6 NFL Players and Teams on Shakiest Ground Down the Stretch Run

Week 15 approaches, and this is the time of year teams and players hope to be at their best and getting better. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want.

Some players and teams are struggling to find their footing after finding themselves on shaky ground down the stretch run. They will need to refocus their energy and sharpen their minds if there is any hope of finding success in the postseason.

There is still time to turn things around, but right now these players and teams are struggling to maintain cohesion and are facing troubling circumstances as the season winds down.

New York Giants Defense

Eli Manning has become one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the NFL when the game is on the line. Watching him operate in the fourth quarter of the game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football was breathtaking (not in the Seinfeld kind of way, either).

The thing that bothers me about this is that Manning has had to come back so often. The Giants defense hasn't held up their end of the bargain, and the team is barely above .500 with three weeks to go. 

Team captain Justin Tuck voiced his displeasure about the team last week before the game at Dallas when he said this:

"

Physically, I think we prepare better than anybody in the country. Mentally, sometimes we have those lapses. Why? I don’t know. I’m as guilty as the next guy. It’s just something we’ve got to continue to work on.

"

That isn't good language coming from your leader. I mean, it's great that he acknowledges the problem and takes ownership of his responsibility, but I don't hear him talking about how to fix the issues.

The Giants defense is reprehensible on every level. After starting the season fairly well, they haven't been right ever since their Week 10 loss at San Francisco. They rank in the bottom 10 in scoring, rushing defense, passing defense and total defense. 

I think Eli Manning and the potent passing attack he leads will get the Giants into the playoffs, but that defense needs to step up quick and fix their issues or it will be a short stay in the playoffs.

Detroit Lions: Calvin Johnson

Calvin Johnson is cooling down to near freezing just as things are really heating up for the Detroit Lions' playoff hopes. 

After starting out the season on an epic tear, scoring 11 touchdowns in his first eight games, Johnson has since been disturbingly quiet for the Lions offense. In the last five games, he has scored only one touchdown.

The Lions don't have a defense to speak of, but that's nothing new. They have won this season on the merits of an explosive passing attack. 

I don't see things changing for their defense, and as the playoffs approach the competition gets stiffer. The Lions need their All-Pro wide receiver to show up again or they won't be able to score enough points to win against the elite teams in the NFC.

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders have run the wrong way heading toward the playoffs, and they have gotten completely dismantled twice in a row.

Granted, it's hard to win when you've been hit with the injury bug the way Oakland has this season. In the Raiders disaster in Green Bay, they were missing five contributing members of offense due to injury. That is tough to overcome.

I didn't think that the Raiders defense would be this bad when the season began. Then, around Week 5, I thought maybe they would start to turn things around. Now, everyone knows that they are just plain bad.

Carson Palmer has been awful since joining the Raiders in late October. He is a 56 percent passer who has thrown nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. That won't get the job done.

There is still a chance to turn things around. If Denver loses to New England this week and the Raiders win at home against Detroit, all of a sudden things are looking different heading into Week 16.

The Raiders will have to overcome much to accomplish this goal. Right now, things aren't looking good in Oakland.

Tennessee Titans: Chris Johnson

Just when you thought that maybe Chris Johnson would continue to justify his gaudy contract by building on the success of the last two weeks, he lays an egg at home against the New Orleans Saints. It's not like the Saints were dominating in that area this season, either.

The Tennessee Titans desperately need their star all-in mentally and physically down the stretch run, but he hasn't shown any signs that he can be counted on to do it. 

His 11 carry, 23-yard performance brought back to life the reality for the Titans that they caved in and overpaid for Johnson's services out of fear he'd sit the season out. Well, he got paid and he has sat the season out, so the Titans lost on both counts.

As always, players can vindicate any past wrongs by simply performing when it matters most. If Johnson can finish the season on a high note, the Titans may still make the playoffs and Johnson be vindicated. 

San Francisco 49ers Offensive Line

The San Francisco 49ers have given up 18 sacks in the last three games, two of which were losses. Teams are targeting the soft middle, where center Jonathan Goodwin and guard Mike Lupati are struggling to move their feet. 

The Arizona Cardinals didn't try to hide the fact that they were bringing pressure up the middle, and the 49ers still had issues. 

Anyone that tries to pin the last couple of losses on Alex Smith needs to take another look at the tape. More often than not, Smith has had to get away from pressure before he can even get into his reads, and the 49ers are lucky he's held onto the ball on many of the hits he has endured.

If Mike Solari, Greg Roman and Jim Harbaugh don't get this figured out in the next couple of weeks, the 49ers will be destroyed in the playoffs.

Chicago Bears: Marion Barber

Before Marion Barber's two disastrous mistakes in the Chicago Bears' overtime loss to the Denver Broncos, I was thinking that maybe he was just the thing the team needed to get into the playoffs. 

Barber had been having a phenomenal game against a talented, young and fast Broncos defense. 

With the way the Bears can play defense in December and January, Barber's power running style is perfect for running down the clock and the will of their opponent. 

But Barber did make those two mistakes. Grievous mistakes, they were. Running out of bounds and giving Tim Tebow an extra 30 seconds with which to tie the game was unforgivable, but then to fumble the ball in overtime afterwards was grounds for immediate release (I kid). 

The Bears are stuck with Barber, and there is still a chance, albeit a slim one, that the team and Barber can resurrect this seemingly dead season.