Let the ranking begin!
32. Houston Texans: 28 Points
Houston Texans helmet: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Established 2002 – The Texans are the youngest team in the NFL and haven’t been particularly successful overall — only two playoff appearances. So they haven’t compiled much history yet; landing them dead last in these rankings.
Time will tell if they’ll climb higher. It should be noted that the Texans are still too young to have sent a player to the Hall of Fame. At least they can definitively claim that they currently boast the league’s top defensive player in J.J. Watt. He’s already won two AP Defensive Player of the Year awards at the age of 25.
Points added in the 2014 season: 4
Icons: J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub, Mario Williams
Jacksonville Jaguars helmet: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
31. Jacksonville Jaguars: 36 Points
Established 1995 – The Jaguars haven’t seen much high-end success since joining the NFL but they have seen six postseasons thanks mostly to their squad of the late 1990s.
Twice they’ve been within a game of the Super Bowl, but they have some work to do if they want to climb this list anytime soon. All of their hope rests in the right arm of Blake Bortles now. They’ve yet to send a player to the Hall of Fame.
Points added in the 2014 season: 0
Icons: Mark Brunell, Jimmy Smith, Fred Taylor, Tony Boselli
Carolina Panthers helmet: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
30. Carolina Panthers: 68 Points
Established 1995 – The other team to come into the NFL in 1995 has actually had three separate rosters find relative success in its young history, with six playoff appearances and one conference championship.
The Panthers haven’t been able to get over the hump yet, but the future looks incredibly bright with Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly leading both sides of the ball. They have a chance to be the NFC North’s best team of the foreseeable future. There have been no Hall of Fame inductees for the Panthers at this point in time.
Points added in 2014 season: 10
Icons: Steve Smith, Sam Mills, Julius Peppers, Muhsin Muhammad
Atlanta Falcons helmet: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
29. Atlanta Falcons: 104 Points
Established 1966 – The Falcons have been around for a long time — for the entirety of the Super Bowl era. But they have failed to win the big game, losing to the Broncos in their only appearance.
They claim only two Hall of Fame inductees, so in terms of points-per-year (based on this ranking system) they’re possibly the least ‘greatest’ team in NFL History. They have been to the playoffs 12 times and Matt Ryan may be the quarterback to finally lead them to the promise land. Maybe. Here’s to a better 2015 season.
Points added in the 2014 season: 0
Icons: Deion Sanders, Claude Humphrey, Tommy Nobis, Jeff Van Note
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