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typically start leaving their stations each January Rodney Hudson Jersey , when new head coaches are hired and fan bases are fired up about the fresh start that sends hope soaring high like the football in the air on the opening kickoff of a game.There’s another round of departures in March, when the biggest-buck free agent contracts are signed to put some of the highest-profile players in the league on new teams snatching up missing pieces to their Super Bowl puzzles. Then, the first-round draft picks clamber aboard at the end of April.By December, well, the derailments are inevitable.From Le’Veon Bell to Jon Gruden to Leonard Fournette, here’s a pick-six of the biggest disappointments in the NFL this year:NO-SHOWThe millions of fantasy football players who snagged Bell for a seeming bargain in their auctions and drafts would wholeheartedly agree, though the Pittsburgh Steelers survived the absence of the two-time All-Pro running back due to the emergence of James Conner and, most recently, Jaylen Samuels.Bell bet on himself, steadfastly refusing to sign his franchise tender without the promise of a contract extension one of the sport’s most dangerous positions and ultimately accepting his ineligibility for the season . The Steelers didn’t blink, either, and Bell will assumedly restart his career with another team in 2019.CHALLENGE FOR CHUCKYThe Oakland Raiders, eyeing an eventual move to Las Vegas, gave Jon Gruden a 10-year contract worth about $100 million to return to the franchise he got his start with as a head coach.The Raiders are in this for the long haul, after burning through nine head coaches in the 16 seasons that passed after Gruden shed his silver and black. Their 3-11 record two years after a 12-4 finish, however, is a shaker of salt in the wound for the Bay Area loyalists on the verge of losing their team. Watching traded stars Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper thrive elsewhere has only made this season hurt worse. No team has been easier to score on this year than the Raiders, with an average of nearly 30 points allowed per game.SOPHOMORE SLUMPPart a strong crop of rookie running backs last season, Leonard Fournette finished fifth in the league in yards rushing per game as the Jacksonville Jaguars came so close to beating the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game. The Jaguars as a team would qualify as the league’s biggest letdown, so Fournette is hardly alone. But even with a mulligan for missing six games because of a hamstring injury, Fournette has taken a clear step back.The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft has averaged only 3.4 yards per attempt (46th in the NFL) and 56.6 rushing yards per game (24th in the NFL). Last week in a three-point loss to Washington, Fournette spent most of the second half on the sideline while undrafted rookie Dave Williams ate into his playing time.TOUGH TIMES FOR TOP-10 QUARTERBACKSDrafting a quarterback in the first round is a decision made with as much long-term view as any in the league, and success for rookies at this high-pressure position can be awfully difficult without strong supporting casts.Still, more and more quarterbacks in their early 20s are coming to the NFL with the skills to be an instant success, and given the impatient nature of a results-driven culture there’s been no shortage of complaints about Sam Darnold (third overall pick), Josh Allen (seventh overall pick) and Josh Rosen (10th overall pick), particularly when judging them against first overall pick Baker Mayfield’s late-season surge with the Cleveland Browns. With a combined 30 touchdown passes against 38 interceptions, Darnold Hunter Renfrow Oakland Raiders Jersey , Allen and Rosen have displayed a need for more experience and more help. The New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals have a collective record of 12-20.KICKING IT AWAYSure, Chicago and Green Bay play on grass in cold climates, but Minnesota and Detroit have indoor stadiums. NFC North teams have enjoyed a long line of successful kickers. This year, though, has been a struggle, with 12-year veteran Matt Prater of the Lions the only specialist whose season has become a story. The Vikings cut rookie Daniel Carlson after two games and three missed field goals that cost them a victory against the rival Packers, who had their own issues with Mason Crosby. Cody Parkey ranks 28th in field goal percentage for the Bears, one spot behind Crosby.SO MUCH FOR DRAMAThat last-second 2-point conversion the Los Angeles Chargers used to win at Kansas City and tie the Chiefs for the AFC West lead turned that division race into a December thriller. That’s the exception , though, with the Bears, New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Rams already in possession of top-four seeds in the NFC and the New England Patriots and Houston Texans holding two-game leads in their divisions with two games to play. That three-team race in the NFC East has been muted by all that mediocrity. The Baltimore Ravens, at least, have made the AFC North a legitimate competition with the Steelers. CARSON, Calif. (AP) — Although Jon Gruden is still settling back into coaching, he watched more than enough football from the broadcast booth over the past decade to know that the only logical thing to do with the ball on the goal line is to give it to Marshawn Lynch.And no matter what happens, definitely don’t call a pass instead.Just ask Pete Carroll — or, better yet, don’t.But the Oakland Raiders‘ new boss deliberately didn’t activate Beast Mode with first down on the Chargers‘ 1 late in the third quarter Sunday while the Raiders (1-4) were desperately trying to cut into a 20-3 deficit.Gruden called a play-action pass for Derek Carr, who promptly threw an end-zone interception to Los Angeles star Melvin Ingram.The Chargers also stole the Raiders’ momentum, made a 96-yard touchdown drive and cruised to a 26-10 victory over their longtime AFC West rivals, who still haven’t figured out how to maximize their opportunities during Gruden’s first year back.“The decision there was to throw it, and if it’s not open, to throw it away,” Gruden said. “It just didn’t work out. We expected to have a wide-open receiver on the play. Obviously that will be second-guessed. Rightfully so. But we should have made that (deliberately incomplete) throw down there, and live to hand the ball off on the next play.”Gruden’s brazen defiance of conventional Lynch wisdom dearly cost him and his team — and he can count his workhorse running back among those second-guessers he mentioned.Lynch was visibly upset on the sideline, tossing his helmet in the air and yelling loudly to himself while undoubtedly reliving memories of his Seattle Seahawks’ final play in the February 2015 Super Bowl.Carr also realized the folly of what happened. After all, when Lynch joined his hometown Raiders last year Hunter Renfrow Oakland Raiders Jersey , Carr famously said there was “no way we’ll be on the 1-yard line and I won’t give it to Marshawn.”Gruden took the blame for the call, but also gently chided his quarterback for not executing at the pivotal moment.“First-and-goal at the 1, faking to Lynch has been a great call for a lot of years,” Gruden claimed. “I think (Carr) just presses at some moments.”Carr, who went 24 of 33 for 268 yards and one late touchdown, readily agreed with his new boss’ assessment of his predilection for pressing.“Absolutely. There’s no doubt,” Carr said. “That’s always been a problem of mine. It’s not a problem, it’s a weakness, is I’ve always just tried to do too much. It’s not always about heart. I just want to win so bad.”Carr also gave the Chargers credit on the interception, noting that his first two options were covered.“They did a great job, because on film it looked great, to be honest with you,” Carr said. “Obviously, Marshawn, we love to give him the ball and stuff like that, but we had seen some things they showed on film, and it was like, ‘This should be good.’ Obviously they covered it. Didn’t work.”The Raiders’ offensive failures weren’t limited to that one play-call on the Chargers’ goal line. Los Angeles outgained Oakland 412 yards to 289, and the Raiders’ offense managed only 14 first downs and a mere 41 yards rushing.After Amari Cooper had eight catches for 128 yards and a touchdown last week against Cleveland, the receiver had one catch for 10 yards on his only target against Los Angeles. Carr defended his inability to get the ball to Cooper, saying the Chargers were keyed on stopping the playmaking pass-catcher.Although Gruden and Carr have only one win together, they still appear to be connecting on the plan to build a long-term foundation for the Raiders.“We’re in such a production-oriented business,” Carr said. “We forget the process of things, and if you start getting down during the process, there’s never going to be any production. So when it happens like this, you stay the course and you keep going. You come out here and you don’t quit on what you’ve been doing.”