NFL Vacancies: 5 Teams That Will Struggle to Fill Seats in 2011

The NFL Lockout has now been going on for more than 100 days and the players and owners are both starting to feel the pain.

Money is the engine that drives the NFL and fans are the fuel to that engine.

Most people would agree that there will be games in 2011, but no one knows when that will be.

NFL executives have to hope that the fans will come back in full force, but that is not going to be the case for every team in the league.

Here are five teams that will have a hard time filling all of their seats during the 2011 season.

5. Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders have some of the best fans in all of sports.

Unfortunately they root for one of the worst teams in the NFL.  Since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Oakland has not made the playoffs or even posted a winning record. 

Despite this eight season drought, Raider Nation still cheers on their team in the Oakland Coliseum.

Unfortunately, the Raiders have had poor drafts and free agent signings in recent years and have been unable to get over the hump. 

The problem for the Raiders is that their diehard fan base only fills a portion of the stadium.

With that said, when Oakland is a force in the NFL, they have one of the loudest stadiums in the entire country.

4. Arizona Cardinals

Not that long ago, the Arizona Cardinals flirted with the Lombardi Trophy.

Now, they’d just be happy to flirt with the playoffs.

The Cardinals were a completely different team last season without Kurt Warner at the helm and their record reflected that. 

Finishing last in the worst division in the NFL doesn’t usually bring the fans to the stadium.

In this year’s draft, many fans expected the Cardinals to draft a quarterback that they could build their future around but they did not. 

Although rookie Patrick Peterson is a very exciting player, most fans don’t pay big money to watch a shutdown cornerback.

If the lockout ends soon and Arizona can sign a veteran quarterback, they have a chance to improve on last year.

Otherwise, it looks like they’ll be back at the bottom of the NFC West.

3. Jacksonville Jaguars

In 2010, the Jacksonville Jaguars would have been at the top of this list.

The Jaguars also finished last in their division in 2010 but the AFC South is actually one of the NFL’s toughest. 

To many fans, Jacksonville is a team without an identity—stuck between rebuilding and hanging on for dear life.

Despite having some Pro-Bowl talent on their roster, the Jaguars don’t have the type of fan base that can really support an NFL team. 

With their first round pick in the 2010 draft, the Jags took Blaine Gabbert. They hope he can be the quarterback to lead them back to the playoffs and keep them there.

As good as Gabbert could be, he isn’t going to put fans in the seats in 2011; consistently winning is the only thing that can do that.

2. Washington Redskins

Simply put, the Washington Redskins are an absolute mess.

The lockout is making things worse, as it hinders their ability to trade or sign players as well as practice together. 

Mike Shanahan’s first season in Washington was hardly successful and NFL fans expect more of the same in 2011.

Because the Redskins have a proud football history, they still have plenty of lifelong fans as is true with any team.

But it is very hard to support a team that has had two winning seasons in the past decade and seems to be getting worse every year. 

With a Hall of Fame head coach it is always possible that the Redskins could pull it together this season, but I wouldn’t count on it.

1. Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills were one of the worst teams in the NFL last season and that doesn’t look to change in 2011.

One of the privileges of finishing the season with one of the worst records in league is selecting near the top of the draft. 

Despite the fact that the Bills got a lot of talent through the draft, they failed to address some of their primary needs.  One of their most pressing needs is at quarterback, where Buffalo lacks someone with star potential.

In today’s NFL, teams need a great defense and an elite quarterback to be consistently successful.

The Bills have neither. 

Although this may slowly be changing in Buffalo, they do not have players on their roster that fans really want to see.

With that said, I expect that to change in 2012 when they draft Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the first overall pick.