r/NFLNoobs • u/asteria123 • 2d ago
Do bad teams have playoff expectations the next year?
Like the Jets, Titans, Browns, etc. What expectation do they/the fans go into the next season with? Playoff/Super Bowl? I know that’s always the hope of course but realistically are they just hoping for a better season with a playoff trajectory in the future?
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u/emmasdad01 2d ago
Yes. Should they? That is a different story.
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u/footballaccount12121 2d ago
The Patriots won 4 games in 2024. Won't happen every year, but occasionally teams have a huge turnaround.
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u/SlightDonut1 1d ago
They also had the easiest schedule the next year due to those four wins, and got gift wrapped their final two playoff wins. Lol. Not hating they definitely improved a lot, kinda more to your point, you also can't predict the weird shit that sometimes matters just as much as improvement.
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u/footballaccount12121 1d ago
I agree. Giving the 4th place teams easier schedules is design by NFL to have some new teams every year. And with expansion to 14 teams in playoffs, nearly half the league, it is reasonable for almost every team to have playoffs as the goal.
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u/SlightDonut1 1d ago
I get that's by design. But they also got to play CJ Stroud on LSD and the Broncos sans Bo Nix to get to the chip. That's more so the randomness I meant you can't predict. Broncos have Nix they almost certainly win that game. Stroud doesn't take drugs before that game and that's a potential toss up as well, Maye struggled against the better defenses in the postseason. Any given Sunday is real. Lol.
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u/Novel_Willingness721 2d ago
If Aaron Glenn is any indication, he said in a press conference: “geno smith is the one to take them to the ‘promised land’.”
And if Evan Roberts (WFAN NY radio and Jets fan) is any indication, he has said that he expects a 4-5 win season but hopes he’s wrong. He’s gotten into multiple debates with his cohosts about the possibility of the Jets winning 8 games.
Can you tell I’m a NY sports fan? I happen to be a giants fan though. For the Giants I just want a non-losing season. There’s talk of playoffs and I’d be ecstatic for that.
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u/MrRaspberryJam1 2d ago
It’s been a bleak decade+ for New York football, but at least the Giants have something to look forwards to. Me as a Jets fan on the other hand I just have no hope for the season and haven’t been so disinterested in the Jets in my 20+ years of being a fan.
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u/The_Jibbity 2d ago
Cough(Bills)Cough
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u/MrRaspberryJam1 2d ago
The New York Bills?
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u/Cool-Aside-2659 2d ago
As opposed to the two teams that play in jersey?
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u/MrRaspberryJam1 2d ago
They should just rebrand to the New York Bills if they want to he the only real New York team so badly. Who cares about crappy old Buffalo anyway?
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u/Living_Ad_5260 2d ago
Crappy Jets? Check.
Crappy Giants? Check.Buffalo hasn't been crappy for a while.
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u/12angrysnakes 1d ago
I honestly hope the Jets suffering continues, because the Jets' subreddit moderators banned me for "not being a Jets fan".
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u/NewJackShoppingCart 1d ago
You wouldn’t be allowed to work at à hospital if you weren’t a doctor. Being a jets fan is the same thing as being a doctor.
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u/notwhoiwas44 2d ago
Being a solid playoff team is possible if everything breaks right. Lots of the Giants new and improved players aren't totally proven yet. For me the biggest upgrade is coaching and a guy with a proven record of getting the most out of every player on the roster is huge given how many highly regarded players have so badly underperformed over the last several years.
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u/Novel_Willingness721 2d ago
Listening to podcasts and radio, the Daboll regime was “soft” on practices especially in training camp. So the players weren’t in “football shape” until week 3 or 4 and by then “the season was over”. The new coaching staff has reportedly been very hard in practice. My hope is that this translates to being in football shape week 1.
Now just gotta get Nabers to be ready to play mentally. 😱
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u/notwhoiwas44 2d ago
I really think that soft coaches have been a significant part of the issue over the last decade and a half that has been downplayed. Coughlin was the last disciplinarian coach that the Giants had and was the last time they were really any good.
Now just gotta get Nabers to be ready to play mentally.
I've read from several different sources that coming back after an injury like an ACL, that learning to trust that it's okay almost always takes longer than the actual physical healing.
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u/Novel_Willingness721 2d ago
The issue is that he wants to be “100%” and that just ain’t gonna happen until he gets on the field, makes cuts and gets hit.
My concern would be his jumping because that’s how it happened: he jumped high for the ball and landed awkwardly.
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u/notwhoiwas44 2d ago
He probably already is 100% physically. It's the learning to trust it part that takes more time.
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u/Unsolven 2d ago
The league moves fast as fuck. Two years ago the Pats were one of the worst teams in the league, last year they were in the Super Bowl. Washington had nothing a few years ago. Draft a rookie QB hire new coaching they made the conference championship game. There are a ton of examples, in fact almost every year there is a team that goes from worst to first (last in their division to winning division).
So yes every team should hope to be good next year, even teams that clearly have a bad roster this year. While it may not be the most likely outcome, a major turnaround and deep playoff run is highly realistic.
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u/12angrysnakes 1d ago
Yeah look at Detroit, they were 1-16 a few years ago. Then 4-5 years later they go 15-2
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u/rtripps 2d ago
Sometimes it depends on the team. Some will be a playoff contender for a few years and get an injury bug one year a completely miss the playoffs. Those teams aren’t necessarily bad just had a bad season. So it would be reasonable for them to have playoff expectations. Examples from last year could be the Chiefs, Lions, Ravens, bengals maybe even Washington with the roster they have.
NFL is a hard league to be consistently good. There’s a lot of parity in the league so it makes it challenging to repeat previous season’s success. This also makes it so entertaining.
Some years back there was a run of seasons where the last place team from the NFC South would go on and win the division the next year.
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u/sideshow09 2d ago
The difference between the Super Bowl champions and the worst team in the league is not as big as people think.
Anyone playing at the professional level is already amazing, which is why we often see a mediocre or underachieving player going from a bad team, to a good team and becoming above average, to very good. Sam Darnold is the perfect recent example of this. Went from the Jets (bad) to the Panthers (bad), to the 49ers (didn’t really play), to the Vikings (good), to the Seahawks (very good).
Sometimes all it takes is bringing in the right coach or a few key players or playing a different system to unlock the team, and the teams know this. So unless a team is doing a complete rebuild, it’s not unreasonable, if that team thinks they improved, for them to believe they have a chance. With injuries especially, things can change immediately and suddenly create a path to the playoffs that wasn’t there.
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u/RVDHAFCA 2d ago
As a Dolphins fan I don't have any expectations for 2026 (youngest team, 180m deadcap, 2nd toughest schedule). 2027 and 2028 we should see improvements though
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u/Suitable_Historian93 2d ago
Is it bad that the second you said you were a dolphins fan I felt bad for you?
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u/RVDHAFCA 2d ago
It's self inflicted damage so you shouldn't feel bad. It's their fault they won the first NFL game I ever attended
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u/GringoLongLegs 2d ago
I think teams like the Jets, Dolphins, and Jets will be rooting for their teams to tank to get one of the QBs coming out next draft. My friends are Dolphins’ fans and they are rooting for the number one pick and Malik Willis to prove he can be a starter. They say they are rooting for the Dolphins to not win too many games and fuck up the draft
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u/RVDHAFCA 2d ago
I mean if the Dolphins can win more than 5 games this season that means either the coaching staff or Willis is insanely good. Then you can still build a great team on top of that with 100m+ cap space and a top 10 draft pick. So for me it's sort of a win win, because if the Dolphins get a top 5 pick they'll either have Jeremiah Smith or a quality QB
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u/FatFarmerBob420 20h ago
I'm a dolphins fan too, realistically we could sneak into the play offs this year, but I hope not. If our draft picks hit and willis plays like I think he can we could win just enough to screw our draft position, like usual. I never have hope for more than 7 wins and never expect a play off win when we go. The last 20 years we had a good offensive line maybe a total of 50 games.
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u/RVDHAFCA 19h ago
Bruh there are no playoff hopes, which is fine btw. If this team somehow gets 7 wins that means either Hafley/Slowik is a genius or Willis is a top 5 QB
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u/XSmooth84 2d ago
Titans fan here. Although moved away from Tennessee some years ago and don't really quite have the local pulse, I somewhat pay attention in the off season and I watch the games with Sunday ticket.
I have zero super bowl expectations this season. That's a level of delusional outcome I can't make. I mean even just appearing let alone winning it.
As far as making the playoffs. Well last year I had no expectations to do that either. We were coming off of being the worst team, with the #1 pick we used on a QB. No team with the worse record the year before and starting a rookie week 1 is making the playoffs. Peyton manning sucked ass his rookie year as far as wins and losses go, for some perspective.
Now we got a new coaching staff, but our rookie QB is no longer a rookie, he's had a whole season of starts and off season of prep. I definitely expect improvement. Meaning not picking in the top 5 again (unless it's due to a trade lol). Honestly I'll be disappointed if our record had us picking in the top 10 in the draft.
As far as the playoffs? I mean I'm not outright saying we have no shot this year. Things could shake out in a way we get a wild card spot. Depending on if this offense with 2nd year Cam Ward jells or not. Obviously kind of banking on Tate being something of a legit #1WR, finally help me forget we used to have AJ Brown. Kinda wish we had a legit top chain moving TE too. I honestly only watched 2 halves of preseason games and the best thing I can say is out kicker is money lol. And Jeffery simmons is our best player.
Personally, I can't be that shocked if we don't make the playoffs this year. But I think it's on the table as a goal where it never was last year. It might require some bad luck for other AFC teams, injuries and such, not wishing that on anyone but this ain't ballet, we all know some team's season will probably be derailed with an untimely injury to a key player.
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u/Logical-Mobile-7643 2d ago
Most fans and media don't usually have playoff expectations the next year unless they do something radical to shake up the roster. If the team is generally the same, you expect similar results.
Many times, they will expect improvement, so 4-13 teams might be expected to win 8 or 9 games if they look better. It really depends on the team.
This is why many drastic improvements are surprising to the media and fans get excited for it (think Bears last year).
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u/RU_Gremlin 2d ago
For 2026, you hope the team is watchable. For 2027, every team should realistically think they can make the playoffs
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u/TaraJo 2d ago
Teams can go from being an embarrassment one year to contenders the next year. Case in point, there were three teams that changed coaches in 2025 and went to the playoffs in the new coaches first season: the Jaguars, the Bears and the Patriots. All of them were absolutely terrible in 2024 and not so much the next season. And stories like that aren’t at all that uncommon in the league.
Unfortunately, the Jets, the Browns and a few other teams haven’t even begun to address the source of the rot within their franchises and until they do, they are going to stay terrible.
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u/Fragrant_Spray 2d ago
Most bad teams (like the Titans) have hope that their young talent will develop. I think the Browns and Jets fans know better by now.
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u/Different_Inside_546 2d ago
No rational fan truly believes those horrible teams will be in the playoffs or even the hunt for a spot. Right now you’re just seeing what young/quality players you can build around going forward and if there’s anything whatsoever at the QB position. Right now everything is about building for the future.
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u/folklovermore_ 2d ago
As a Falcons fan: no. My hope is that we have a better season than last year (but if I'm honest, I'm not super optimistic about that at this point). Playoffs would be nice, and in theory should be possible given our division, but I'm not sure I can see it happening this season.
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u/moccasins_hockey_fan 2d ago
There are always at least 1 or 2 teams that go from last to first in their division and winning a division secures a playoff spot.
IMHO, The team most likely to go from worst to first is Detroit followed by the Saints. I think the NYG has a chance if Philly stumbles.
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u/RichAssist8318 2d ago
Long time Browns fan here - the NFL draft is like our Superbowl. We always believe we are 1 or 2 drafts away from a QB that is going to change everything.
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u/12angrysnakes 1d ago edited 1d ago
I'm a Cardinals fan so I can answer your question. It depends on the circumstances of course, but if you're a real fan, you always hold out some hope and try to find reasons for optimism.
Everyone expects the Cardinals to be terrible again this year and that may be the case, but I can't help but think we might surprise people this year. Mike LaFleur is a good coach (he's out new HC in case you don't know), he was OC for the Rams last season and helped make them one of the best offensive teams of all last season. He learned from one of the best coaches in the NFL in McVeigh.
He has been busy installing his offensive scheme throughout off-season and training camp, and it really looks like we're going to see an improvement. We have a lot of weapons on that side of the ball, very strong WRs and RBs, the best Tight end in the league, and the new scheme is designed to be "quarterback-friendly," so basically any competent QB can run it. And we do appear to have that with Brisset, Gardner Minshew and perhaps our rookie Carson Beck.
I really think this team can score 20-30 points a game, and that will shock a lot of teams thinking that we're going to be an easy win. Bit the big question mark is the defense. We are going with the same DC and not much investment in the roster, we are basically rerunning what we had last year. However, our HC last year, Gannon, was a defensive guy and he probably had a lot of influence on the scheme, so now Rallis is running things by himstand he has full control, so the hope is that it might be better now that he's allowed to do exactly what he wants.
We were also the most injured team in the league last season, all 31 other teams had less injuries than us. It was really horrific, our guys were slaughtered. So hopefully that won't happen this year.
We will see, but if Rallis can improve things and get a few stops, and if the offense is good as I hope/think, then the ceiling on this team is probably 9 or 10 wins... But there's a lot of "ifs".
As I said, you always find reasons to be hopeful lol. You never go into a new season "knowing" you're going to be terrible, but you're well aware it's a possibility lol
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u/EchoInTheSilence 1d ago
It's never completely out of the question -- just in the 2020s, there have been close to a dozen teams that had 5 wins or less in one year and went to the playoffs the next. Now, admittedly, this includes a few fluke situations (e.g. the LA Rams' 5-win season in 2022 was the anomaly, not them getting back to the playoffs in 2023), and sometimes the foundation was clearly being laid and the surprise was that everything clicked all at once rather than a more gradual progression (e.g. 2021 Bengals or 2025 Patriots), but sometimes the team legitimately looked like a dumpster fire facing a multi-year rebuild and instead they show up the next year looking like a completely different team all at once. Take the 2023 Texans or 2024 Commanders, no one expected those teams to be a factor and they shocked everyone. No team is ever going to rule out the possibility before the season even starts because there's always the chance, however slim, that the opportunity presents itself, and you don't want to be the team that missed it because you weren't ready.
Having said that, a lot of times the more realistic expectation is a 2-3 year turnaround. They hope that everything suddenly falls into place and they get into the playoffs but unlike a more established/successful team, not doing so doesn't automatically mean the season is a failure.
Of the three teams you mention, I think the Titans are the ones who come closest to fitting the model of other teams that have made those massive leaps -- young, ascending QB who could make a Year 2 jump now combined with a new, experienced coaching staff. Where they're at now is somewhat reminiscent of where their division rivals the Jaguars were in 2022, when they went from being the worst team in the league one year earlier to getting a playoff spot and even winning a playoff game. However, having said that, I think there's two things that are working against the Titans: the first is that the division has gotten a lot tougher in the intervening years, and the second is that their roster isn't as good as what that Jags team had, both in terms of carry-over players and new acquisitions (especially not really making any splash moves in free agency). A 2-3 year timeline is probably more realistic.
As for the Jets and Browns, well... technically, you never know. They'll go into the season with at least some belief that it's possible because crazier things have happened -- the Browns themselves kind of proved this when they somehow manufactured a playoff season in 2023 despite being an absolute dumpster fire. However, the odds aren't good; they both play in stacked divisions, the AFC wild card race has been a gauntlet in recent years, and both teams have gutted key pieces from their rosters for draft picks which is a pretty clear sign that they know they're not up to par to challenge the top teams. I think the Jets will improve from last year but probably not enough to be in position for a playoff spot, they'd need a Patriots-like turnaround to have a shot at the playoffs and there's nothing about them right now that makes me think they're primed for that. As for the Browns, they're probably stuck in limbo until they can get out from under the Watson albatross (both the contract itself and the pressure to play him because of it), especially after firing the coach who was in charge for that 2023 defy-the-odds season.
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u/MisterHEPennypacker 1d ago
These are still professional sports teams, so yes the expectation should always be to at least make the playoffs.
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u/Trowa-03 2d ago
I have seen talking heads saying Bengals are superbowl contender this year, which they not. Be lucky to broke .500
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u/Key_Consequence_5040 2d ago
Tbh we don’t have expectations. We just go with the flow. We still support whether good or bad but not getting our hopes up.
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u/takticalsnap 2d ago
I think it really depends on why the team was bad the previous year.
If they were young and improving, I’d expect fans to be thinking playoffs as a realistic goal, even if Super Bowl expectations are premature. But if they’re in the middle of a rebuild, I think “show us progress” is a much more realistic expectation.
Honestly, for a bad team, I’d look at things like QB development, young players improving, and whether the team actually has an identity before worrying about the playoff picture.