The 5 Worst Late Season Collapses In NFL History And The 5 Greatest Turnarounds
This article was originally published on Total Pro Sports.
They say first impressions matter. Well, in any given NFL season, it’s hardly the case. What matters most is not how you start, but how you finish.
For this list, we’re looking at teams that either unraveled or rose to new life in the second half of the season, just when everything was going right…or when all hope looked lost.
With that said, let’s dive into the five worst late-season collapses in NFL history and the five greatest turnarounds.
Which NFL teams had late-season collapses or surprising turnarounds?
Collapse: 1994 Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles were coming off a weird 1993 NFL season. That squad won four in a row to start the year. Then they lost eight of their next nine. Then they closed out on a three-game winning streak to salvage an 8-8 finish.
Okay, so the ‘93 Eagles were simply a mediocre team. However, the 1994 squad appeared to be a bona fide Super Bowl contender… at least for most of the year.
Philadelphia jumped out to a 7-2 start, highlighted by a 40-8 thrashing of the eventual Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park. Over their first nine games, Philly held opponents to single-digit points four times.
But the wheels quickly came off after a humiliating 26-7 loss to the Cleveland Browns at home. The offense endured a power outage, with Pro Bowl QB Randall Cunningham failing to throw a single TD pass in four of his last five starts.
A five-game losing skid dropped Philly to 7-7 and forced head coach Rich Kotite to bench Cunningham in favor of Bubby Brister for the last two games.
Brister was unable to spark the Eagles, who dropped 16-13 and 33-30 decisions to the Giants and Bengals, respectively. They finished the year on a seven-game losing streak. The 7-9 finish cost Kotite his job. His successor, Ray Rhodes, led Philly to consecutive playoff appearances in 1995 and ‘96.
Turnaround: 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars
What’s especially incredible about the ‘96 Jaguars is that they were only in their second season of existence. And, a shocking playoff run followed their remarkable second-half turnaround.
The Jags were predictably lousy in their inaugural 1995 season, finishing 4-12 under head coach Tom Coughlin. There was also no surprise to the ‘96 squad losing seven of its first 11 games. To their credit, though, five of Jacksonville’s seven losses had been decided by a single score.
As it turned out, the first-half Jaguars didn’t stink. They were just unlucky.
The QB-receiver tandem of Mark Brunell and Jimmy Smith got into rhythm in a Week 11 home win against the Baltimore Ravens. After losing to Pittsburgh in Week 12, the Jags’ offense caught fire and led the team to four straight wins. Now they were 8-7 heading into the season finale, needing one more win against the lowly Atlanta Falcons to make the playoffs.
The magic appeared to be running out when Morten Andersen came out for a game-winning 31-yard field goal attempt in the waning seconds. He missed his wife leaving, sending the Jags right into the playoffs.
What followed was a 30-27 upset win of the Buffalo Bills in the wild card round…followed by a 30-27 road win over John Elway and the top-seeded Broncos in the Divisional Round. The Cinderella run ended with a 20-6 loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Collapse: 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers
Coming off four straight playoff appearances and a 13-win season, the 2018 Steelers entered the year as one of the prime favorites to win it all in the NFL.
The season got off to a bad start, with star running back Le’Veon Bell sitting out the entire year due to a contract dispute. Pittsburgh went 1-2-1 over its first four games, but James Conner emerged as a star in the backfield and got the offense going.
Pittsburgh pulled off six straight wins, sitting at 7-2-1 with the AFC North seemingly in the bag. Or so we all thought…
The Steelers were upset by the Denver Broncos in Week 12 after Ben Roethlisberger threw a costly game-sealing interception in the end zone. A week later, they blew a 16-point home lead to the Los Angeles Chargers, who won the game on a last-second field goal.
In Week 14, the Steelers lost in comical fashion to the hapless Oakland Raiders when Chris Boswell slipped on a last-second game-tying field goal attempt. Now, Pittsburgh was 7-5-1, with only three games to go.
Just when everyone thought they were done for, the Steelers upset Tom Brady and the eventual champion New England Patriots in Week 15 to keep their season alive. On the cusp of overtime against the NFC’s top-seeded New Orleans Saints in Week 16? JuJu Smith-Schuster fumbled the ball in the waning seconds, sealing the game for Drew Brees’ squad.
Before Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals, superstar wideout Antonio Brown snapped at Ben Roethlisberger and walked out of practice. He was inactive for the regular-season finale, but the Steelers went on to win and finish 9-7-1.
Too little, too late, though. The Baltimore Ravens clinched the AFC North with a thrilling Week 17 win over the Cleveland Browns. Rookie QB Lamar Jackson won six of seven starts after replacing Joe Flacco.
Brown left the Steelers after the season. The Steelers never won a playoff game in Big Ben’s Hall of Fame career again. Had they avoided all those gross late-game collapses and made the playoffs? There’s no telling how far Pittsburgh might have gone.
Turnaround: 2016 Green Bay Packers
A humiliating 42-24 loss to Washington in prime time extended the Packers’ losing streak to four. At 4-6, Aaron Rodgers boldly stated that the Pack could “run the table” and still win the NFC North crown.
Rodgers went beast-mode over the final six games, throwing 15 touchdowns and no picks over the final six games. The Pack ran the table, alright, clinching the division with a victory over the Lions in Week 17.
Green Bay took down the pesky Giants and the top-seeded Cowboys to reach the NFC Championship Game. They were blown out of the water by the Atlanta Falcons 44 to 21. But a final-four finish was no small feat after a 4-6 start.
Collapse: 2009 Denver Broncos
A year after their miserable late-season collapse in 2008, the Broncos made sweeping changes. Legendary head coach Mike Shanahan was fired and replaced by Patriots OC Josh McDaniels. Quarterback Jay Cutler was traded to the Chicago Bears, with Kyle Orton coming the other way.
The changes paid dividends early. Denver started out with a perfect 6-0 record. Four of those wins came against eventual playoff teams, including Tom Brady’s Patriots and Philip Rivers’ Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium.
But the Broncos lost their touch and lost the next four games, each decided by double-digit scores. They rebounded with wins against the Giants and Chiefs to improve to 8-4. Now, McDaniels’ group was back in business.
Nope. They lost three in a row and entered Week 17 against Kansas City in must-win mode. Way in over his head, McDaniels benched superstar wideout Brandon Marshall after a disagreement about his injury.
Jamaal Charles burned the Broncos for 259 rushing yards in a 44-24 blowout win. The Broncos’ collapse was officially complete for this particular NFL season. From 6-0 to 8-8. On the bright side, Peyton Manning would arrive in two years.
Turnaround: 2022 Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jags don’t have much of a winning history. But they do have two of the most remarkable late-season turnarounds in NFL history. That’s something for their fans to celebrate.
Nobody thought much of the Jaguars heading into 2022. They were coming off back-to-back 32nd-place finishes. The disastrous Urban Meyer era didn’t even last a full season. However, it seemed to have carried over early in 2022, with the Jags starting 2-6, 3-7, and 4-8.
A 40-14 blowout loss to the Lions in Week 13 should have sealed their fate. With the AFC South-leading Tennessee Titans sitting pretty at 7-3, all hope appeared lost for Doug Pederson’s squad.
But Trevor Lawrence went into MVP mode, and the Jaguars’ D finally started to come together. Four straight wins pushed Jacksonville to 8-8. The Titans, who lost starting QB Ryan Tannehill to injury, dropped six straight and entered Week 18 at 7-9.
Jacksonville hosted Tennessee for the AFC South division crown in the regular-season finale. Trailing 16-13 with three minutes remaining, Josh Hines-Allen recovered a Josh Dobbs fumble and returned it to the house to give the Jags the lead. Their defense held on for a win, closing out the regular season on a five-game winning streak to win the AFC South.
Jacksonville erased a 27-0 deficit to the Los Angeles Chargers in the Wild Card Round for its first playoff win since 2017. They gave the eventual Super Bowl champion Chiefs a run in the Divisional Round, but fell 27-20.
Not before an inspiring and remarkable late-season resurgence, though.
Collapse: 1987 San Diego Chargers
Because of the players’ strike, the 1987 season was shortened to 15 regular-season games instead of 16. Boy, could the ‘87 Chargers have used the 16th game.
After losing their season opener to the Chiefs, the Bolts caught fire and reeled off eight straight wins in the NFL. Head coach Al Saunders had his players firing on all cylinders. The playoffs were a virtual guarantee.
But then, star QB Dan Fouts reached a cold spell at the worst possible time. Over his final five starts, Fouts threw just two touchdowns against seven interceptions. The Bolts dropped their final six games, giving up 24-plus points in four of them. Five of the losses were by 13 or more points.
The Chargers started 8-1 and finished 8-7, missing the playoffs by a single game. Fouts retired after the season, adding insult to injury for this long-suffering franchise.
Turnaround: 1970 Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals had won just seven games over their first two seasons of existence. Thus, expectations were minimal as they entered their third campaign in 1970.
After a season-opening win over the Raiders, the Bengals proceeded to lose six in a row, giving up at least 20 points in each defeat. But even at 1-6, Paul Brown’s squad refused to give up.
Led by the dynamic rushing duo of Paul Robinson and Jess Phillips, the Bengals offense finally caught some life. The defense also put on a second-half clinic, allowing just 11.1 points per game.
The Bengals closed out the year on a seven-game win streak. The Cleveland Browns dropped five of their final eight games, relinquishing the AFC Central division to their state rivals.
Cincy’s magical season ended with a 17-0 loss to the Baltimore Colts in the Divisional Round. Not before pulling off what was the best single-season turnaround in NFL history at the time, though.
Collapse: 1993 Miami Dolphins
Ask longtime NFL fans and football historians about the worst single-season collapse, and many of them will recall the ‘93 Dolphins right off the bat.
Don Shula’s Dolphins were supposed to be doomed when superstar QB Dan Marino suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 6 against the Cleveland Browns. But backup QBs Scott Mitchell — who subsequently missed time with an injury — and Steve DeBerg kept the offense afloat without Marino.
A thrilling Week 13 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving moved Miami to 9-2 on the season. All the Dolphins needed was one more win over their final five games to secure 10 wins and a wild-card berth.
After consecutive one-score losses at home to the Giants and Steelers, the Dolphins were slaughtered by the Chargers in Week 16. That set up a must-win Week 17 showdown against the rival Patriots at Foxboro Stadium.
But the Pats walked off Miami in an overtime thriller, with Drew Bledsoe throwing the game-winning touchdown pass to Michael Timpson. That clinched a five-game losing skid for Miami, which lost out on the playoff tiebreakers to Denver and Pittsburgh.
From 9-2 and looking like a Super Bowl contender to losing five in a row. The ‘93 Dolphins are truly in their own class of all-time late-season collapses.
Turnaround: 2008 San Diego Chargers
The Chargers were a trendy pick to win Super Bowl 41 in 2008. They were coming off their first trip to the AFC Championship Game since 1994. It finally looked like Philip Rivers was ready to win the big one.
But all hope appeared to be lost on not one, but THREE occasions. They dropped their first two games, decided by a combined margin of three points. A Week 8 loss to New Orleans had them at 3-5. After beating the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 10, they dropped three more one-score games and sat at 4-8 with four games to go.
The rival Broncos, meanwhile, had the division on ice with an 8-5 record heading into Week 16. Except, well, they lost to the Carolina Panthers and lowly Buffalo Bills to fall to 8-7. The Bolts, meanwhile, reeled off three straight wins to set up a win-or-go-home Week 17 game against the Broncos.
Behind two Philip Rivers’ touchdowns, 289 rushing yards and five rushing scores, the Bolts completed the late-season surge with a 52-21 blowout win over Denver to win the division. They rode that momentum to a thrilling overtime win over Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card Round, before bowing out a week later to Pittsburgh.
The ‘08 Broncos had a collapse for the ages. The ‘08 Chargers had a turnaround for the ages. It
takes two to tangle, folks.
