Week 15, this team sat at 8-5 needing just a win in Indianapolis to eliminate the Colts from the divisional race and clinch the team’s first playoff berth since 2007. However, they lost that game and then went on to drop their next two, Washington and Houston, to finish 8-8 and once again out of the playoffs.

It’s worth noting that two of their wins were won on last second fluky plays, a Hail Mary vs. Houston week 10, and a 59 yard field goal week 4 vs. Indianapolis. They could have easily been 7-9 or 6-10 with losses in overtime in either of those games. Other than those two wins, it’s worth noting that their best win in terms of opponent winning percentage was a week 14 38-31 home win over the Oakland Raiders who finished 8-8 and even that win took some last second magic.

Their defense is a mess, especially their pass defense. They rank 32^nd in the league against the pass in terms of YPA, dead last, even worse than division rival Houston. That’s no way to consistently beat elite teams. They also can’t get any pressure either, ranking tied for 2^nd worst in the league with a mere 26 sacks (tied with Tampa Bay and only behind Denver).

Offensively, their prized possession is Maurice Jones Drew. MJD, who battled injured all year, still rushed for 1324 yards and received another 317. He only fell short to Arian Foster in the rushing title race because he missed the last two games of the season with injury. Still, he finished 5^th in the league in rushing despite not breaking the 300 carry mark.

However, at quarterback, David Garrard has his good days and his bad days. There have been the occasional cries by fans for him to be benched, but he does turn in some nice performances. Backup Trent Edwards only has bad days so they may be looking for a new backup/quarterback in waiting this offseason. Mike Thomas is their #1 receiver, but he lacks elite size and his compliment Mike Sims Walker is very inconsistent with his play.