by Ryan Mercier
With the regular season coming to a close, this final Quick-Hitters piece will use a different format: One final word on every team which failed to make the postseason, in descending record order.
Miami Dolphins – Farewell, 2020 Dolphins. The football world will miss you the most. Brian Flores led a squad which soared to overachieving heights and the future is bright in his hands.
Arizona Cardinals – A once promising season with a possible superstar QB in Kyler Murray sputtered out and, ultimately, feels disappointing.
Las Vegas Raiders – Jon Gruden, Derek Carr. How far can that combo go, really?
Los Angeles Chargers – The organization cannot assume Justin Herbert will lead them on an effortless path to success, it’ll still take hard work.
Minnesota Vikings – If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. This is “broke.” Yet, it doesn’t feel like they’re going to fix it.
New England Patriots – It should not be a surprise this was a mediocre season, what an awful roster. Give Belichick a medal for getting this team to seven wins.
Dallas Cowboys – Mike McCarthy, Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott, Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith, and more all have a lot to prove next season. That could fuel a 12-4 bounce back in 2021. Or, a 4-12 disaster.
New York Giants – With how relevant they were thanks to a dreadful division it was easy to lose sight of something important: This was a tremendous job by Joe Judge in year one and an overachieving 6-10 record. The question is, do they have the right QB?
San Francisco 49ers – It is impossible to know how to judge Kyle Shanahan as head coach. One Super Bowl trip and three other years ravaged with injuries at a record of 16-32.
Carolina Panthers – Matt Rhule and this Panthers team felt pretty hyped up for a 5-11 season. Still, Carolina likely has the right coach. Now, this team needs a quarterback.
Denver Broncos – It never made sense for the Broncos to be thought of as a playoff contender before the season. Next year could be promising, but something is off here. There’s a lot of good parts but none of it feels like it’ll add up.
Detroit Lions – A season of change, yet again. There is no identity here and Matthew Stafford could be out the door.
Cincinnati Bengals – If head coach Zac Taylor ran into your house screaming, “Hey! I’m Zac Taylor!” Would you even remember him then?
Philadelphia Eagles – This one is too easy. It appears head coach Doug Pederson is staying and Jalen Hurts will be the guy. Carson Wentz? We’ll see. QB strife has distracted everyone from the rest of the Eagles’ issues, too. What a mess.
Atlanta Falcons – Not a good team, no promising young talent, and it was a mediocre season for 35-year old QB Matt Ryan. Other than that, everything is fine.
Houston Texans – This is a sneaky dumpster fire. After a bad 2020 season, the Texans have no first round pick and their franchise is run by a former team pastor for some reason.
New York Jets – They have a chance this offseason to turn this downtrodden franchise around. Pick the right coach, decide on keeping Darnold or drafting a new QB, and fly. The only problem? It’s the Jets.
Jacksonville Jaguars – Trevor Lawrence has been talked about for years as the best QB prospect since Andrew Luck and on the same level of Peyton Manning and John Elway. Time to show Duval County what you can do, kid.
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