The 2021 National Football League season is drawing to a close. Many teams are jockeying for playoff positions. And some of those squads are looking for long postseason runs that would snap long streaks of futility.
Football fans are used to seeing certain franchises compete well into the new year. However, there are teams on the other end of the spectrum. These teams are traditionally seen as doormats due to their lack of postseason success. The underdog teams to run with for DFS in California.
This article examines several of these situations and a few droughts that could end when the Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded following the Super Bowl.
California sports betting is widely popular. But, while The Golden State has yet to legalize sports betting, the good news is there are online outlets for fans to put their skills to the test. Even if your favorite teams are featured in this article.
Let’s dive in!
No joy in Detroit, Houston, Jacksonville, or New York
The Detroit Lions are one of four franchises that have never made it to the big game. They are the only team in the NFC to hold that dubious distinction. This won’t change this offseason.
The Lions quickly fell out of postseason contention. And, due to their 2-12-1 overall record, they would hold the top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft if the season ended at the time of this writing.
The Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans at least have the ability to blame their relative youth. The Jaguars were founded in 1995, while the Texans joined the league in 2002.
Like the Lions, any aspirations of a successful season went away early. Both of these franchises boast records that challenge Detroit for the worst in football.
The New York Jets, meanwhile, have followed up the franchise’s Super Bowl III upset of the heavily favored Baltimore Colts by not making a Super Bowl since.
It’s a drought of longer than 50 years and many of those years have featured some terrible football. The 2021 campaign has been no exception. The Jets are 4-11 and the only team from the AFC East that’s officially out of playoff contention.
Has Cleveland been KO’d?
This iteration of the Cleveland Browns has also never made it to the Super Bowl. After the original Browns flew the coop and became the Baltimore Ravens, football returned to the banks of Lake Erie in 1999. In the 22 seasons since then, the Browns have made the playoffs just twice.
Hopes were high coming into the 2021 season. Cleveland returned plenty of playmakers from a squad that went 11-5 in 2020. However, the Browns stumbled badly after a 3-1 start.
They’ve won just four of their last 11 games. While they’re not mathematically eliminated from the postseason, they need to top both Pittsburgh and Cincinnati in the final two weeks of the season and hope for help elsewhere.
Can Miami make a splash?
The Miami Dolphins are another team with a chance to end a less-than-desirable streak. Under legendary head coach Don Shula, the Fins won back-to-back Super Bowls following the 1972 and 1973 seasons.
They also won the AFC Championship in both the 1982 and 1984 seasons. Then lost the ensuing Super Bowls to the Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers.
The Dolphins haven’t won it all in nearly 40 years. They haven’t been on the big stage in nearly 30 years and things didn’t look good to start the 2021 season.
Miami started 1-7 but followed up a seven-game losing streak with a seven-game winning streak. A streak that propelled Brian Flores’s group into playoff contention.
Miami doesn’t have it easy to finish the regular season. The Dolphins travel to Tennessee before hosting the Patriots in their regular-season finale. And, at 8-7 they’re third behind New England and Buffalo in the AFC East. Still, there’s no denying they’ve done a lot right over the last two months.
Football and sports betting fans will be happy to know that there are strides to push legal sports betting in CA. There are currently four initiatives in progress, with the front runner being the tribal coalition plan. Voters in CA will potentially have the opportunity to support legal sports betting efforts in Nov. 2022.
