Ranking the Worst Collapses of NFL Playoff Teams Since 2010
The inglorious fall of the 2023 Philadelphia Eagles ended with a dud in a Wild Card Round loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Philadelphia, the reigning NFC champion, began the campaign with a 10-1 record. But the Eagles faltered badly down the stretch, failing to win the division and enduring an immediate postseason exit.
The sting is real, and history will remember the frustrating year as a collapse. Philly certainly isn't alone, though.
Since the 2010 season, these eight NFL teams are among those that have boasted an 8-2 mark or better through 10 games but subsequently fell well short of expectations after making the playoffs.
This list is subjective, but it considers a team's 10-game and full-season records, playoff result(s) and its general context.
8. 2014 Arizona Cardinals
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Worth mentioning. Also, completely understandable.
Although an injury sidelined Carson Palmer early in the season, the Arizona Cardinals still ripped off an 8-1 record. Even better, the Cardinals went 6-0 with a Palmer-led offense.
But a knee injury changed the outlook.
Arizona beat the playoff-bound Detroit Lions in the first game without Palmer, whose season ended with a torn ACL. However, the Cards dropped four of the next six contests—averaging just 12.2 points—and yielded its NFC West lead in a pair of losses to the Seattle Seahawks.
Worse yet, a sprained MCL put backup quarterback Drew Stanton on the sideline in late December.
The short-handed Arizona squad had a disastrous showing in the Wild Card Round, gaining only 78 yards behind third-stringer Ryan Lindley in a loss to the Carolina Panthers.
7. 2015 New England Patriots
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Tom Brady conquered just about any building in which he played, but Mile High Stadium was his house of horrors.
In 2015, the defending-champion New England Patriots jumped out to a 10-0 start, and the expected questions soon followed. Could the Patriots post an undefeated regular-season record like the 2007 team? Would this roster finish the job and win a Super Bowl?
Denver had other plans.
Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler helped the Broncos answer the first question in a 30-24 upset of the unbeaten Pats. That result sparked a 2-4 slide for New England, which wasted a clear path to home-field advantage and ultimately traveled to Denver in the playoffs.
The bright side? It was the AFC Championship Game. Many franchises would love to endure a collapse that ends there. But the Brady-led Patriots were well beyond moral victories.
Denver's suffocating defense and close-to-retirement Peyton Manning eked out a 20-18 win to ruin New England's repeat hopes.
6. 2012 Houston Texans
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What a brutal introduction to optimism.
An expansion team in 2002, the Houston Texans made their postseason debut nine seasons later thanks to an AFC South title. So, when the Texans returned to the field in 2012, fans had a newfound level of hope.
For a few months, it was incredibly fun. The QB/RB/WR trio of Matt Schaub, Arian Foster and Andre Johnson lifted Houston to an 11-1 record, as J.J. Watt put together his breakout season with 20.5 sacks. Visions of a Super Bowl run started to form around this roster.
Reality told a different story.
Brady and the Patriots laid a 42-14 smackdown in front of a Monday night audience. Houston then squandered a chance to secure a first-round bye with a Week 17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, winning the AFC South but dipping to 12-4.
After edging the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round, the Texans once again fell badly to the Pats. New England led by 25 points before an ill-fated comeback effort ended a once-promising year in a 41-28 loss.
The next season, Houston plummeted to 2-14.
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5. 2021 Arizona Cardinals
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In the third year of the Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray partnership, the Arizona Cardinals seemed to be turning the proverbial corner.
Arizona went 5-10-1 in 2019 with the rookie coach and quarterback, and then it finished 8-8 in 2020. That steady progression peaked, as the Cardinals soared to a 7-0 start in 2021.
An all-too-familiar letdown followed.
Kingsbury's career is riddled with second-half collapses, and this was probably the most painful one. Though an injury sidelined Murray for three weeks, Arizona still held a 10-2 record after he returned. Home-field advantage in the playoffs was a real possibility.
Four losses in the final five games, however, sent the Cardinals to a wild-card berth at 11-6.
The team bottomed out at the worst moment, mustering 183 yards in a miserable 34-11 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Arizona fell behind 28-0 and simply never had a chance to advance.
4. 2013 Kansas City Chiefs
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A debacle, in two ways. Avert your eyes, Chiefs Kingdom.
First, the Kansas City Chiefs raced out to a 9-0 start behind a dominant, opportunistic defense. The unit had atoned for an underwhelming offense that leaned heavily on running back Jamaal Charles and allowed Alex Smith to fill the classic game-manager role.
Following an idle Week 10, however, the season flipped. Kansas City dropped five of its last seven, watching Peyton Manning and the record-breaking Denver Broncos sizzle their way to 13-3 and an AFC West title.
Then, the Chiefs found themselves on the wrong side of history.
Andrew Luck engineered a shocking 28-point comeback in the Wild Card Round, leading the Indianapolis Colts from a 38-10 deficit to a 45-44 victory. Luck hit T.Y. Hilton for an iconic, game-winning 64-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Fortunately for the Chiefs, the eventual switch to Patrick Mahomes led to (at least) two Super Bowl wins. They're OK now, but it was crushing then.
3. 2019 New England Patriots
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Tom Brady's final chapter in New England did not have a storybook ending. In fact, it wasn't anywhere close to one.
Sure, the Pats won an 11th consecutive AFC East title. However, the franchise's descent from being the NFL's powerhouse began with a second-half stumble in 2019 that preceded Brady's exit in free agency.
New England opened 8-0 before falling to Lamar Jackson in his first MVP season with the Baltimore Ravens. The loss kicked off a 4-4 slide for the Patriots, whose Week 17 letdown to the Miami Dolphins—a team New England had steamrolled 43-0 early on—cost them a first-round bye.
As a result, the Pats hosted the Tennessee Titans in what became a disastrous Wild Card Round sendoff for Brady.
Tennessee held him to 209 yards on 37 attempts. Logan Ryan—a former teammate—intercepted Brady's final pass and returned it for a touchdown, sealing a 20-13 upset victory for head coach Mike Vrabel—also a former teammate—and the Titans.
Brady then signed with the Buccaneers in free agency.
2. 2020 Pittsburgh Steelers
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The worst part of the Pittsburgh Steelers' crash is that, generally speaking, we could all see it coming.
Ben Roethlisberger, who effectively missed the entire 2019 season, had a decent start to the 2020 campaign. Once a knee injury diminished Big Ben's already-limited mobility around Week 9, the Steelers endured a painful slog toward a foreseeable ending.
Still, for a moment, they kept winning.
Pittsburgh held an 11-0 record but folded in four of the last five regular-season games. The unbeaten run allowed the Steelers to take the AFC North anyway, but a division foe annihilated them in the playoffs.
And it only took 15 minutes.
The first offensive snap sailed past Roethlisberger, and the Cleveland Browns recovered the loose ball for a touchdown. Cleveland raced out to a stunning 28-0 lead during the opening frame and ultimately rolled to a 48-37 victory in Pittsburgh's building.
1. 2023 Philadelphia Eagles
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Even in the shadow of recency bias, the 2023 Eagles hold the inglorious perch as the worst collapse in recent memory.
The reigning NFC champion, Philadelphia put together a pair of five-game winning streaks to reach 10-1. Sure, there was a bizarre loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets, but the Eagles otherwise were cruising toward a division title and possible first-round bye.
Until they weren't.
First, the San Francisco 49ers won a 42-19 laugher. Then, the rival Dallas Cowboys battered Philly 33-13. As if that's not enough, the Seattle Seahawks won with backup quarterback Drew Lock, the Arizona Cardinals pulled off a 15-point comeback and a terrible New York Giants team smashed the Eagles in the regular-season finale.
Dallas gave Philly multiple chances to snatch the NFC East anyway, but the Eagles fell to a wild-card slot at 11-6.
The dagger arrived in the Wild Card Round, when Baker Mayfield—who also was under center for Cleveland's shellacking of Pittsburgh—and Tampa breezed to a 32-9 win.
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