6 NFL teams that won’t return to the playoffs in 2022

It’s never too early to make bold and potentially foolish NFL playoff predictions. Which teams made it in 2021 that will miss out in 2022?

Parity reigns supreme in the NFL, always. There is always going to be a ton of turnover and change year to year, including which teams do and don’t make the playoffs.

During the 2021 NFL season, seven teams made the playoffs that didn’t make it the year before. That’s half of the entire NFL playoff pool these days, so it stands to reason that we could see similar turnover in 2022.

Which teams made the playoffs in 2021 that will miss out in the 2022 season?

Let’s look at six candidates.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers made the 2021 playoffs with a lot of luck as it is. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, right?

The Steelers almost always find their way to the postseason because they have one of the best coaches in the entire league, if not the best coach in the league right now in Mike Tomlin.

Tomlin’s Steelers backed into the playoffs last year and got absolutely mauled by the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card round, and I think this is the year we see them miss out.

Barring a dominant performance all season from the Steelers’ defense, it’s hard to see a team led by Kenny Pickett or Mitchell Trubisky being one of the seven best in the AFC.

The same could have been said last year about the Mac Jones-led New England Patriots, who found a way into the playoffs, but I don’t know if that lightning is going to strike in the same place in consecutive years.

It’s going to be brutal to make the playoffs in the AFC this year and I think the Steelers miss out.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: San Francisco 49ers

Let’s get the boldest omission from this year’s playoff picture out of the way here.

The San Francisco 49ers were just in the NFL’s final four last season and had a tremendous run in the playoffs.

They have a very good all-around roster but the fate of this team is dependent on the performance of a young quarterback, second-year player Trey Lance.

Actually, at this point, the 49ers haven’t traded Jimmy Garoppolo. What happens if Jimmy G. is still on the roster for this season? Would he play over Lance?

There’s trouble in “paradise” this offseason with Deebo Samuel demanding a trade and obviously the uncertainty this team has at the quarterback position.

The 49ers are well-coached. They have a strong and improved defense with Charvarius Ward coming over from the Kansas City Chiefs to boost the secondary.

There’s a lot to like about this 49ers team but there are a number of teams that could be back in contention for playoff spots around the rest of the NFC.

Of all the teams I included on this list, the 49ers are the one I’m least sure about including on a list like this. The primary reason I’m putting them here is the idea that they will be breaking in a new, young quarterback and could experience a whole lot of high highs and low lows.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: New England Patriots

I’m selling all stock in the New England Patriots yesterday.

The Patriots suffered one of the biggest losses of any team in the 2022 offseason that no one is really talking about.

Josh McDaniels left his post as the offensive coordinator in New England and no one — at least at this time — is replacing him.

What’s that about?

I get that Bill Belichick is Bill Belichick. He has guys on his staff apparently vying for the position in Matt Patricia (a defensive guy) and Joe Judge (a special teams guy).

It’s hard to see the overall plan for this Patriots offense, but I guess they’re going to do what they’ve always done.

It will be a different player every week making plays and the Patriots will be relying on their defense to step up big so the offense doesn’t need to push this team past the finish line week to week.

The issue is, the Patriots let arguably their best defensive player walk out the door this offseason when JC Jackson took off in free agency to sign with the Los Angeles Chargers.

The strategy for this Patriots team in the offseason rarely makes 100 percent sense.

I don’t think Bill Belichick should just get the benefit of the doubt due to his insane success in this league, either. The fact that the Patriots let Tom Brady walk and he immediately won a ring with another team speaks to the fact that business is not always booming in New England.

Although the Patriots overachieved in 2021, I see them missing out on the postseason in 2022.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: Las Vegas Raiders

Any fans of the Las Vegas Raiders reading this should have some peace of mind knowing that your team was not originally on this list.

The team that originally occupied this spot was the Philadelphia Eagles, but I felt rather convicted that the Eagles had a better chance of returning to the playoffs in the NFC compared to the Raiders returning to the playoffs in the absolutely loaded AFC despite the team’s blockbuster additions in 2022.

As this post was being written, the Philadelphia Eagles strengthened their roster even further by signing cornerback James Bradberry, a name that had been connected strongly to the Raiders as well.

Philadelphia’s additions of AJ Brown, James Bradberry, Haason Reddick, Jordan Davis, and others are not inherently better — even collectively — than the Raiders’ additions of Davante Adams and Chandler Jones.

This simply has everything to do with how difficult it is going to be to crack the playoffs in the AFC.

All of the teams in the AFC West are candidates to make it this season.

In the AFC South, the Colts and Titans are strong contenders to win the division.

The AFC North boasts four potential playoff teams if the Steelers can get good play at the QB position.

The AFC East features multiple playoff teams already with the Dolphins making waves this offseason, too.

I think the Raiders have a better shot at the playoffs than teams like the Patriots, Steelers, Dolphins, and Colts, but in order for them to make the playoffs, it’s possible that the teams in the AFC West would have to have four of the best records in the AFC, in general.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: Tennessee Titans

At this point, you would think the Tennessee Titans had done enough to impress me and many other football observers.

I’m just not sold.

I think Mike Vrabel is an outstanding coach who has probably done more with less than any other coach in the league.

I just don’t even understand how the Titans have been as good as they have been over the last few seasons. Derrick Henry is truly a superstar.

I think casual NFL fans could probably name one defender on the Titans’ roster if any at all.

The Titans are a well-coached team but in the NFL, you do need a bit of luck to really have the kind of success we’ve seen from Tennessee.

I think this year, that luck runs out, starting with quarterback Ryan Tannehill.

I think the AFC South as a whole is going to be a much more competitive division and the AFC is an absolute beast all-around.

The Titans deserve some respect for being the top overall seed in the AFC last year. I’m still dumbfounded as to exactly how that happened.

Still, they should be a tough team again this year, but there’s a chance they could miss the postseason completely with an improved division around them and a loaded AFC.

NFL team not returning to the playoffs in 2022: Arizona Cardinals

DeAndre Hopkins is starting off the year with a whopping six-game suspension.

The Cardinals lost star pass rusher Chandler Jones in free agency to the Las Vegas Raiders.

There has been drama with Kyler Murray almost all offseason.

On top of it all, the Arizona Cardinals didn’t do anywhere near enough to make necessary upgrades to the secondary or the defense as a whole to return to the NFL playoffs in 2022.

As of right now, it’s kind of hard to see this team making its way back to the playoffs just looking over the roster in general.

The depth of this team, as a whole, is not great on paper. They were obviously slightly strapped with the salary cap this past offseason and the biggest move the team made was to acquire another speedy receiver in Hollywood Brown.

The Cardinals had better hope that Brown makes all the difference for this team.

There’s still plenty to like about Arizona but they are going to have to really grind out some wins early in the season without DeAndre Hopkins, and I’m just not sure Kyler Murray can “will” them to those wins at this point.

Not having Hopkins looms large. The NFC isn’t exactly crowded which helps the Cardinals but I think we’ll see the Minnesota Vikings bounce back this year along with the Washington Commanders and a couple of other NFC teams.