NFL's five most disappointing teams

[Lil Bit Special]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7529238?print=true

John Czarnecki / FOXSports.com

Posted: 1 day ago

No team has crashed and burned this season on a grander scale than the New Orleans Saints. Sports Illustrated picked them to be in the Super Bowl. Every football expert in USA Today picked them to win the NFC South. They were the fashionable summer-time selection. I might have even picked them, although I didn't totally trust them because I left Orlando, training home of the Bucs, thinking they might be good if Jeff Garcia could stay healthy.

So, the Saints rank near the top of the NFL's most disappointing teams. But the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens are right with them. We all picked the Bears to repeat in the NFC North because no one really trusted Detroit and few believed that Brett Favre could win without a running back. Plus, when sharing notes with some of nation's top football writers, most believed the Bears and Ravens were two of the most physically gifted teams in training camp. Both of those teams had a talent-laden roster from one to 53.

Checking out the August predictions, the Cincinnati Bengals were favored over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, Marvin Lewis' fifth season in Cincinnati could be his worst.

There were a lot of candidates for a fifth team. Both the Rams and 49ers had high hopes in the West. Injuries have decimated the Rams, who have played much of the season without four of their top five players. The 49ers tooted their own horn, predicting that they would contend but have essentially taken a major step backward. The Broncos believed they were better than this; heck, they just lost to the Raiders. But my fifth most-disappointing team is the Philadelphia Eagles because they are generally too well-coached to be 5-7 and they have one of my favorite players, running back Brian Westbrook.

Here's a closer look at the five most disappointing:

Saints: Yes, they can moan about losing stud running back Deuce McAlister, but this organization believed they improved their porous defense with six off-season acquisitions. Well, it's actually worse that a year ago. Will Smith, who had 10

[DMaynard]

I would argue the Jets are more disapointing than the Bengals. The Jets made the playoffs with a better record than the Bengals, who did not make it last year. And now the Jets have a worse record this year, so far. Also, the Bengals, despite their offensive talent, had known problems coming into the season (poor defense, lack of discipline, tough division, etc.). The Jets's underperformance relative to last year is pretty much a mystery to everyone.

[rillo]

Wow....we didn't make the list. NO RESPECT!

[CobraVerde]

Wow....we didn't make the list. NO RESPECT!

yeah apparently we even suck and sucking....

[NIGHT STALKER]

Most of these so called "media experts" thought we played a soft schedule (which we did) and a lot of smoke and mirrors last year and that's why we didn't disappoint the media this season...they didn't expect much. They should talk to us fans though....

[johnny green balls]

who gives a **** about these other teams all i know is that i am disappointed in the jests. hopefully tangini has learned that smoke and mirrors only works when other teams don't know to look for smoke and mirrors. we needs some marquee talent on this team. another disappointing off season like last year (thomas jones signing not enough to compensate) and tangini will lose a lot of credibility.

we need a roy williams or a faneca on this team.