If you’re a football fan and a believer of karma, there’s a good chance you’ve looked at the NFL standings and nodded approvingly at some point this season.
The season’s not yet halfway finished, but there’s been no shortage of baffling storylines in 2015 campaign. Some of those biggest plot twists have centered around teams that entered the 2015 season with sky-high expectations. In a few cases, teams have failed (in some cases, miserably) to reach those expectations.
Now, you could say it’s the product of shaky decision-making in the offseason paired with a lack of preparation and execution once the games began. But to be honest, that’s kind of boring. What if we’re dealing with higher powers? What if, bear with me here, some of the NFL’s biggest underachievers are actually feeling the wrath of the football gods?
Let’s examine some cases a little closer.
Indianapolis Colts
We all know the Colts’ story by now. They were good last year, but not great. They were destroyed by the Patriots at home in the regular season and then again in the AFC Championship Game at Foxboro. They then blew the whistle on the Patriots, tattling on them for supposedly using under-inflated footballs, launching a fiasco that conveniently overshadowed the fact Indy lost by 38 with a Super Bowl trip on the line. Now here we are entering Week 8, and the Colts — a trendy pick to reach the Super Bowl — are 3-4 with their only wins coming against AFC South teams. It feels like it’s just a matter of time before the head coach is fired, and the general manager — the chief whistle-blower in Deflategate — might not be long for his job and is reportedly beefing with the owner. Their horrific division is the only thing that could ensure they reach the playoffs.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys’ biggest transgression, of course, was signing Greg Hardy despite the fact he was being investigated by the NFL amid a domestic abuse case. He eventually was suspended 10 games — later reduced to four games — and it’s been all misery since for Dallas. The Cowboys have seen a ridiculous rash of injuries, most notably losing losing Dez Bryant and Tony Romo, and are sitting in the NFC East cellar. After winning their first two games of the season, they’ve lost four in a row, a losing streak that’s just so happened to coincide with the return of Hardy. Since he’s returned, he’s made news for acting like a jackass, first with off-color comments ahead of his return and this Sunday against the New York Giants when he looked ready to fight the entire Cowboys team. Don’t expect this to end any time soon; Jones wants to sign Hardy to a contract extension.
Baltimore Ravens
The last we saw of the Ravens in the 2014-15 season involved head coach John Harbaugh complaining about the fact that the Patriots used an offensive line formation that was “clearly deception” in New England’s playoff win over Baltimore. Don’t think we forgot about Harbaugh’s preseason bully act, either. Go back even further, and there’s the Ray Rice thing. Flash forward to 2015, and things haven’t gone well for Baltimore. They lost Terrell Suggs to injury in Week 1, and it’s been all downhill since. Despite using vaguely familiar offensive line “deceptions,” the Ravens find themselves at 1-6 after seven weeks (their most recent loss coming in part because of … you guessed it, an officiating gaffe. Their losses have been heart-breakers, by an average of just five points. Makes you wonder.
Seattle Seahawks
One would  imagine the football gods love the ground-and-pound, smashmouth style of play. You know, football as it was meant to be played, made in the football gods’ image. So maybe the Seahawks’ decision to pass — not run — in Super Bowl XLIX is the best explanation for their 3-4 start to the season.
Detroit Lions
Let’s be honest: The football gods have always hated the Lions.
FOURTH AND SHORTÂ
1. Really looking forward to the Sunday night matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos. It’s crazy to think a game featuring Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers would be a low-scoring affair, but these two teams have two of the best defenses in the NFL, and both have issues on offense. For the Broncos, Manning’s inability to throw the ball on a line seems like an issue. Then again, Packers wide receivers — minus Davante Adams and Jordy Nelson — have struggled to get open all season. If Adams returns Sunday, he could be an X-factor.
2. Twenty teams are .500 or worse, so it’s tough to get a read on just about any team. It’s no different for the Rams. Consistency has never been Jeff Fisher’s thing, but there are two things to like about this team. That defense, behind Aaron Donald, is fantastic. They’re fast and they’re physical and could keep the Rams in any game — at home or on the road. The other, of course, is Todd Gurley. He’s averaging 144 yards per game over his last three games. If he’s able to keep something close to that pace for the rest of the season, look out for this club.
3. We had an interesting debate in the NESN.com office this week about the top five quarterbacks. It seems everyone would agree that Rodgers, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger are in there, with their positions up for debate. But after that, who else makes the cut? Is Cam Newton really a top-five guy? Can you still make the claim for Andrew Luck? Andy Dalton? Carson Palmer? It’s not easy.
4. The Dolphins waited too long to fire Joe Philbin, but the timing has worked out well regardless. It was a no-brainer to do it after getting embarrassed in London, going into the bye week. Not only that, the Fins came out of the bye week with games against Tennessee and Houston, arguably two of the five worst teams in the NFL. The result for Dan Campbell’s two first games as head coach? Two wins by a combined 46 points. The real test comes Thursday, though, on a short week at New England against the Patriots.
Thumbnail photo via Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports Images
