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Which NFL teams got the worst deals this season?
Cornerback Josh Norman and the Washington Redskins watched their playoff hopes disappear after what had been a promising NFC East run for the club. AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File

Which NFL teams got the worst deals this season?

We're a few days from Wild Card weekend in the NFL, and due to some unfortunate injuries, the weekend should go as expected: Texans, Seahawks, Steelers, Packers should win. Run off and consult your bookie with those four teams in mind, or don't. It's your life.

That said, there were some NFL teams and fan bases who got much less than they signed up for in 2016. Frankly, each of these teams got a raw deal in some way or another. Let's take a look at some of these luck-lorn franchises.

Redskins
A year after a Wild Card appearance, the Redskins seemed poised to take over the AFC East, especially after Tony Romo went down with yet another injury. And sure enough, the Redskins were in the playoff hunt until Week 17. However, they lost to their divisional rivals, the New York Giants, and allowed the Lions to take their playoff spot.

Moreover, Kirk Cousins is a free agent and could walk (John Elway is probably licking his gargantuan chops thinking about that prospect), or the team could lock itself to him long term. Rob Kelley's pretty good at least.

Rams
A shiny new quarterback, a shiny, not-so-new home venue, incumbent Rookie of the Year, and a few stars on the defensive side of the ball made the Rams look like an appealing team for 2016. With Mr. 7-9 Jeff Fisher at the helm, the Rams were set to start shaking things up in the NFC West with their eyes on the future.

However, an anemic offensive line reduced Todd Gurley to a replacement-level player who showed absolutely none of the explosiveness that made him a popular fantasy football pick. Case Keenum's and Jared Goff's inability to throw the ball further than five yards didn't help matters much either. Now Fisher is gone, the team doesn't have a draft pick and they're playing in the Coliseum again next season. At least the throwback unis still look tight.

Bears
After two seasons of John Fox, Bears fans must be thinking of the halcyon days of a Marc Trestman team blowing a home game that would have put the team in the playoffs. Fox is 9-23 after two seasons, and aside from Jordan Howard, there were not a lot of bright spots in 2016. The team was riddled with injuries on both sides of the ball. Jay Cutler likely played his last game as a Bear and will ideally be used to net a fifth-round or later pick from some quarterback-desperate squad.

The defense has some nice parts, and the injured guys who return might be able to stay healthy. The team has the third draft pick and has holes to fill on both sides of the ball, so the Bears might do the unsexy thing and fleece some team looking to make Mitch Trubisky extremely wealthy, but these are the Bears after all, so expect them to not trade down and for whomever they pick at three to be out of the league within a season or three. There's always the year after next year, Bears fans.

Panthers
The Super Bowl hangover hit both of last season's participants, but the Panthers looked especially listless this season. Like 2015, the Panthers went as far as Cam Newton could take them, and whether he was injured or missing out on numerous unnecessary roughness penalties that could have sparked drives, the Panthers stalled out this year.

Cam's likely to bounce back, but Jonathan Stewart's getting older and the defense might lose some more parts. The NFC South tends to fluctuate wildly from year to year, but Carolina fans have to be upset with how this year turned out.

Cardinals
Who would have thought the sound of a Super Bowl window shutting was so much like David Johnson becoming the biggest offensive weapon since Marshall Faulk? Thankfully for the Cardinals, David Johnson will not need surgery after spraining his MCL against the Rams in a meaningless game. So the team is left with a bright spot after reverting to Cardinals-ness this season.

Michael Floyd was released after a DUI, they played in one of the season's worst games at home on national TV and really wasted one of the finest offensive seasons the league has seen in the last two decades. The team is likely to try and do an on-the-fly rebuild in order to make one or two more Super Bowl runs, but that'll hitch on Carson Palmer remaining effective. There's nothing to suggest his won't, but the former Trojan (who played well in his first game at the Coliseum since 2002) is also 37 years old. The end is near for this era of the Cardinals, and I'm sure their fans are extremely nervous.

Raiders
It's not often that a team goes 12-4, makes the playoffs and its fans are still howling with grief, but the Raiders are anything but ordinary. After rolling through the season, the Raiders were in the hunt for a division title and a first-round bye. The offense was one of the league's best, and Khalil Mack was cutting through the league like a wrecking ball.

Then Derek Carr broke his leg, leaving the offense in the hands of Big Ten quarterbacks who turned out to be on NFL rosters. Can Connor Cook outduel Brock Osweiler or Tom Savage in Houston this weekend? Will we find out before he is decapitated by Jadeveon Clowney? It's fitting that the Raiders would give the fans in Oakland one last glimpse at potential happiness before ripping it away before heading out of town.

Titans
Again, the Titans went 9-7, a successful season by most accounts. DeMarco Murray rebounded, and Marcus Mariota looked like a star. Mariota also nuked his leg again. Titans fans must be frustrated that their franchise cornerstone is going to rehab a brutal injury once again, but they should take solace in owning just about every Rams pick from here until the end of time. Still, a playoff birth was right there, and Mike Mularkey is still their coach. Things are probably going to get worse before they get any better.

Texans
The Texans did this to their fans themselves: They did not have to give Brock Osweiler all that money, and they certainly did not have to keep playing him. Then, after mercifully giving their fans the Tom Savage experience, the team is likely back to Osweiler for the playoffs. There are two franchise quarterbacks in the AFC South and the Texans might have one, too, but they certainly don't know for sure after this season. Good defense, though.

Broncos
Another Super Bowl hangover sufferer. The defense was merely really good this season, but the offense disappeared even more than a year ago. Is Trevor Siemian the answer? Probably not. Is Paxton Lynch Denver's man of the future? Maybe, but he didn't show much this year. Can anyone run the ball competently? We'll see! How many stars on the defensive side will they lose this season? Oh, and who's going to be the head coach, and can they retain Wade Phillips? This is going to be John Elway's most important offseason yet.

Bengals
Marvin Lewis still hasn't been fired! A.J. Green finished the season injured. Vontaze Burfict continued his run as the biggest heel in football. The Bengals were once again the league's model (of mediocre consistency) franchise. The team will have a top 10 draft pick for the first time in a while, so maybe the Bengals will be back to losing during Wild Card weekend this time next year.

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