10 NFL Teams That Keep Failing For The Same Stupid Mistake
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
Insanity is being defined as repeating the same behavior over and over again and expecting a different result. If that is the true definition of insanity, then the following ten NFL teams are absolutely NUTS!!! Each one of them has “enjoyed” a winning drought of many years for repeating the same mistakes. I used “enjoyed” because these teams must like losing. They do it so often… and so spectacularly.
Which NFL teams keep on fumbling due to one mistake?
Cleveland Browns
Let’s start off our list with the biggest sadomasochist team in the NFL, the Cleveland Browns. It is clear from their decades-long losing streak that they derive pleasure from the suffering of not winning. However, it’s also obvious that the Browns derive pleasure from inflicting pain on others, their fans, when they constantly repeat their mistakes. After the 1995 season, Browns owner Art Modell moved the team to Baltimore, but 4 years later, a new Browns team was born. Taking the field for the first time in 1999, the new Browns finished the season at 2-14.
Since then, the losing hasn’t stopped, as they’ve had only 4 winning seasons in the last 27 years. Why are the Browns so bad? First, they have consistently failed to develop or find a quarterback. Since 1999, they have had 42 different starting quarterbacks. This failure has led the front office to pursue overpriced, overpaid replacement options, such as Deshaun Watson. Second, the team is caught in a vicious cycle of losing generated by unstable leadership and constant rebuilding.
The team loses, a new front office and/or coaches are brought in, a new system is applied, and a rebuild begins. The losing continues, and the GM becomes panicked that he will lose his job, making desperate moves. The team continues to lose, and the process repeats. With the exception of those 4 years, even the blind squirrel finds the occasional nut, the Browns have been repeating the same mistakes since the 20th Century.
New York Jets
If the Browns were an easy choice to start our list, then the Jets were an easy second choice. I grew up in the New York City area and know many Jets fans. They are some of the most pessimistic sports fans I’ve ever met. No matter the team’s roster makeup or how well they might be playing, they are just waiting for things to go wrong.
The Jets find new ways to lose, and in some cases, embarrass themselves in the process. Remember the Fake Spike? The Butt Fumble? Achilles tears to Vinny Testaverde and Aaron Rodgers, ruining potentially promising seasons? However, those things happened on the field.
I’d like to say that off the field is a different story, but it’s the Jets. In areas that they can control, they repeat their mistakes. The Jets have repeatedly made poor draft selections at quarterback (i.e., Mark Sanchez, Zac Wilson, and Brett Favre), and that has led them to chase QBs past their prime, such as Aaron Rodgers, and it hasn’t worked out well either. Perhaps the Jets could make better personnel decisions if they had a more stable front office and coaching situation.
Gang Green has typically not made the best coaching hires, as head coaches such as Rex Ryan, Adam Gase, Al Groh, and Rich Kotite made headlines for all of the wrong reasons. How about Bill Belichick resigning after one day? The Jets just can’t seem to get things right.
Washington Commanders
Washington has appeared in 5 Super Bowls, winning 3 of them, but that was then, and this is now. Since their last Super Bowl appearance, a 1992 win over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVI, Washington has only appeared in the playoffs 8 times. With the exception of a few outlier seasons, it seems Washington either hovered around .500 or had a noticeable losing season (6 wins or fewer).
A closer look reveals that Washington keeps repeating their mistakes. They simply are, and have been, an NFL team that seems unable to get out of its own way. Fortunately for this beaten-down franchise, the biggest obstacle to its success has been removed. From 1999 to 2023, the team was owned by Dan Snyder, who repeated the same mistakes for 24 years. Whether it was micromanaging football operations, firing coaches and general managers, harassing women in the workplace, or creating a hostile work environment.
The interference from the ownership also filtered to roster decisions, as Snyder would often get involved in personnel matters. Under his leadership, at various times, the team acquired several high-end talents that didn’t work out. One immediately thinks of Albert Haynesworth, but there were others. An aging Bruce Smith and Jeff George were signed to massive deals that had severe salary-cap implications. Now that Snyder is gone, perhaps the Commanders can stop the cycle of poor decisions.
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins just celebrated their 60th year as a football franchise, but honestly, other than the career of Dan Marino, they really haven’t had much to celebrate since 1973. The Dolphins won back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972-73, including the only perfect season, but since then, nothing. While the team didn’t win an NFL title during the Marino Era, they reached the Super Bowl and remained relevant.
With Marino as quarterback, the Fins only had one losing season. Post-Marino? The Dolphins have become irrelevant, and it’s for the same reasons. First and foremost, the Dolphins have failed to develop a true franchise quarterback, either through draft picks such as Ryan Tannehill and Tua Tagovailoa or by signing underperforming veterans like Joey Harrington or Jay Cutler.
In addition to failing to develop a QB, they haven’t had a franchise running back since Larry Csonka until the recent emergence of DeVon Achane. Roster development is also a huge issue in Miami, as they have a history of failing in the draft, which has hindered roster construction. For some reason, the front office continues to assemble a team that often gets pushed around by the opposition and falls apart in its own locker room. Lastly, the Dolphins have failed to hire the right head coach (Sparano, Gase, Flores, Saban), resulting in turnover every few years.
Miami starts the 2026 season with a new regime in the front office and on the sidelines, but until we see results, expect more of the same in South Beach.
Las Vegas Raiders
Historically, the Raiders have been one of the great franchises in the NFL, having appeared in the Super Bowl 5 times and won 3 of them. From 1967 through 1985, over 18 seasons, the Raiders made the playoffs 15 times and went 3-1 in the Super Bowl.
Over 40 years, from 1986 through 2025, they’ve made the playoffs 8 times and finished with a losing record 23 times. What happened to this once-proud franchise? One of the issues that had plagued this franchise was the constant interference from GM, Owner, and Managing General Partner, Al Davis.
For over 50 years, Davis would make his presence felt from the owner’s box to the offices, to the locker room, and onto the field, often to the detriment of the team. The chaotic ownership led to constant turnover at the head coach position. Since 1986, the Raiders have employed 17 different men as head coach, with Jon Gruden and Art Shell having multiple stints on the sideline.
The nomadic existence of this team, starting in Oakland, moving to Los Angeles, back to Oakland, and now to Las Vegas, made it difficult to plant roots in the community and hurt its development. Finally, like many other franchises, the Raiders have repeatedly made poor roster decisions, especially in the draft, leading the team to overspend on veterans. The Raiders have always gambled on players, so it makes sense that they’re now in Vegas.
Arizona Cardinals
Any “Worst of” list has to include the Arizona Cardinals. It’s actually the law in 43 states and 67 countries, according to a stat that I just made up. Seriously, the Cardinals have a long history of losing. I actually forgot that they made the Super Bowl and lost in the 2008 season until I started writing this article.
Sure, they’ve made the playoffs in other seasons, 9 times since the NFL began in 1970. I need to say that again, they’ve made the playoffs 9 times in the last 56 years! Oh, by the way, this proud franchise also went 25 years, from 1949 to 1973, without making the playoffs. Clearly, this team has been doing something wrong for a long time. Start with the drought at quarterback in the desert, as they have been unable to develop a franchise quarterback through the draft.
Several high draft picks have not panned out, leading to the signing of veterans who have failed as a stopgap. It’s hard to be a placeholder when there’s no one coming to take your place. This is also a franchise that refuses to spend. The Bidwell family, which owns the franchise, is generally considered one of the worst owners in the NFL. Operating the team on a tight budget and failing to invest adequately in facilities certainly act as deterrents to attracting the best talent. When will this NFL team learn?
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys, dubbed “America’s Team” in the 1970s for their massive popularity and incredible run of success, appeared in 5 Super Bowls and won 2 of them during the decade. They embarked on another dynasty in the 1990s, winning 3 Super Bowls over a 4-year span from 1992 through 1995.
However, since their last championship, the Cowboys have been feast-or-famine. They have won the NFC East 9 times, but have typically hovered around .500 and out of the playoffs most seasons. Something has, and continues, to go wrong in Dallas. The biggest issue facing the Cowboys is the constant meddling by owner Jerry Jones. He has traditionally undermined on-field decisions by calling out his coaches publicly and complaining about players to the media.
The Cowboys’ moniker of “America’s Team” also continues to hurt the franchise. Jones’ obsession with the branding of the team has led him to make poor roster decisions that have hurt the franchise for years, including, but not limited to, poor financial decisions that hindered assembling a true team, not one with stars and lots of holes. Until Jerry Jones steps back from his dual and overbearing role, the Cowboys will continue to make the same mistakes. (Sorry, Danny)
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a little different from the other teams on our list, as their recent run of futility has not been as long. Whereas the others here have been making the same mistakes for decades, the Giants have only been doing it for 14 years. Since winning their last Super Bowl in the 2011 season, the Giants have had only 2 playoff appearances and 3 winning seasons.
It’s been a rough stretch in New York, and it’s all due to their repeated errors. The Giants have not consistently failed to build a truly solid roster. Start with the quarterback position. The organization’s failure to properly plan for the post-Eli Manning era led to the drafting of Daniel Jones, who never looked comfortable in New York. After 4 seasons, it was apparent he was not the answer, and the team needed to move on. If a true rebuild was needed, it could take years, so star running back Saquon Barkley decided to depart.
It’s not just the quarterback position where the front office has failed; they have continually been unable to develop a powerful offensive line capable of preventing turnovers and sacks and allowing the rest of the offense to grow properly. As we’ve seen with several other NFL teams, this failure to develop talent has led to overpaying unproductive veterans. They say that everything is bigger in New York, including mistakes.
Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons have been repeating the same blunder for several years now. They have been a team in need of a rebuild for about the last 8 years. The only problem is that they don’t seem to know it, or if they do, they have repeatedly failed at trying to fix it. Veteran quarterback Matt Ryan led Atlanta to Super Bowl LI, where they lost to New England, and to the playoffs the following season in 2017, but after that, the team began to decline.
The Falcons would post losing records over the next 4 seasons, and as the losses mounted, they relied more and more on their quarterback, without preparing for the future. Since their franchise quarterback has retired, the team has turned to multiple stopgaps, including the then-36-year-old Kirk Cousins for parts of 2 years. The hole at quarterback has led Atlanta to put its future in the hands of Michael Penix, who so far has not looked like the answer. They have also failed in other areas of the draft, continually ignoring certain needs, creating an imbalance on their roster. Poor roster development and lack of planning are a recipe for failure, just ask the Falcons.
Buffalo Bills
The Bills are one of the best teams in the NFL today. They have made the playoffs in 8 of the last 9 years. This run of success came after a dark period for the franchise that lasted about a dozen years. Prior to that dark period, the Bill had another successful run throughout the 1990s. The franchise also boasts 12 Hall of Famers, including Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, and Thurman Thomas, and Josh Allen will likely join them. With all of that success, what is the one mistake that results in the Bills failing repeatedly?
Losing! Yes, losing is the mistake the Bills make almost every year. I’m not talking about the Bills being like the Browns and having a losing record every year. Clearly, a team that has the Buffalo organization’s success wins. However, it seems Buffalo’s winning primarily happens in the regular season, while its losing occurs in the postseason. The Bills made 4 straight Super Bowls from 1990 through 1993 and lost all 4, including one in dramatic fashion when kicker Scott Norwood missed a last-second field goal.
More recently, the Bills have ruled the AFC East but have failed to get past the Chiefs in the playoffs. In 2025, with the Chiefs quarterback on the shelf with an injury, the Bills lost an OT heartbreaker to the Broncos. Same old, same old.
