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Don Banks - Sports Illustrated
It's only mid-October, but it looks like the parity-loving NFL is a lock this year to get those five or six new playoff teams it loves to boast about every season. Because almost half of last year's field is already underwater or sinking fast. Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Minnesota, and Baltimore take a bow.
Last season, the Texans went 12-4 and won their second consecutive AFC South title. This year they're a 2-4 train wreck, the biggest underachiever in the NFL at the moment.
Last season, the Falcons lost just three games all season, and were 7-1 at home in their dome. This year, Atlanta (1-4) has already surpassed its 2012 defeat total, and is dealing with back-to-back losses at the Georgia Dome as it takes its bye week.
Last season, Washington went 10-6 and was the surprise NFC East winner. This year, Mike Shanahan's team was 1-3 entering Sunday night's game at Dallas, dealing with the controversy regarding its nickname, and happy to have the winless Giants (0-6) in its division.
Last season, the Vikings came out of nowhere to claim an NFC wild-card berth at 10-6. This year, Minnesota has returned to nowhere, losing four of its first five games, and every one of them played in the United States. The Vikings have three times as many potential starting quarterbacks as they do victories.
And last season, Baltimore won 10 games in the regular season, then got hot in the playoffs and rolled to the franchise's second Super Bowl victory. This year, the Ravens have coughed and wheezed their way to a middling 3-3 mark, losing 19-17 at home to Green Bay on Sunday, to drop into second place behind 4-2 Cincinnati in the AFC North.
Last season, those five playoff qualifiers went a gaudy 55-25 (.688). This year, all five presumed contenders are .500 or worse, with a combined record of 8-18 (.308), and the pressure is starting to build to dangerous levels in some of those locales where bad football abounds.
Houston is currently ground zero when it comes to the NFL's underachievement front. The Texans, losers of four in a row, were destroyed 38-13 at home by the visiting Rams (3-3), and things seem to be close to unraveling for Gary Kubiak's team. St. Louis scored touchdowns on offense, defense and on special teams, and had its way with a Texans team that keeps talking about being resilient and mentally tough, but then doesn't back up those words with any mettle.
I'm not predicting this is the beginning of the end of Kubiak's tenure in Houston, but this was the kind of solar plexus-blow loss that gets coaches fired. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon, if Houston doesn't pull out the tailspin that has turned it into a league-wide punch line. Kubiak appears to be all but out of answers and doesn't know how to stop the bleeding. And this time, it wasn't just all Matt Schaub's fault.
Houston's beleaguered quarterback didn't throw an interception returned for a touchdown for the first time in five games, but he left the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter.
His absence didn't improve the Texans' fortunes. If fact, things actually got worse, with Schaub's backup, T.J. Yates, almost immediately tossing a 98-yard pick-six to Rams linebacker Alec Olgetree. Yates later threw a second interception, and probably had some Texans fans burning his jersey in the parking lot no more than an hour after the game.
The worse news for Houston? St. Louis was supposed to be the soft touch needed to get back to .500 before the schedule turns challenging again. Next week, the Texans travel to 6-0 Kansas City, and then Houston plays at home against the Colts (4-1 entering Monday night's game at San Diego) in Week 9, after taking a Week 8 bye. Could things get worse, much worse, before they get better? I'd almost bet on it.
But that's life in the NFL, especially this season through the opening six weeks. Nothing in this league is rendered quite as meaningless as last year's results. And quickly. As the fans of Houston, Washington, Minnesota, Atlanta and Baltimore know all too well.
Read More: <a class="postlink" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20131013/houston-texans-nfl-week-6-snaps/#ixzz2hjZK1sv0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/ne ... z2hjZK1sv0</a>
It's only mid-October, but it looks like the parity-loving NFL is a lock this year to get those five or six new playoff teams it loves to boast about every season. Because almost half of last year's field is already underwater or sinking fast. Houston, Atlanta, Washington, Minnesota, and Baltimore take a bow.
Last season, the Texans went 12-4 and won their second consecutive AFC South title. This year they're a 2-4 train wreck, the biggest underachiever in the NFL at the moment.
Last season, the Falcons lost just three games all season, and were 7-1 at home in their dome. This year, Atlanta (1-4) has already surpassed its 2012 defeat total, and is dealing with back-to-back losses at the Georgia Dome as it takes its bye week.
Last season, Washington went 10-6 and was the surprise NFC East winner. This year, Mike Shanahan's team was 1-3 entering Sunday night's game at Dallas, dealing with the controversy regarding its nickname, and happy to have the winless Giants (0-6) in its division.
Last season, the Vikings came out of nowhere to claim an NFC wild-card berth at 10-6. This year, Minnesota has returned to nowhere, losing four of its first five games, and every one of them played in the United States. The Vikings have three times as many potential starting quarterbacks as they do victories.
And last season, Baltimore won 10 games in the regular season, then got hot in the playoffs and rolled to the franchise's second Super Bowl victory. This year, the Ravens have coughed and wheezed their way to a middling 3-3 mark, losing 19-17 at home to Green Bay on Sunday, to drop into second place behind 4-2 Cincinnati in the AFC North.
Last season, those five playoff qualifiers went a gaudy 55-25 (.688). This year, all five presumed contenders are .500 or worse, with a combined record of 8-18 (.308), and the pressure is starting to build to dangerous levels in some of those locales where bad football abounds.
Houston is currently ground zero when it comes to the NFL's underachievement front. The Texans, losers of four in a row, were destroyed 38-13 at home by the visiting Rams (3-3), and things seem to be close to unraveling for Gary Kubiak's team. St. Louis scored touchdowns on offense, defense and on special teams, and had its way with a Texans team that keeps talking about being resilient and mentally tough, but then doesn't back up those words with any mettle.
I'm not predicting this is the beginning of the end of Kubiak's tenure in Houston, but this was the kind of solar plexus-blow loss that gets coaches fired. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon, if Houston doesn't pull out the tailspin that has turned it into a league-wide punch line. Kubiak appears to be all but out of answers and doesn't know how to stop the bleeding. And this time, it wasn't just all Matt Schaub's fault.
Houston's beleaguered quarterback didn't throw an interception returned for a touchdown for the first time in five games, but he left the game with an ankle injury in the third quarter.
His absence didn't improve the Texans' fortunes. If fact, things actually got worse, with Schaub's backup, T.J. Yates, almost immediately tossing a 98-yard pick-six to Rams linebacker Alec Olgetree. Yates later threw a second interception, and probably had some Texans fans burning his jersey in the parking lot no more than an hour after the game.
The worse news for Houston? St. Louis was supposed to be the soft touch needed to get back to .500 before the schedule turns challenging again. Next week, the Texans travel to 6-0 Kansas City, and then Houston plays at home against the Colts (4-1 entering Monday night's game at San Diego) in Week 9, after taking a Week 8 bye. Could things get worse, much worse, before they get better? I'd almost bet on it.
But that's life in the NFL, especially this season through the opening six weeks. Nothing in this league is rendered quite as meaningless as last year's results. And quickly. As the fans of Houston, Washington, Minnesota, Atlanta and Baltimore know all too well.
Read More: <a class="postlink" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20131013/houston-texans-nfl-week-6-snaps/#ixzz2hjZK1sv0" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/ne ... z2hjZK1sv0</a>