The NFL is Unpredictable and I Love It
The NFL can be described with a lot of different words. Predictable is not one of them. Every season we listen to experts tell us what they think is going to happen over the course of the season. What I’ve learned is nobody knows what the hell they are talking about. It truly is a week-to-week league. Sure, at the end of the year some of the preseason favorites will be in the mix, but we will also undoubtedly be wrong about plenty of teams. We are (almost) through four weeks of the season, and we have already seen our fair share of surprises. Here’s a look at what has been most surprising to me:
The Titans are 3-1
I have no clue how this has happened. The Titans have victories over the defending champion Eagles and the Jaguars. Coming into Week 4, Mariota had not scored a TD all season. Every game they play is ugly as hell, but they find a way to win. I’d say it’s a fluke, but again, they beat the Eagles and Jags. Their games aren’t necessarily fun to watch, but they are pulling it off so far.
The AFC North
This division is intriguing as hell. The Bengals and Ravens are on top with 3-1 records. Both teams look better than anticipated coming into the season. But the real surprise here is the Steelers. They sit at the bottom of the division with a 1-2-1 record, and have already lost to the Ravens and tied the Browns. They look completely lost with Le’Veon Bell, who has given up about $3.4 million dollars by not playing for the team. Then we have the Browns, who may be the most intriguing team in the league. Here’s a list of what they have done:
- Tied the Steelers in Week 1
- Blew a late lead against the Saints, while holding Brees and Co. to 21 points
- Baker Mayfield comes into the game against the Jets and pulls off a comeback win
- Got absolutely screwed on multiple occasions, which helped them blow a late lead and lose in OT to the freaking Raiders
The look so much better. They look like they could legitimately compete this year, but they are still the Browns. They are still finding ways to inexplicably lose games. However, every game has been crazy, and they might be must watch TV going forward.
The Redskins Lead the NFC East
The Skins have looked great in 2/3 games. The lone loss came against the Colts, who seem to be better than people think. The defense is legit – coming into Week 4 only the Jags had allowed fewer points to opposing offenses. If they can get the offense rolling, they could be dangerous. The Giants are terrible, and the Cowboys aren’t much to worry about with their putrid offense. The question here is how good are the Eagles? So far, they haven’t looked great, and they face the Vikings, Panthers, and Jags in three of the next four weeks. This could get really interesting…
The Falcons are 1-3
The Falcons are all alone in last place in the NFC South. They can’t stop anybody, and they face a desperate Steelers team next week. Julio Jones is currently on pace for over 2,000 receiving yards and 0 TDs. That shouldn’t be possible. They are in danger of digging too deep of a hole to climb out of.
The Vikings are 1-2-1
Kirk Cousins got a boatload of money (all guaranteed), and has proceeded to win one out of the first four games. Yea I know, it’s not all his fault, but if you had told me that at the beginning of the season, I would have thought you were crazy. Their defense looks atrocious so far, and they haven’t shown much of a run game. Apparently Kirk likes playing for teams like that.
Passing Stats are Out of Control
Patrick Mahomes hasn’t even played his fourth game yet, and he already leads the league with 13 passing TDs (and ZERO interceptions). Second place? A tie between Goff, Fitzpatrick, Dalton, and Rivers with 11 TDs. I’m sure you saw that coming. There’s also already been four games with a QB throwing 5 TD passes so far:
- Matt Ryan – 5
- Jared Goff – 5
- Mitch Trubisky – 6
- Patrick Mahomes – 6
Big Ben and Jared Goff are on pace for 5,600 passing yards. Mahomes is on pace for 69 TDs. Obviously that won’t happen, but even with some regression we are talking about stats that are absolutely bananas. Maybe even more surprising – I didn’t mention Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, or Drew Brees in any of those stats.
Bring on Week 5!
