Let’s celebrate the underbelly of NFL history, where some teams became legends not for their wins, but their unforgettable losses. Dive into the tales of the most disastrously memorable teams that left fans heartbroken and owners questioning why they ever got in the football business in the first place.
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Every fan believes his team will achieve NFL glory, but the reality is that most teams will end up being disappointments.
Most of the time, this just means simple mediocrity, but every once in a while a team comes along that is so bad that it is remembered for all time, which is just as good as winning a Super Bowl, right? Right???
Well, they’re at least as entertaining, in a totally sick, bent way, but since we are totally sick, bent people, we thought it was about time these horrible teams were celebrated. They are the teams that depressed entire fan-bases, ran owners out of town, and in some cases, caused the team to fold up completely. Now that’s failure. Indeed, they are the worst NFL teams ever.
11. 1960 Dallas Cowboys
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Record: 0-11-1
We’ll cut the Cowboys a little bit of a break since they were an expansion team in 1960 and so they were almost supposed to suck. But still, 0 wins is 0 wins, and given that that’s happened only 3 times in the last 70 years, that will earn you a spot on this list. Besides, who doesn’t want to make fun of the Cowboys for starting their history off as complete failures? For all their glitz and glamour (™Jerry Jones), never forget that they started life as an utter embarrassment.
Nobody was a Cowboys fan back then, and it’s no wonder, given that the team lost every week by an average of 16 points. Even Tony Romo during his worst seasons didn’t want to mess up that badly. But hey, at least they somehow managed to tie the New York Giants that season, which is something the Giants should have to apologize to the rest of us for until the end of time.
10. 2016 Cleveland Browns
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Record: 1–15
Remember the Believeland hype of 2016, when Lebron James led his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to an NBA Championship?
Well that hype didn’t to the Cleveland Browns a couple months later. After dumping Johnny Manizel, the 2016 Cleveland Browns, under the leadership of head coach Hue Jackson and with Robert Griffin III initially at quarterback, yearned for a revival after seasons of disappointment.
The hope was short-lived. They ended up securing only one win all season — a December surprise against the San Diego Chargers. RGIII’s injury struggles and the subsequent quarterback carousel only added to the chaos, while the Browns often appeared outmatched, losing games by gut-wrenching margins.
To add to the drama, their defense was sieve-like, and the offense seemed perpetually out of sync. With a combination of on-field woes and off-field controversies, it was a season that felt more like a soap opera than a football campaign.
9. 1990 New England Patriots
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Record: 1-15
Never forget that at one point, before the Tom Brady and Bill Belichick dynasty, the proud Patriots were one of the most pathetic franchises in pro football.
In 1990, they actually knocked off the Indianapolis Colts in week 2, but it was all downhill, as the Patriots lost their games and were outscored on the season by a whopping 265 points, which is the third worst margin for an entire season ever. That’s, uh, that’s not good. But that’s what happens when you start a washed-up Marc Wilson at quarterback, a dude who couldn’t even make it out of training camp with the Packers a couple of years earlier. Thanks to that Colts meltdown in a week 2 “showdown” with Jeff George at quarterback, the Patriots of 1990 managed to inch out one win.
Hip hip… hooray?
8. 1973 Houston Oilers
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Record: 1-13
The 1973 Houston Oilers tried to rebound from a 1972 season that saw them win only one game. Somehow, it got even worse. The Oilers again only came away with one win, a November upset of the Cleveland Browns, but they didn’t even manage to be competitive in the rest of their games, losing by an average of 17.7 points per game, which is the second lousiest in the last 60 years.
They had the worst defense in the league, and one of the worst offenses, which, uh, yeah, that’ll do it.
7. 2009 St. Louis Rams
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Record: 1-15
The 2009 St. Louis Rams only managed a single victory, against the Detroit Lions (of course) who were themselves coming off their 2008 0-16 debacle. So yeah, the Rams were horrible. They had the worst offense in the league – at one point they were relying on a dude named Keith Null at quarterback, who may or may not have been a random fan they lured off of the streets – and their defense was the second worst.
It all added up to the Rams being outscored on the season by 261 points, which is the 4th worst ever. Thank heavens for the Lions, eh?
6. 1934 Cincinnati Reds
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Record: 0-8
The early days of pro football were so wild and convoluted, with some teams only playing 1 or 2 games, others as many as 18, and with franchises popping up and disappearing seemingly overnight, that you can’t really take any of it seriously. But there’s a limit. And there was no way I could let the 1934 Cincinnati Reds (what an original name!) slip by without some mocking. The Cincinnati Reds only played two seasons, in 1933 and 1934. Interestingly enough, they were also one of the first teams to ever do a “color rush” uniform, withrRed top, red bottom, and red helmet.
In 1934, it’s not just that they didn’t win any games, it’s that they only scored 10 points the entire season. They gave up 243. Look man, I’m no mathematician, but I’m pretty sure that’s terrible. That means the average score of their games was 30-1. 1 point. Yeah, that was the last season for the Cincinnati Reds.
5. 1950 Baltimore Colts
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Record: 1-11
This isn’t the same Colts that would later sneak away to Indianapolis in the middle of the night at the hands of known-alcoholic Robert Irsay. No, this was a different Colts franchise, one that had just joined the NFL after the league absorbed the rival AAFC, and this version of the Colts was a horror show.
They lost by an average margin of 20.8 points per game, which is the worst since World War II, which we won’t even count because everyone was off fighting in the war. The Colts of 1950, though, had no such excuse, and even though they managed to whip the Packers 41-21, which just makes that horrible average margin of defeat even worse.
Afterwards, the team was promptly disbanded.
4. 1952 Dallas Texans
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Record: 1-11
The Dallas Texans? Yes, the Dallas Texans. Long before the Dallas Cowboys existed, and waaaay before the Houston Texans existed, there was the Dallas Texans. Actually, there were two versions of the Dallas Texans. This one, and a later one introduced in 1960 that later became the Kansas City Chiefs. I know it’s confusing, but try to keep up. Anyway, for the season, the Texans lost by an average margin of 20.4 points per game, which is the third worst mark in the last 70 years, but mere stats don’t tell the whole tale. Oh no. This one is really sad, and will take some explaining.
You see, the reason you probably haven’t heard of the OG Dallas Texans – and the reason the name was available only 8 years later – was because they were so horrible in 1952, their first year in Dallas, that as soon as the season was over, everyone involved said to hell with it and folded the team. At one point, they were even forced out of Dallas because no one cared, were relocated to Hershey, Pennsylvania, and somehow ended up playing their last home games in Akron, Ohio. Now that’s some depressing failure right there. While in Akron, they somehow managed to beat the Chicago Bears, but only because Bears coach George Halas was so sure his team would win that he played his reserves.
After that was over, the NFL tried to find a new buyer for the franchise, but nobody wanted any of that toxic mess, and so the Dallas Texans died and were quickly forgotten. Say what you will about the other teams on this list, even the other disbanded teams, at least they were able to finish out the season without getting evicted and sent to Akron. That’s just cruel.
3. 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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Record: 0-14
Yes, they were an expansion team, and yes, that means they should probably get a bit of a break, but… no. Just… no. Aside from having the second worst record in history, they were outscored on the season by a total of 287 points, which is the worst all time. Ever. They had the worst offense in the league and the second worst defense, and they lost by an average margin of 20.5 points, which is the worst – by far – of the Super Bowl era.
Funny side-note: the starting quarterback was a dude by the name of Steve Spurrier. Yes, that Steve Spurrier. Anyway, there are only two things saving them from the top spot on this list. One, they were an expansion team, and so you can kind of understand that they were awful – not that awful, but still – and two, even though they finished 0-14, there is another team that somehow two teams who managed to do even worse…
2. 2017 Cleveland Browns
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Record: 0-16
What could make the 2016 Cleveland Browns season even worse?
The 2017 Cleveland Browns.
The 2017 Cleveland Browns, still steered by head coach Hue Jackson, entered the season with a flicker of hope, especially with rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer taking snaps. However, the optimism was brutally extinguished as the weeks rolled on. Week after week, the Browns found new ways to lose, culminating in a 0-16 record – a painful echo of the 2008 Detroit Lions. Kizer showed flashes of potential but was often plagued by rookie mistakes, throwing a league-high 22 interceptions. Off-the-field drama didn’t help either; tensions brewed and fingers were pointed. The defense had moments of brilliance but was overshadowed by a misfiring offense and late-game meltdowns.
In a league where every team occasionally finds a win, the 2017 Browns agonizingly came up empty-handed, cementing their place in NFL infamy.
1. 2008 Detroit Lions
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Record: 0-16
After the 6–2 start in 2007, Lions would go 5–47 in their next 52 games. When you put it in historical perspective, it’s one of the all-time losing eras for a professional football team.
The 2008 Detroit Lions were a bad team, but what made them a legendarily bad team is that most of the other teams on this list were either expansion teams or they rose up and at least had enough pride to win 1 lousy game. But not the Lions. Oh no. Matt Millen’s boys were the only team in NFL history to go 0-16, a ridiculous record that speaks for itself. This was not an expansion team. This was a team that almost made the playoffs the year before. There was no excuse for this. None. But it still happened, and that combination of unprecedented failure and an inability to truly account for its epic scale, is what makes the 2008 Detroit Lions the worst team in NFL history.