If you’re a fan of the Steelers, Cowboys, Patriots and Lions (yes, the Lions), you’ll have the opportunity to watch your team in a prime time telecast next season — provided, of course, that millionaires and billionaires can come to a resolution on how to divvy up the NFL pot and end the lockout. Irrespective of the NFL labor situation, five teams are not scheduled to ply their wares on national television next season, thanks in part to their inability to be good in 2010. They are the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals and Carolina Panthers.
The Cardinals were in the playoffs just two seasons ago (and in the Super Bowl three years ago), while the Bengals won the AFC North in 2009. In fact, the Titans and the Panthers were also playoff teams in recent years, so their return to relevance (and national television exposure) could return as quickly as it dissipated. The Bills, meanwhile, showed promising signs last year, losing close games to Pittsburgh (thanks, Stevie Johnson), Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago.
If one of these five teams has surprisingly good seasons in 2011, they can be “flexed” into a Sunday night broadcast on NBC. So hope is not completely lost.