The 10 Worst NFL Teams of the Last Decade
5. 2013 Jacksonville Jaguars
nERD: -14.20
Record: 4-12, 3rd in AFC South
The “bottom-five” on this list fall into their own special tier of terrible. There are arguments to be made about the utter futility of each, but -- again -- we are presenting them as they are ranked by nERD.
The first two years under the Jaguars’ new ownership were their worst in the decade -- no wonder Shahid Khan got such a great discount on the team. After the 2012 debacle, the Jaguars cleaned house and brought in general manager Dave Caldwell and head coach Gus Bradley. They even had the second overall pick to work with in rebuilding this franchise from the ground up; they spent it on offensive tackle Luke Joeckel, thinking his selection would lock down the blindside of their offensive line. It didn’t.
The 2012 iteration of the offense was bad, but somehow the 2013 version got worse. The Jaguars had a -0.12 Adjusted Offensive NEP per play that year -- the 15th-worst offensive season in the last 10 years. Starter Blaine Gabbert was benched for backup Chad Henne after just three games, both for injuries and poor play. If he had managed two more drop backs, his -0.52 Passing NEP per drop back would have been the second-worst among passers with at least 100 drop backs since 2000.
To make matters worse, running backs Maurice Jones-Drew and Jordan Todman came in at just 46th and 41st in Rushing NEP per attempt, respectively, out of the 55 qualifying running backs. The Jaguars had the ninth-worst season by Adjusted Rushing NEP per play in the last decade.
The defense was horrid, as expected, ranking 30th in Adjusted Defensive NEP per play. This was in spite of spending five draft picks on the secondary, including safety Jonathan Cyprien and cornerback Dwayne Gratz, as well as signing defensive tackles Sen'Derrick Marks and Roy Miller and cornerbacks Alan Ball and Will Blackmon. The only Pro Bowler for the Jaguars this year was a defender, however, as linebacker Paul Posluszny picked up 162 total tackles, 3 sacks, and 2 interceptions.
