on parity, even small cracks can become season-ending fractures.

As the offseason begins, these teams face big questions. Fixing what went wrong won’t just require roster changes, but deeper answers about leadership, preparation, and long-term direction.

Chris, Author

A once–wannabe pro football player whose career was cut short by injuries, Chris stayed in the game by trading pads for perspective. A diehard Lions fan and aspiring journalist, he brings grit, edge, and honesty to every breakdown. When he’s not talking ball, he’s baking or rapping for fun because the grind doesn’t stop, it just changes.