The 2011 season was the St. Louis Rams' 74th in the National Football League (NFL), their 17th in St. Louis, and their third and final season under head coach Steve Spagnuolo. They finished with a 2–14 record, a failure to improve on their 7–9 record from 2010. The day after the season finale, head coach Steve Spagnuolo and general manager Billy Devaney were fired from the team.
The 2011 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 92nd in the National Football League (NFL), their 24th in Arizona and their fifth under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. This was going to be the Cardinals first season with new starting quarterback Kevin Kolb, but he was injured and replaced by John Skelton. Despite a 1-6 start the Cardinals managed to win 7 out of 9 games, including a stunning upset against the San Francisco 49ers in week 14. The team improved on their 5–11 record from the 2010 season, but missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season.
The 2011 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 46th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the fourth under head coach Mike Smith.
The 2011 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bison were led by ninth year head coach Craig Bohl and played their home games at the Fargodome. They are a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference. They finished the season 14–1, 7–1 in MVFC play to share the conference title with Northern Iowa.
The 2012 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 93rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 25th in Arizona, and their sixth and final season under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. After a surprising 4–0 start, which included a major upset of the New England Patriots in week 2, the Cardinals lost 11 of their final 12 games, and missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, resulting in the firing of head coach Ken Whisenhunt after six seasons. This was Rod Graves' last season as general manager of the Cardinals. A day after the final game of the regular season, he was fired after 6 seasons.
The 2012 season was the New Orleans Saints' 46th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 37th playing home games at the Superdome. The Saints head coach was Sean Payton, but he was suspended by the NFL for the entire season as part of the punishment for the team's bounty scandal. On April 12, 2012, linebackers coach Joe Vitt was named interim head coach to replace Payton while he was suspended. On August 22, 2012, it was announced that Aaron Kromer would take over while Vitt himself served a six-game suspension to start the regular season. The Saints attempted to make history as the first host team to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, but they were eliminated from post-season contention for the first time since 2008 in Week 16. The Saints set an NFL record for most yards given up by a defense, 7,042 yards, surpassing the 1981 Baltimore Colts record of 6,793 yards.
The 2013 season was the St. Louis Rams' 76th in the National Football League (NFL), their 19th in St. Louis and their second under head coach Jeff Fisher. The Rams equaled their win total from 2012, but missed the playoffs for a ninth consecutive season.
The 2014 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 95th in the National Football League (NFL), their 27th in Arizona and their second under head coach Bruce Arians. Following an explosive 9–1 start to the regular season, they finished at 11–5, achieving their highest win total since 1975 when they were still in St. Louis. The Cardinals clinched their first playoff berth since 2009, and had a chance to become the first team to try to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, University of Phoenix Stadium. However, after season-ending injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton, they were forced to start third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley in the wild-card round, losing to the Carolina Panthers, 27–16.
The 2014 Atlanta Falcons season was the franchise's 49th season in the National Football League (NFL) and the seventh and final under head coach Mike Smith. The Falcons were defeated by the Carolina Panthers in week 17, officially eliminating them from postseason contention for the second straight year. As a result, Smith was fired after his seventh year as head coach, after two straight years with a losing record.
The 2014 season was the New Orleans Saints' 48th in the National Football League (NFL), their 39th playing home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and their eighth under head coach Sean Payton.
The 2016 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho in the Sun Belt Conference during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by fourth-year head coach Paul Petrino, the Vandals played their home games on campus at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. A football-only member of the Sun Belt, Idaho finished the regular season at 8–4.
The 2017 season was the New Orleans Saints' 51st in the National Football League (NFL), their 42nd playing home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and their 11th under head coach Sean Payton. The team improved on their 7–9 output from the previous season, while achieving an eight-game winning streak after losing their first two contests, their longest streak since 2009, when they won Super Bowl XLIV. In Week 13 the Saints clinched their first winning season since 2013 and swept the Carolina Panthers for the first time since 2011. In Week 16, the Saints clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 2013 by defeating the Atlanta Falcons. In Week 17, the Saints clinched the NFC South for the first time since 2011 with the Panthers loss to the Falcons. This was the first of four consecutive NFC South titles for the Saints. On January 7, 2018 the Saints played their divisional rival Carolina Panthers in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. They beat Carolina 31–26 in the Wild Card, but lost 29–24 to the Minnesota Vikings in the Divisional Round in a shocking ending.
The 2019 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Matt Entz. The team played in the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota, for the 27th season as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). They entered the season as defending national champions, having won seven of the prior eight FCS titles. In 2019, the Bison finished the regular season 12–0, the second consecutive undefeated Bison season, and won their ninth consecutive MVFC title. They received an automatic qualifying bid to the FCS playoff tournament and were seeded as the No. 1 team. The Bison then went 4–0 in the FCS playoffs to finish 16–0 as FCS champions, becoming the first team at any level of college football to finish a season 16–0 since Yale in 1894. They also extended their FCS-record winning streak to 37 games.
The 2021 North Dakota State Bison football team represented the North Dakota State University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bison competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by third-year head coach Matt Entz. They played their home games at Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
The 2021 South Dakota Coyotes football team represented the University of South Dakota in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Coyotes competed as members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference and were led by sixth-year head coach Bob Nielson. They played their home games at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota.
The 2022 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bison were led by fourth-year head coach Matt Entz. They played their home games at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
The Bison finished their regular season with an overall record of 9–2 and 7–1 in MVFC play. NDSU received the number 3 overall seed in the FCS playoffs. The Bison then beat Montana in the second round, Samford in the quarterfinals, and Incarnate Word in the semifinals, before falling to topseed and archrival South Dakota State in the FCS National Championship. This was the program's first loss in the FCS title game, and only their third ever loss in a title game at any level.
The 2023 Syracuse Orange football team represented Syracuse University during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Orange played their home games at the JMA Wireless Dome, competing as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They were led by eighth-year head coach Dino Babers before his firing on November 19, 2023. Tight ends' coach Nunzio Campanile served as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
The 2023 Lamar Cardinals football team represented Lamar University in the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Cardinals played their home games at Provost Umphrey Stadium in Beaumont, Texas, and competed in the Southland Conference. They were led by first–year head coach Pete Rossomando. The Cardinals finished the season with a 6–5 overall record, and a 5–2 record in Southland Conference play for a third-place conference finish. The 2023 season was the first season since 2018 with an overall winning record.
The 2023 North Dakota State Bison football team represented North Dakota State University as a member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bison were led by fifth-year head coach Matt Entz. Following the season he was hired by USC as the team's linebackers coach. The Bison played home games at the Fargodome in Fargo, North Dakota.
The 2023 Sacramento State Hornets football team represented California State University, Sacramento as a member of the Big Sky Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Andy Thompson, the Hornets played home games at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.