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Misery loves company and it took 32 years for the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to get some.
Last season the Detroit Lions finished 0-16, joining the '76 Bucs as the only teams to ever finish an NFL season entirely defeated.
After watching the 2007 Miami Dolphins avoid infamy by beating the Baltimore Ravens in overtime in Week 15, I assumed the football gods simply would not allow a group of professionals to finish a season winless.
Low and behold Matt Millen and the sorry bunch he put together managed to pull it off a year later.
It will not take another thiry years for an NFL team to go winless. In fact, the '08 Lions and '76 Buccaneers may have a new friend joining them by season's end.
Through five weeks of football in 2009, four teams- the St. Louis Rams, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs and another Buccaneers squad- are winless. Each of them has what it takes to run the table, so maybe this is the year that not one, but two franchises get stamped with the ultimate black mark.
While that is entirely possible, my gut says only one of the four will start the next decade as the NFL's biggest loser. Take a look at each situation and find out who.
Tennessee Titans
L-Column: @Pittsburgh, 10-13/OT; vs. Houston, 31-34; @NY Jets, 17-24; @Jacksonville, 17-37; vs. Indianapolis, 9-31.
Record of teams played: 15-10.
Record of remaining opponents: 24-29.
Best chances at a win: Nov. 15 vs. Buffalo, Dec. 13 vs. St. Louis, Nov. 1 vs. Jacksonville.
Reasons for optimism: Running back's Chris Johnson and LenDale White make up one of the NFL's best rushing tandems and Jeff Fisher is one of the league's best coaches.
Defensive back Cortland Finnegan, who played like an all-pro in '08, is returning to the lineup this weekend which should help bolster the league's worst pass defense.
Reasons why 0-16 is a possibility: The Titans are 29th in points allowed (27.8), ahead of only also-winless Tampa Bay and St. Louis, and last year's winless team, Detroit.
Aside from not being able to stop anybody, Tennessee also has trouble scoring. It's putting up just 16.8 points per game, the same amount as the winless Chiefs.
Analysis: It's amazing that we're talking about the Titans finishing without a win just one season after winning the AFC South at 13-3, which is why I think Tennessee has the least chances of finishing '09 defeated.
They get the Rams, Jaguars and Bills (who are no better than any of these four defeated clubs) at home, so if they finish 0-16 then they sure earned it.
The fact is Fisher is too good of a coach and, when healthy, the defense has too many playmakers to stay as bad as it has been thus far. Also consider that the Titans were 0-5 in 2006 and rallied to finish 8-8. I don't see that happening here, but I still think they're good enough to win a few games.
Final Verdict: 4-12.
Kansas City Chiefs
L-Column: @Baltimore, 24-38; vs. Oakland, 10-13; @Philadelphia, 14-34; vs. NY Giants, 16-27; vs. Dallas, 20-26/OT.
Record of teams played: 15-9.
Record of remaining opponents: 28-25.
Best chances at a win: Oct. 18 @Washington, Nov. 15 @Oakland, Dec. 13 vs. Buffalo, Dec. 20 vs. Cleveland.
Reasons for optimism: A few decent playmakers on offense such as Matt Cassel, who has played better in recent weeks, Dwayne Bowe and, yes, running back Larry Johnson can still be considered a playmaker. That and they get another chance at Oakland, while also hosting cellar dwellers Buffalo and Cleveland at Arrowhead.
Reasons why 0-16 is a possibility:
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