These five NFL teams will head into the 2022 season with high expectations from fans, but can they actually live up to them?
Every NFL team is undefeated in July, which means fans have every right to be brimming with optimism and hope for the upcoming 2022 season.
Anything can happen, right?
With NFL free agency, the NFL Draft, and OTAs in the books, we now have training camp and football season to look forward to. Things will start moving rather quickly here in July, which means there is only so much time left for optimism to be at an all-time high for respective fan bases.
Unfortunately, those expectations are bound to be shattered for a variety of NFL fan bases. Some fan bases may have more realistic expectations than others at this point, although I’ve never been a “pessimism is realism” sort of person.
Different teams could fail to live up to expectations for varying reasons, of course, but I’m going to pick five teams that just aren’t as good as people think they will be for the 2022 NFL season.
Disappointing NFL team no. 5: Las Vegas Raiders
Let’s do our best to make friends as quickly as possible, shall we?
Nobody in the NFL is going to have higher expectations for their team in 2022 than the faithful of Raider Nation.
Well, there may be some contenders (looking at you, Chiefs fans and Cowboys fans), but the offseason brings forth the utmost confidence in Raiders fans, who have plenty of reasons to be confident, to be honest.
The team added superstar wide receiver Davante Adams.
They gave new contracts to quarterback Derek Carr and slot receiver Hunter Renfrow.
They added Chandler Jones in free agency.
They got Josh McDaniels to actually leave New England.
There are many reasons why the Las Vegas Raiders could be good this season, not the least of which is the fact that they actually made the playoffs last year despite all of the turmoil the team endured.
So why will Raiders fans be disappointed in 2022?
First and foremost, are we just supposed to assume this time is going to be different with Josh McDaniels as a head coach?
Second, even with the acquisition of Davante Adams, one thing can’t be disputed — the Raiders may have one of the three worst offensive lines in the NFL.
Third, the Las Vegas defensive backfield was bad last year, and the only real upgrades they got in 2022 were aged veteran Duron Harmon and Rock Ya-Sin.
Maybe everything will come together for Josh McDaniels this time around. Maybe Derek Carr and Davante Adams will be able to rekindle the chemistry they had a decade ago at Fresno State.
Maybe the offensive line will be better than it looks on paper.
Maybe the secondary will pick off more than six passes. Yes, that was their real total from 2021.
The Raiders have a lot going for them, don’t get me wrong. I just see this team, in a loaded division within a loaded conference, failing to live up to the lofty expectations that come with adding players like Davante Adams and Chandler Jones.
Disappointing NFL team no. 4: Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals feel like the one “really good” NFL team that is just absolutely hanging on by a thread, don’t they?
Kyler Murray expressed his displeasure with the team earlier in the offseason, but they apparently patched things up and then traded for his best pal Hollywood Brown.
DeAndre Hopkins was suspended for the first six games to start the season, and the Cardinals’ defense got a lot worse this offseason with the departure of Chandler Jones.
Over the long haul, I just don’t love the way things look for this 2022 version of the Cardinals, especially with two teams in their own division that finished in the NFL’s final four last season.
The Cardinals have one thing really going for them — the NFC is much weaker than the AFC, so they have a good shot of getting one of the seven playoff spots in that regard.
It feels like this team is one three-game losing streak away from the you-know-what hitting the fan this upcoming season.
Where is this team’s pass rush going to come from? How much are they really relying on JJ Watt, who hasn’t been the same JJ Watt we once knew?
Casual NFL fans probably couldn’t even name a single player in the Cardinals’ secondary.
This team’s overall roster depth is terrible. They lack a presence off the edge. The secondary is weak. They’ll be missing their best player for the first six games of the season.
It’s not looking good for the Cardinals, who were considered arguably the best team in the league for much of the 2021 season.
Disappointing NFL team no. 3: Tennessee Titans
Should we be putting more respect on the Tennessee Titans’ name?
After all, this team has the NFL coach of the year in Mike Vrabel.
They somehow managed to get the no. 1 overall seed in the AFC last year after losing Derrick Henry to injury.
They barely lost in the playoffs to the eventual AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals.
Shouldn’t Titans fans have higher expectations than most teams? This is the reigning AFC South champion and that division is kind of pathetic, right?
I’m not so sure.
Although the Titans deserve respect for all of the reasons already stated, I am simply not a believer that this team can sustain the kind of success we’ve seen from them over the last three years.
The Titans had a window from 2019-2021 that never should have existed in the first place. They have been simultaneously one of the best overall teams in the AFC and also just a ghost that nobody really takes seriously in the postseason.
And did the Titans really get better in 2022?
They traded one of their best weapons in wide receiver AJ Brown, a move that I think was about as dumb as it gets.
The defense arguably got better, but how much longer can that unit carry this team if the offense is playing a vintage style of ball from the 1990s?
The Titans could still very well win the AFC South, but if fans think this team is going to be better without AJ Brown, I’m just not sold.
Disappointing NFL team no. 2: New Orleans Saints
We’re officially done done with the Taysom Hill playing QB thing, right?
Right?
The Saints brought back Jameis Winston in 2022 free agency and somehow, miraculously, they moved around almost $100 million in cap space to be able to upgrade the roster elsewhere.
Don’t get me wrong here — I like what the Saints have done in 2022.
The additions of Jarvis Landry and Chris Olave at the wide receiver position? Love it.
The moves to go and get Tyrann Mathieu and Marcus Maye at the safety positions? Love it.
Getting Michael Thomas back healthy? Love it.
The Saints actually have a lot going for them in 2022 and it makes sense that fans would have rejuvenated expectations for 2022 with Winston back healthy.
He was off to a roaring start in the 2021 season and was on pace for nearly 50 touchdowns before going down with the knee injury.
I just am not sure that Winston is going to be able to carry this team as far as fans think or hope that he can, especially as the team breaks in rookie left tackle Trevor Penning who is replacing grizzled veteran Terron Armstead.
The Saints kept some continuity with their coaching staff as Sean Payton stepped down, but I still think that Payton’s absence is going to be more of a negative than anything else for this team.
The Saints could be one of the more underrated teams in the NFL this season but the combination of losing Sean Payton, breaking in a rookie left tackle, Jameis Winston coming off of injury, and playing in the same division as Tom Brady?
I think they’re poised to disappoint in 2022.
Disappointing NFL team no. 1: Cleveland Browns
I don’t know that any team made a more foolish move in the 2022 offseason than the Cleveland Browns trading a king’s ransom of draft picks and paying $230 million fully guaranteed to get Deshaun Watson in the fold.
And unfortunately for them, that investment may not yield any sort of immediate results.
It seems there’s a decent chance that Watson could be suspended for the entire 2022 season.
Let’s say he’s not. Let’s say that Watson plays the entire season. I still am not convinced the Browns will be anything but disappointing.
Do they have a good roster on paper?
Absolutely.
Will Watson be the same after missing the entire 2021 season? Will he be the same player we once saw after all that has transpired off the field?
I’m skeptical.
The Browns’ big move offensively this year besides Watson was trading for Amari Cooper, who is an above-average receiver in every regard.
Defensively, the team brought back Jadeveon Clowney and should have a potent duo off the edge once again with he and Myles Garrett.
There’s definitely a lot to like about this Browns team on paper. The big question is — how will all of the Deshaun Watson distractions affect this team on the field?
My guess is, it could loom larger for this team than anyone is really expecting, even if Watson plays.