The 10 Worst NFL Teams of the Last Decade

10. 2011 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

nERD: 12.39
Record: 4-12, 4th in NFC South

There are definitely a few head coaches who never really got a fair shake in the NFL, who just got put on the wrong team at the wrong time. Raheem Morris, who replaced Super Bowl-winning head coach Jon Gruden on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009, feels like one of those hires. In 2011, though, Morris was coming off of a 10-6 season and looking to build on that momentum.

Just one year after a solid 10th-place ranking in Adjusted Offensive Net Expected Points (NEP) per play, the Bucs slipped to 29th in the league. The best offensive player by far was wide receiver Mike Williams, and he ranked 41st at his position in Total NEP this year.

The offense was a mess, relying on the ever-declining Josh Freeman at quarterback, whose -0.05 Total NEP per play that year ranked 28th out of the 34 qualifying quarterbacks. LeGarrette Blount hadn’t yet figured out how to run through defenders, and his -0.08 Total NEP per play was 58th out of the 63 qualifying running backs. It was a bad year.

The defense slipped, too, dropping from 23rd in the league to dead last in Adjusted Defensive NEP per play this year; their 0.12 rate in this metric ranks eighth-worst of all teams over the past 15 years. They gave up the most yards per play and most points in the NFL that year. In a final shovel of dirt on the season’s grave, the rival Atlanta Falcons leapt out to a 42-7 lead by halftime of Week 17, and Morris found a pink slip on his desk the next day.