Last Place Teams to Look Out For
August 30th 2021, Written by Justin Levine
With so much parody in sports year after year, it is truly amazing that some franchises have not been back to the playoffs in decades. The Seattle Mariners, Sacramento Kings, and New York Jets have reached a level of futility that other franchises may have nightmares about. However, there are teams that have shown an extraordinary ability to bounce back. Most recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended a 13 season playoff drought in dramatic fashion by winning it all in 2021. Here are a few last place teams from a season ago that you should not be surprised in the postseason this time around.
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals finished 4-11-1 last season and did not even sniff the playoffs thanks to a midseason stretch in which they lost 8 out of 9 games. Although the start was not ideal for Joe Burrow, the rookie showed some promise in his 10 starts. The LSU standout had at least 300 yards passing in half of his games, including 406 yards in a close loss to the Browns in late October. The tail end of the season was ravaged by injuries, but before that Cincinnati was a very competitive team. 4 of Burrow’s 7 losses were by 4 points or fewer, including both games against Cleveland. The Bengals front office made sure to add some veteran studs on both sides of the line of scrimmage to help this team close late. Former Lion and Viking Riley Reiff will help to protect his young quarterback’s blind side. On the defensive side, Cincinnati added Trey Hendrickson who was tied with Aaron Donald’s 13.5 sacks, good enough for second in the league a season ago. While many recognize the Browns offense as one of the best in the game, the Bengals roster is no joke. Skill players Joe Mixon, Tee Higgins, Ja’Marr Chase and Tyler Boyd provide a full armada of weapons at Burrow’s disposal.
houston rockets
The NBA was the toughest league to find a last place team that could truly compete next season. The Raptors were probably the easiest choice, but the loss of Kyle Lowry and question marks around Pascal Siakam lead me to believe that they will not perform well in an increasingly stronger eastern conference. So, I did not just choose a last place team, I chose the team with the worst record in the entire NBA last season, the Houston Rockets. Injuries hit them hard, so 17-55 was definitely not the ceiling for last season’s squad, but they were bad, really bad. Early in the season, Houston started 10-9 in large part due to emerging superstar, Christian Wood. However, Wood had a hard time staying healthy and the Rockets suffered a 20-game losing streak, which included a 49-point home loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Whether John Wall is part of the team’s plans for 2021-22 is still up in the air, but even without him this team has the ability to make a run at the playoffs. The Rockets won this year’s draft as they selected Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, and Josh Christopher with their 3 first round picks. As the #2 pick, Green is the superstar of the bunch. He averaged 20.3 points per game in the summer league on a 50/50/90 split. Sengun may turn out to be the sleeper of the draft as he averaged a double-double in the summer league, compiling 14.5 points and 11 rebounds per contest. These three kids, Kevin Porter Jr., Kenyon Martin Jr., and the aforementioned Wood form a young, yet exciting core down in Houston that could surprise some people across the NBA.
Miami marlins
I know the Marlins are not technically in last place in the NL East anymore, but they would be if the Nationals did not sell their entire team. This 2021 season has marred the success that the Fish had in the season prior, as they took down the Cubs in a playoff series. The Marlins have a starting rotation that many teams envy, the only problem is that it feels like all 5 of them have been on the injured list at some point in the season. Rookie Trevor Rogers was a first time all-star, with a sub 3 era. Sandy Alcantara throws 100 mph and is top 5 in the National League in innings. Pablo Lopez and Elieser Hernandez are finally back from injury and pitching well and rookie Zach Thompson has been a spark plug. All of this is without Sixto Sanchez, a rookie phenom from last season who shut out the Cubs thru 5 sparkling innings en route to a postseason victory. The young bats are also coming around for Miami. Jazz Chislom Jr. is a franchise player and future superstar. Miami traded pitcher Yimi Garcia for Bryan De La Cruz at this year’s deadline and the young outfielder is already proving that he can play. De La Cruz is hitting over .300 and recently hit his first big league grand slam. Lewis Brinson is hitting .50 points higher since the all-star break and has driven in 20 runners in just 30 games. Not only does Miami have the personnel, but they have the right people in the front office to anchor this turnaround. If I was a betting man, I would never bet against the combination of Derek Jeter and Kim Ng.