The Blame Pies of the NFL Thus Far

Fall is the season of pies—pumpkin, apple, pecan, sweet potato, whatever you prefer—a staple of warmth on our tables in the season of changing leaves.

There is one particular type of pie that is far more distasteful and divisive at this time of year, though: Blame Pie.

Through two months of the NFL season, we’re beginning to figure out who is to blame for the shortcomings of some teams relative to our expectations, as the outlook for postseason football in January is getting bleak.

Who is to blame for the disaster at the start of the season? How many slices of blame pie do they deserve?

Let’s break down the blame pies of teams that have already begun to ask who is to blame for a potentially lost season as we’re nearing the midway point.

New York Jets (2-6)

• 4 Slices // Organizational Malpractice
• 3 Slices // Coaching Woes
• 1 Slice // Kicking Blunders

The Jets fired Robert Saleh and thought the problems would be fixed, giving him a slice of the blame pie. Then, after a loss to the Bills, they traded for Aaron Rodgers’s old pal Davante Adams, blaming it on his lack of weapons to compete. They’ve still gone on to lose 2 more games, and Davante averaged more yards and receptions with the Raiders, and it has never looked more rock bottom.

PHOTO: Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images

There are many ways you can go with assigning the failure percentages of this brief era of the New York Jets; one could argue they could have three extra wins against the Broncos and the Patriots if they decided not to continue to employ Greg Zuerlein. One could argue the main reason has been a lack of an offensive gameplan at all, with Nathaniel Hackett being uncreative, refusing to get Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson involved, or now the interim coach having blunders like using all three timeouts in the first half.

What it truly comes down to is the continual malpractice of the ownership group at the top that is so desperate to escape the doldrums looming over the franchise. They empowered a quarterback over 40 to solve all of their problems, only for him to tear his Achilles and seemingly make all of the ego-driven decisions behind the scenes, like taking trips to Egypt and signing his former teammates and coaches.

They built a roster with aging veterans around him and allocated resources to winning now when they were in no position to do so. It feels as if no one knows how to manage something that’s gone well, even with talented assets, and it will continue to be that way at the top until something changes.

Cleveland Browns (2-6)

• 4 Slices // The Worst Quarterback Play in NFL History
• 3 Slices // Ego of the Ownership
• 1 Slice // Coaching Pre-quit

The Browns got a win with Jameis Winston at the helm on Sunday and looked like an offense that was alive for the first time all season as he threw for over 300 yards against a Ravens team that argued the best team in football. It’s amazing what not having the worst quarterback play in football can do for you!

Deshaun Watson had a QBR of 21.5 two weeks ago, took the most sacks in the NFL, and generated -66.2 EPA per play (worse than Jamarcus Russell). Yet, they continued to play him simply because the ownership group gave him the worst contract in NFL history. The deal of the most guaranteed money in history after sending 6 draft picks was awful before he was bad at football and had over 30 civil suits going on. The ownership group could not take their lumps, say we messed up in the deal, and continued to play him despite showing they had a winning formula in his absence last year when they made the postseason starting 4 other guys.

Kevin Stefanski showed no pushback, either- he had to be the good soldier and continue to say that Deshaun was the guy with no remorse. It’s as if week-to-week he knew he was stuck in purgatory and could make no decisions, one shot of him and his grey beard staring into nothingness at a time.

The building feels better after getting a win and having Nick Chubb coming back with an offense that shows life, but at 2-6, one can only wonder what it would have been like without the egos involving the most important position.

Dallas Cowboys (3-4)

• 5 Slices // Offseason Mismanagement
• 3 Slices // Einstein’s Definition of Insanity

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. That is precisely what’s happening with the Dallas Cowboys under Jerry Jones—we’re just getting through October as opposed to January this time.

PHOTO: Kelley L Cox/Imagn Images

Jerry did not fire Mike McCarthy despite his noted lack of creativity and adjustments that allowed them to fall into lapses like the one we saw on Sunday Night where they gave up 21 unanswered to the 49ers, and this feels like Jason Garrett’s deja vu where he’s loyal to his guys to a fault. Dak Prescott and Ceedee Lamb were just the latest Cowboys superstars that had a financial standoff this offseason, only for the price to go up and the allocation of resources to be hampered even further because Jerry loves stars in his financial conglomerate. They will continue to pay and watch no matter if the product is winning or not.

Some may say that there’s injuries involved as well, and losing Micah Parsons and Dexter Lawrence certainly doesn’t help, but they weren’t lighting the world on fire when they were active under the Mike Zimmer defense as well as they brought him back as a Dan Quinn replacement (how’s that hire going, Washington?).

When you have to pay more for Dak and Ceedee and can’t allocate resources elsewhere, like a second receiving target that isn’t injured Brandin Cooks, signing a Derrick Henry that could be Offensive Player of the Year, and being limited to asking Ezekiel Elliot and Dalvin Cook to leave Shady Oaks Retirement home to help, there is no balance to the offense whatsoever in an offseason where he said they were “all in.”

Jacksonville Jaguars (2-6)

• 6 Slices // Lack of Culture
• 2 Slices // The Trenches

The Jaguars’ situation is dire because they’re losing games, spending money, and behaving as if they WANT to win. Shad Khan hailed this as the “best Jaguars team assembled in franchise history,” with playoff expectations and Trevor Lawrence getting an extension as the highest-paid quarterback in NFL history. 

They began the year 0-4, the longest of any team without a win, and could have easily been in 4 of their losses that 5 or fewer points have decided. There’s a clear disconnect between the coaching staff and the players where the culture just isn’t there. Doug Pederson has said everything from “Well, we can’t go out and make the plays! That’s what the players are supposed to do!” to saying there’s a lack of culture in the building despite being the person who is responsible for that. Adjustments don’t get made in the games that come down to the wire, as seen in their most recent loss by 3 points to the Packers, where no one can make a tackle when it matters most.

Trevor Lawrence was once hailed as the golden boy, the #1 overall prospect. While he certainly hasn’t lived up to the billing despite his payday, it’s hard to judge how competent he would actually be behind an offensive line that didn’t rank bottom-5 in pressures allowed with a defensive line that does the complete opposite on the other side of the ball and can’t get after the quarterback.

The Jags are running out of excuses.

PHOTO: Brian Fluharty/Imagn Images