NFL Power Rankings: Looking at the League's Most Pathetic Teams

The Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams have managed little more than disappointment this season, and have sat in the bottom three of my power rankings for weeks now.

With six wins between them (and none for the Colts), whatever potential they had going into the season has all but evaporated and they've little reason to remain positive about their remaining four games.

The Browns went into the year with high hopes. They've spent the past decade as the butt of many a joke, but with a strong defense, an improved running game and a great deal of optimism that quarterback Colt McCoy was about to come into his own as a driving force of the team's offense, it seemed as though 2011 could be a very good year for Cleveland.

Unfortunately, all of that came crashing down in spectacular fashion. McCoy has managed only to regress as a passer, lacking the arm strength to make big plays and the accuracy to complete shorter throws. The running game, behind 2010 standout Peyton Hillis, has all but ground to a halt with Hillis and their other backs suffering a number of injuries.

And while their defense is statistically best in the league against the pass this year, they've yet to play a pass-heavy offense; the fact that they're giving up over 150 rushing yards per game proves that the defense just isn't very strong.

On offense, the Browns are averaging a measly 290.7 yards per game, a lower total than the Saints' Drew Brees averages in passing yards per game on his own. They're dead last in the otherwise-competitive AFC North and have one of the most difficult season-ending stretch of games in the league, taking on both the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens twice in their final five games.

It's too late now for Cleveland to turn things around. Yet again, they will find themselves in rebuilding mode, as they need to find a formula that produces wins.

It's also too late for the St. Louis Rams, who have won two games after entering the season as favorites to win the NFC West. Averaging fewer yards per game than the Browns, at 284, they're giving up over 360 yards per game on defense.

The Rams have scored 20 or more points just twice this year while being held to seven or fewer points in five games. Injuries were the primary reason for the Rams' troubles early in the season, and as the year went on, they never managed to bounce back from them.

With six straight losses to open the season, it's clearly not the year the Rams expected. Though they should be a stronger team in 2012, especially when their injured players return to the field, they have a lot of work to do to come together as a team.

It's still unclear what the Indianapolis Colts expected from their 2011 season. Knowing they'd be without starting quarterback Peyton Manning for the entire year, the Colts didn't adjust accordingly. They kept their offensive play-calling nearly the same first with Kerry Collins and then Curtis Painter under center, with disastrous results.

Though they have Dan Orlovsky as their starting quarterback at present, and he's managed to do a better job than the two who preceded them, the team's hole is just far too deep to dig out of at this point.

The Colts have yet to win a game this season. Though their issues at quarterback are partly to blame for this, the bulk of the responsibility falls to the defense. While the offense has simply failed to produce wins, the defense has completely collapsed.

They're allowing an astounding 387 yards per game and have only one game in which they allowed an opponent to score fewer than 23 points—17 points by the Jacksonville Jaguars, one of the league's least-productive offenses.

Good teams, bad teams, it doesn't matter—the Colts have been beaten by them all. Now they're going to wind up with the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2012, and if they don't use it wisely, will find themselves in similar trouble next year.

All the yards in the world, whether they're accumulated by Manning or Andrew Luck, won't fix the team's significant problems on defense.

That the ownership and coaching staff has done next to nothing to fix their issues over the course of this year doesn't bode well for the team in the future. The Colts are pathetic, plain and simple.

NFL Power Rankings, Week 14
 
1. Green Bay Packers
2. New Orleans Saints
3. Baltimore Ravens
4. San Francisco 49ers
5. Pittsburgh Steelers
6. New England Patriots
7. Houston Texans
8. Cincinnati Bengals
9. Dallas Cowboys
10. Atlanta Falcons
11. Denver Broncos
12. New York Jets
13. Detroit Lions
14. Oakland Raiders
15. Miami Dolphins
16. New York Giants
17. Seattle Seahawks
18. Chicago Bears
19. Tennessee Titans
20. Buffalo Bills
21. Arizona Cardinals
22. San Diego Chargers
23. Kansas City Chiefs
24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
25. Jacksonville Jaguars
26. Minnesota Vikings
27. Carolina Panthers
28. Philadelphia Eagles
29. Washington Redskins
30. Cleveland Browns
31. St. Louis Rams
32. Indianapolis Colts