Teams That Have Gone First to Worst in a Hurry
The natural circle of life in sports dictates an ebb and flow to those teams in contention, those jammed in the middle and those at the bottom.
Some drops just happen faster than others.
Each year, fans find themselves asking, "What happened to that team?" (Not a Clipse song, but close.) Said team used to dominate the division or conference, maybe even compete for titles. But seemingly out of nowhere the team dropped off, and when actually taking the time to look them up, fans find them at or near the bottom of the standings.
This happens for many reasons. Most often it's personnel changes. Sometimes it's injuries. The blame seems secondary in comparison to the sheer height of the fall—without a parachute.
These teams have fallen off in a big way, whether it's happened over a few short years or seemingly with the snap of a finger. This isn't to mean these teams can't rebound, but the fall has been notable.
Baltimore Ravens
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Remember when Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl and the gunslinger took home the MVP?
Good times.
It's no secret Super Bowl winners oftentimes have problems keeping things on track. Players get big cash, maybe elsewhere, and the core splits up. Baltimore mustered a .500 season in 2013, sauntered to a 10-win season despite third in the AFC North in 2014 and landed third again last year at 5-11.
Here's a list of players who suffered notable injuries in 2015:
- Joe Flacco
- Steve Smith
- Chris Canty
- Matt Elam
- Justin Forsett
- Eugene Monroe
- Breshad Perriman
- Dennis Pitta
- Terrell Suggs
Baltimore will get some of these guys back and has made additions, but the core isn't getting any younger. Gone are the days Ray Lewis and Ed Reed terrorized defenses.
Maybe the Ravens aren't the "worst" in the AFC North, but it's the division housing the Cleveland Browns.
Dallas Cowboys
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The Dallas Cowboys remain in the headlines as of late because Tony Romo has suffered an injury.
The above could have been written at almost any point in each of the past three years and most wouldn't know the difference.
Romo hasn't played in a full 16-game season since 2012. Last year he missed 12 games. This season doesn't seem any kinder to the star quarterback or his team because he broke bones in his back during a preseason contest.
Overall, the Cowboys appeared to break free of mediocrity in 2014, gunning to a 12-4 record and NFC East crown. It was impressive, mostly because it erased from memory the three consecutive 8-8 campaigns before it.
Last year, though, Dallas couldn't overcome Romo's latest issue, blundering to a 4-12 record. It was a complete reversal, and now the team has pinned its hopes on rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott.
The stay at the bottom might be a long one.
New York Yankees
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Like Bleacher Report's Laura Depta wrote, it's cool to cheer for the New York Yankees now.
Such a drastic change in public perception, though, usually has to come about via a major rise or fall (the inverse would be the Kevin Durant-Golden State Warriors situation).
It might not feel like it, but the last time the Yankees won the American League East was in 2012. The team did make the playoffs in 2015 but—as if a precursor to the change—dropped an AL Wild Card Game against the Houston Astros.
Gone are the days the Yankees rattle off 90-win seasons without batting an eye. The team hasn't surpassed 87 wins since 2012. Gone are mainstays such as Alex Rodriguez. Gone is the endless buying of talent; here is the selling of names such as Aroldis Chapman.
It's hard to imagine that the Yankees stay down for long, but as of this writing, the team sits fourth in the AL East just four games above .500.
Chicago Bulls
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In the blink of an eye, the Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah-led core that had the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs consistently evaporated.
Both guys left the team this offseason, as did Pau Gasol. Something's wrong on the interior of a franchise when it can chase off a grizzled, ring-possessing veteran like Gasol.
The Bulls were otherwise a mainstay in the Eastern Conference playoffs, having made an appearance seven years in a row before last season's miserable outing. Chicago had even strung together two consecutive Central Division crowns starting in 2010.
Last year, though, Chicago bumbled to a 42-40 record and looked like a team ready to rebuild after losing the three players mentioned. Then the front office unexpectedly changed course, adding Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade alongside Jimmy Butler.
Whether it's enough to make a push is hard to say. But the Bulls hadn't finished worse than second in the division five years and running before last season. The new-look roster better mesh quickly to start another run.
Boston Bruins
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One of the NHL's most successful franchises has fallen off the map a bit.
The Boston Bruins were a mainstay in the postseason, winning it all in 2010-11 and reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2012-13. Boston qualified for the postseason seven years in a row. Not an impressive stretch compared to qualifying every year from 1967-1996, but still impressive.
Now the Bruins have missed the playoffs in two consecutive years.
The team finished fifth in the Atlantic Division in 2014-15 and fourth this past season as the front office continued to jettison the core that ran to the Cup in 2013.
Boston hasn't moved on from coach Claude Julien, but the franchise did give general manager Peter Chiarelli the boot after the first missed playoff appearance.
While the Bruins aren't doomed by any means, a miserable spot in the standings over the past two seasons is quite unusual for such a dominant franchise.
Virginia Tech Hokies
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The Frank Beamer days for Virginia Tech football are long gone.
Virginia Tech was one of the most dominant forces in collegiate football in the mid-2000s thanks to a brutal defense and basic offense. From 2004-10, the Hokies had won the ACC four times and posted eight consecutive seasons with 10 or more wins.
Then the wheels fell off. Since 2012, Virginia Tech has finished tied for sixth, fourth, fifth and fifth in the ACC, drumming up a 7-6 record in each of the past two seasons.
Hey, the Hokies did win a bowl game last year. But is escaping the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in 55-52 fashion in the Independence Bowl really where the program wants to be?
Virginia Tech is a long, long drop from the powerhouse it used to be. The turnaround now rests in new coach Justin Fuente's hands.
Philadelphia Phillies
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The recent dreadful escapades by the Philadelphia Phillies haven't been as bad as the epic collapse of 1964 by any means, but it's still been pretty rough to watch.
Philadelphia last won the National League East in 2011, a run which in fact included five consecutive divisional titles.
Since? Third, fourth, fifth and fifth. It looks like more of the same in 2016 with the team sitting on a 60-71 mark and fourth in the NFL East.
Gone are the days Roy Halladay was pulling in a Cy Young Award. Gone are incredible outputs from guys like Cole Hamels, Brad Lidge and Chase Utley, to name a few.
Philadelphia has worked hard to sell off talent like Hamels and Utley as of late in the hopes of a rebuild. So far, the returns simply haven't shown up on the field, and the longer this drags on, the Phillies won't look like a sudden drop-off—more like an extensive rebuild.
Oakland Athletics
8 of 10
The inspiration behind a movie or not, the Oakland Athletics haven't pulled off any innovative magic to stop the train from derailing as of late.
Oakland looked like a long-term contender starting in 2012, winning the AL West two years in a row despite taking early playoff losses to the Detroit Tigers in each. A second-place finish in the division in 2014 didn't seem to signal the end, but it was—the team dropped the AL Wild Card Game to the Kansas City Royals.
Then the team started moving names like Josh Donaldson.
The result, of course, was a drop in the blink of an eye. Oakland faceplanted its way to fifth in the AL West in 2015 and currently sits fourth at a putrid 57-74 mark.
Sporting one of the worst win totals in baseball after a few years of sheer brilliance, the brass in Oakland can only hope lightning strikes twice.
And soon.
Los Angeles Lakers
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This doesn't need much in the way of explanation, does it?
The Los Angeles Lakers had it all: Kobe Bryant, an incredible locale free agents flocked to, the works.
Even after winning a title in 2009-10, the Lakers held it together with unlikely names such as Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. They stole first place in the Pacific Division through the 2011-12 campaign, making it five in a row.
The team hasn't placed better than third since.
Actually, it's three in a row in fifth place. Bryant has since retired, high pick Julius Randle had a rookie season ruined by an injury and D'Angelo Russell's rookie season got overshadowed by an odd off-court incident with Nick Young. Somewhere in there, the team nailed down a big-name player in Dwight Howard, only to run him out of town after one season.
It's not just the team's competitiveness on the court that has taken a gigantic hit. Free agents don't much care for Los Angeles now. The Lakers can clamor about how they deserve an interview with the biggest names, but guys like Kevin Durant hardly glance their way anymore.
Call it a new NBA. One could praise the Lakers for undertaking a more traditional rebuild despite a town littered with instant gratification, but be honest—the Lakers were forced into it.
San Francisco 49ers
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For just a moment, it looked like one of the NFL's past juggernauts had awakened from a deep slumber.
Wrong.
After a miserable outing in the 2000s, the San Francisco 49ers reached the AFC Championship Game in 2011, led by Coach of the Year Jim Harbaugh. He then led them to a three-point loss in the Super Bowl the year after, followed by another conference title appearance in 2013.
It all fell apart so fast. Harbaugh ran off to coach Michigan while the team went 8-8 and 5-11. The 49ers bled an incredible amount of talent in that time, losing more talent than most teams could hope to accumulate over a number of years. Among those:
- Donte Whitner
- Tarell Brown
- Jonathan Goodwin
- Frank Gore
- Michael Crabtree
- Mike Iupati
- Chris Culliver
- Patrick Willis
- Stevie Johnson
- Chris Borland
- Justin Smith
- Aldon Smith
- Vernon Davis
And those are just the notables.
Seemingly overnight, the 49ers went from a Super Bowl contender to an extensive rebuild led by ex-Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert under center and the Chip Kelly experiment at head coach after he wore out his roster-crumbling ways with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Like some on this list, the 49ers now flirt with a lengthy rebuild instead of simply being known as a team that went from first to worst in a hurry.
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