Why can’t some teams ever get out of their own way?

[StockingAnarchyNumber12]

You know what I mean. Teams like Chargers, Jaguars, Browns, Jets and Lions. Year after year they either suck or find new ways to lose. It’s like they’re cursed. I’m sure there are other examples but what exactly is keeping these teams from excelling? Coaching and quarterback play is an easy answer but it’s 2026 and these teams have gone through a lot of different coaches and some have had good quarterback play. Ownership?

The Jaguars and Chargers losing again made me think about this. Why do the same teams keep ending their seasons like this year after year?

 

[maust]

In the Chargers case it's karmic for Dean Spanos

 

[Pape]

In the Chargers case it's karmic for Dean Spanos

The Schottenheimer curse...

 

[maust]

The Schottenheimer curse...

If you think about it outside of Shad Khan in Jax the teams mentioned all have had poor ownership. Yes the Lions are okay at owner now but that's just the past couple of years, before that it was weak for decades. Spanos, Haslam, Woody... throw in Mike Bidwill and that's like a Mt Rushmore of **** ownership

 

[NFL Mystique]

The Chargers had a clear path to a SB win if the DB doesn't fumble in the 06 playoffs. I think they destroy the Colts and Bears. When they lost that game, they could never really get back. If they win a SB, maybe they stay in San Diego.

Lions had a clear path to a SB appearance two years ago. Instead, their HC messed it up.

Jets & Browns--no explanation needed

 

[Boomer B]

I think the Chargers making the playoffs with that o-line is actually an accomplishment.

 

[doesntmatter1]

The Jets and Browns are just different shades of sh11t. Look good feel good. Without a major uniform overhaul they have no path to success.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

If you think about it outside of Shad Khan in Jax the teams mentioned all have had poor ownership. Yes the Lions are okay at owner now but that's just the past couple of years, before that it was weak for decades. Spanos, Haslam, Woody... throw in Mike Bidwill and that's like a Mt Rushmore of **** ownership

Pre-94 the Pats were on that list.

 

[maust]

Pre-94 the Pats were on that list.

Funny thing that. Prior to Kraft the only semi-respectable owner the Pats had was the guy that bought them with the sole intent of moving them. Tells you all you need to know about the Sullivans and Kiam that Otis The Would-be Carpetbagger was a better owner than either of them

 

[ViperGTS]

You know what I mean. Teams like Chargers, Jaguars, Browns, Jets and Lions. Year after year they either suck or find new ways to lose. It’s like they’re cursed. I’m sure there are other examples but what exactly is keeping these teams from excelling? Coaching and quarterback play is an easy answer but it’s 2026 and these teams have gone through a lot of different coaches and some have had good quarterback play. Ownership?

The Jaguars and Chargers losing again made me think about this. Why do the same teams keep ending their seasons like this year after year?

DNA. It takes a long time to get rid of that if ever. The best thing Brady and BB did here? 20 years of wiping out that DNA and replacing it with winning DNA. I swear I think thats true. It breeds winning and that carries over and is hard to keep down. Ownership matters a lot as well, but I think the DNA thing is very real. It's in the air, in the grass. There might be some low time there and there but it doesn't last for long.

 

[Steve102]

Bad situational coaching, pressure, poor advice from analytics, drafting the wrong players... name it. Ownership is 100% part of it. Jerry Jones wants to be The Guy, and he's not. RKK knows he's not the The Guy, hires the right people, or, more importantly, moves on from the wrong people.

There's a reason it's the same franchises at the bottom every year, and a reason the same ones continue to win.

 

[Pape]

Without a major uniform overhaul they have no path to success.

lol, yes, do what matters most first!

 

[203Pat]

There are the failures like the Browns and Jets, where it is obvious why they continually fail. Poor and impulsive ownership that constantly hires the wrong guys/pulls the plug too early. While none of them are world beaters, the Jets and Browns have had highly drafted quarterbacks go on to success elsewhere: Cleveland with Baker Mayfield (and even free agent signing Jeff Garcia to some extent), and then the New Jersey Jets with Sam Darnold and Geno Smith. Once all these guys got into more stable environments with better rosters around them, they started to succeed.

The Chargers, on the other hand, make no sense. By no means is the Spanos family the picture of model NFL ownership, but they aren't as bad as "Flying J" Jimmy Haslam and the Johnson & Johnson oafs. They drafted a future HOF QB with the first pick in the second round back in '01, and while he took a few years to develop, they ended up trading him away when he had established himself as a solid starter. Rivers also had a borderline HOF career that they wasted away churning through poor coaching hires (and a bad decision to fire one), and now with no real gap, they moved right onto a Herbert who has all the talent in the world, but the franchise seems to be doing its best to drive him down the Andrew Luck path. Basically two and a half decades with a top ten quarterback and they still seem to be an afterthought in their own city and always find a way to choke away anything with any real promise.

 

[Huckleberry1]

You know what I mean. Teams like Chargers, Jaguars, Browns, Jets and Lions. Year after year they either suck or find new ways to lose. It’s like they’re cursed. I’m sure there are other examples but what exactly is keeping these teams from excelling? Coaching and quarterback play is an easy answer but it’s 2026 and these teams have gone through a lot of different coaches and some have had good quarterback play. Ownership?

The Jaguars and Chargers losing again made me think about this. Why do the same teams keep ending their seasons like this year after year?

Really bad examples. The Jags didn't lose that game, Josh Allen beat them. And the Chargers didn't lose that game, the Patriot didn't just beat them, they beat the living **** out of them.

I don't disagree that there are franchises that simply don't know what they are doing, I just disagree on those two games.

 

[fnordcircle]

I know Kraft isn't super popular but it absolutely starts with ownership in my mind.

Putting the right people in place and moving on from the wrong people ASAP.

Say what you want about Kraft but he's hired exactly one bad coach going back to hiring Carroll and he ****canned Mayo in like a year despite it being essentially a nepo hire. Yeah Pete's time wasn't great but we had some all time dogshit drafts under Grier after one good one in 1996...

Every single perennially horrible team has an absolute dipshit owner.

 

[PlainOldEd]

I don't get the whole going for it on 4th down all the time. I guess the analytics say it is the thing to do, but my gut says points win games. At halftime of the Ravens game last weekend (I think) Tomlin was asked about whether he would go for it again refering to a failed 4th down attempt, and he said "Yes, we're playing to win". Well, Mike... at that point the decision you made had the opposite effect of getting you closer to a win....

 

[Hyped]

There's a fine line between winning and losing in the NFL. But for these teams...it usually boils down to QB or injuries....

 

[1960Pats]

I know Kraft isn't super popular but it absolutely starts with ownership in my mind.

Putting the right people in place and moving on from the wrong people ASAP.

Say what you want about Kraft but he's hired exactly one bad coach going back to hiring Carroll and he ****canned Mayo in like a year despite it being essentially a nepo hire. Yeah Pete's time wasn't great but we had some all time dogshit drafts under Grier after one good one in 1996...

Every single perennially horrible team has an absolute dipshit owner.

It all starts at the top.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Jaguars had some cool teams in mid to late 90's during the Brunell years. Their year was 1999 to at least make the Super Bowl, but they met their kryptonite in Tennessee. They were never the same. Fast forward to today, Liam Coen is a moron and he got what he deserved.

Chargers year was 2006, but Rivers was a 1st year starter which usually doesn't end well and Marlon McCree went rogue by not listening to his HC. Dean Spanos is a terrible Owner. I don't fault Herbert who has been the most handcuffed QB in the league.

Cowboys have been cursed since Jimmy Johnson left. I think Dallas may have won another Super Bowl after 1995 had Johnson still been he HC. 1997-1998 would've been the cutoff though. Parcells would've gotten them to the Super Bowl in 2007. Romo and Witten aren't going vacation before the divisional round. LOL.

Lions had the 49ers dead to rights in the 2023 NFCCG, but Dan Campbell couldn't help himself not taking the 3 points to go up 27-10. They had too many injuries in 2024. They underachieved badly in 2025.

The real Browns are the Ravens, so they don't count. The current "Browns" are just an expansion team.

Jets had a run in the late 90's, but management was so bad they missed out on retaining BB and the drafting of Tom Brady. That should've been the looking in the mirror moment for Woody Johnson.

Aside from 2010, the Packers are that team that finds ways to lose from 1998-present.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]