Broncos, Steelers, Redskins lead this week's Sorry Six

So many honors await the best teams in the NFL. Playoffs, trophies, postseason bonuses. But what about the terrible teams? Where’s the love for them? Here, we’re going to give them their due, each and every week. This, friends, is the NFL’s Sorry Six.

Denver Broncos

There’s a phrase in the news business called the “news dump,” where bad news gets buried late on a Friday afternoon so people will forget about it. The Broncos pulled off the greatest NFL news dump of the year, losing to the woeful Raiders late on Christmas Eve. But we saw you, Denver. Like Santa, we see everything.

Washington Redskins

Next up, Washington, for doing everything wrong this year and then getting snippy when they’re called out on it. Everyone hates everybody in Washington — again, we’re just talking about the football team here — but when DJ Swearinger had the guts to call out his team, they cut him! What kind of punishment is that? If they wanted to hurt him, they should have kept him around another five years.

Los Angeles Chargers

Look, if the Chargers had fans, they’d be all over us for not taking this team seriously. They’ve got the same record as the Chiefs! But when the Chargers pull a stunt like they did last week — not even getting 200 yards of offense in a loss to Baltimore — we still won’t give them the benefit of the doubt.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Fourth, an old favorite around these parts, your Steeltown Steelers. This is a team that ought to be owning the AFC, and yet might be done with the season in just a few days. Sure, Steelers fans will blame everything from officials to JuJu Smith-Shuster’s hands, but the truth is this: this is a team that defeats itself more convincingly than any opponent ever could.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers have lost seven straight, so criticizing them at this point is like yelling at a kitten. But still … man, this is a team that had all the weapons and all the momentum early in the year, and they’ve just pinwheeled straight into the ground. Good news is that Cam Newton shouldn’t need surgery on his ailing shoulder. And … that’s the extent of the good news here.

Kansas City Chiefs (?)

And finally, the Chiefs, for the first time all season. Why? Well, consider this: the Chiefs have been involved in possibly the four greatest games all season, against the Patriots, Rams, Chargers, and last week, the Seahawks. But what do those games have in common? The Chiefs lost all of them. KC’s got to figure a way to stick the landing in these epic contests, or their season’s going to end too soon.

And that’ll do it for this week’s Sorry Six! Congratulations to our winners, and even more congratulations to the teams that didn’t make the list. See you back here next week with our season-ending roundup of the sorriest teams of the year!

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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