The Most Predictably Awful Units in the NFL

To many people the NFL stands for "Not For Long," because in the National Football League a great deal changes from season to season due to player movement, injuries, or just plain old bad luck.

That can make offering predictions in the NFL a tricky business, as evidenced by the fact that just about no one saw the New Orleans Saints opening the season with four consecutive losses.

With that said, though, just as we had a pretty good idea that the San Francisco 49ers defense would be good (they are) we also had clues that some units would struggle this season.

Here's a look at five faceplanters that fulfilled those fears.

Arizona Cardinals Offensive Line

After allowing the second most sacks in the National Football League in 2011, the offensive line was a major area of need for the Arizona Cardinals in 2012, and the team was hopeful that with additions such as Ole Miss offensive tackle Bobby Massie the unit would improve this year.

Or not.

Starting tackle Levi Brown was lost to injury, Massie has been an absolute turnstile with 9.5 sacks allowed in six games, and the Cardinals are on pace to allow a staggering 75 sacks this year.

Jacksonville Jaguars Offense

Given that they ranked dead last in the National Football League in total offense by a significant margin last year, expectations were pretty low for the Jacksonville Jaguars offense this season, especially after star running back Maurice Jones-Drew missed most of training camp and the preseason due to a contract impasse.

Sure enough, Jacksonville's offense has struggled mightily in 2012.

Any progress that second-year quarterback Blaine Gabbert showed in the preseason has evaporated, due in large part to what may be the NFL's most lackluster receiving corps, and the Jaguars are sputtering along to the tune of under 250 total yards per game.

New England Patriots Pass Defense

The New England Patriots may have made it all the way to Super Bowl XLVI a year ago, but it was more in spite of their pass defense than because of it, as no team in the AFC allowed more yardage through the air last season than New England.

Despite the fact that the Patriots emphasized improving the defense in the 2012 draft, their woes against the pass have continued.

New England currently ranks 28th in the league and has been burned repeatedly over the top, including on Russell Wilson's game-winning bomb to Sidney Rice last week in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Philadelphia Eagles Defense

This one's kind of silly, but apparently Juan Castillo's defense is the root of all that's wrong in Philadelphia, since the Eagles fired the second-year coordinator earlier this week.

Never mind that the Eagles defense ranks a respectable 12th in the NFL right now, or that they were a top 10 unit last year after struggling early.

Granted, the pass rush has been terrible, but what do you expect when you hire an offensive line coach to be your defensive coordinator?

He's used to devising plans to protect quarterbacks, not crush them.

Tennessee Titans Pass Rush

Getting after the quarterback was a problem for the Tennessee Titans last year, as their 28 sacks on the season were more than only one NFL team.

After inking free agent Kamerion Wimbley to a big free agent contract, the Titans were hopeful that 2012 would bring with it marked improvement in that area.

However, Wimbley has been a huge bust in Nashville to this point, and although third-year pro Derrick Morgan has played better this year, the Titans are once again mired near the bottom of the NFL in sacks.