Lions (+300)
Teams That Can Finish With the Worst Regular Season Record? (Archive)
The 2021 NFL season is drawing closer and below we will discuss an interesting prop being offered over at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review). Let’s predict the team that will have the dubious distinction of owning the worst regular-season record and keep cashing our NFL picks!
Teams to Shun In ‘21
BetOnline and many of the other top-notch online sportsbooks are dealing with NFL props that ask bettors to choose the winner of a division, conference, Super Bowl, or the team boasting the best regular-season record. It’s all about which teams will achieve the greatest success and fulfill, or exceed, all expectations.
However, BetOnline has decided to reward abject failure by putting out a prop predicated on which team will end the 2021 regular season with the worst record in the league. Choose the team that you believe will set the standard for failure this season and if your predictions come true then you win the cash.
As an aside, it might not be a bad idea to place a corollary bet on under total regular-season wins for the team that you choose but that’s another topic for another day. For the purposes of this discussion, we will peruse the NFL odds on this prop and attempt to determine the worst of the worst in the NFL this season. Let’s go!
Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel
Unlike a Cinderella story that happens from time to time in the NFL when an average team catches fire and makes a run into the postseason, trying to find a good team that will wind up with the very worst record is virtually unheard of which is why we will narrow the contenders down to the following:
- Houston Texans +175
- Detroit Lions +300
- New York Jets +700
- Cincinnati Bengals +1000
- Jacksonville Jaguars +1200
- Philadelphia Eagles +1200
- Las Vegas Raiders +1400
- Carolina Panthers +1600
Above we have the Not-So-Great-Eight and the only teams, in my humble opinion, that are truly equipped to do a herculean amount of absolutely nothing this year. Teams so bad that if you leave a pair of tickets on your dashboard, someone will smash your windshield and leave two more.
So, let’s narrow the field down to a pair of Toilet Bowl contenders and choose one from there. We will toss four from the field of eight right away and declare the Raiders, Bengals, Eagles, and Panthers all exempt from a wager as the worst team this year.
Philadelphia has Jalen Hurts under center and I am a big believer in the former Alabama/Oklahoma star and am convinced he has the chops to elevate this squad. He will also have the Slim Reaper, last season’s most dynamic college football player, and Heisman Trophy winner, DeVonta Smith, catching passes after Philadelphia drafted him as the 10th overall pick.
The Bengals have an excellent quarterback in young Joe Burrow who will now have an LSU connection to throw to in the form of the number five overall pick in April’s draft, Ja’Marr Chase. And not only do I believe the Bengals have no business being on this list but would advise a bet on over 6 ½ season wins at BetOnline on the Cats.
As long as Christian McCaffrey stays healthy, and Sam Darnold uses the superior weapons he now has at his disposal in Carolina versus New York, at least just a little, the Panthers will be unable to compete for this dubious title. And let’s not forget that this Panthers’ defense will be better than average this season with the addition of high-impact rookie corner, Jaycee Horn.
The Raiders passing offense could struggle mightily this season after losing Trent Brown, Gabe Jackson, and Rodney Hudson on their starting offensive line. Yes, they did select Bama’s Alex Leatherwood at No. 17 overall but it is unfair to believe the rookie will mitigate the departures of three seasoned veterans. Nevertheless, Vegas has too many other things going for it to qualify as the worst of the worst…but don’t expect much this year from the Sin City entry.
And the Winner Is…
The Texans could easily get the nod here as they notched only four wins last year with Deshaun Watson under center and will now likely go with Tyrod Taylor or rookie David Mills. I’m so close to betting the chalk here but just can’t quite do it. And as worthy as the Jets and Jags are for this ignominious title, I have to give it to the Motor City Cats to continue their unabated string of dereliction.
Jared Goff was so good the Rams couldn’t wait to send him to the badlands of the NFL. He had all the weapons and then some in LA but couldn’t get them over the hump and now he’ll have a whole lotta nothing in Detroit. I say let’s choose a team that has been down this road before and has the experience, guile, and savvy to suck just a bit more than the rest. That team is the Lions. Bet them this year and hear them purr – again.
NFL Pick: Lions (+300) at BetOnline.
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.