What FOUR teams are the biggest surprise at the halfway point?

[Rain Man]

They can be positive or negative surprises. Tell me about FOUR teams that are not where you expected them to be in the standings this year.

Poll coming faster than a Tyreek go route.

[Jewish Rabbi]

In befour poll

[ThaVirus]

Cowboys, Eagles, Panthers, and Vikings.

[Rain Man]

I'm not seeing a lot of positive surprises where a team is better than I expected. But I see several negative surprises. I would list my biggest surprises as:

1. Houston - Wow, 1-6? That team completely imploded. They should consider firing their coach and trading their best player.

2. Patriots - They're 2-5. Who says that dreams don't come true?

3. Vikings - I don't consider this team to be a powerhouse, but I would've guessed that they'd be above .500 and not wallowing around below the Lions.

4. 49ers - Yeah, they're at .500. But they sure had a short era of dominance, didn't they? I thought they'd be the conference favorite to lose to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl again.


If I had to pick positive surprises, they would be the Bears and the broncos. I didn't think the Bears would be bad, but I figured 3-5 was more likely than 5-3. We all know that they've gotten some lucky bounces. And as for the broncos, I pegged them for a 3 or 4 win team on the season. They're already at 3 and could even get to .500 by their eighth game. At this pace, they could potentially end up with more wins than Garrett Bolles can count.

[Jewish Rabbi]

I'm not seeing a lot of positive surprises where a team is better than I expected. But I see several negative surprises. I would list my biggest surprises as:

1. Houston - Wow, 1-6? That team completely imploded. They should consider firing their coach and trading their best player.

2. Patriots - They're 2-5. Who says that dreams don't come true?

3. Vikings - I don't consider this team to be a powerhouse, but I would've guessed that they'd be above .500 and not wallowing around below the Lions.

4. 49ers - Yeah, they're at .500. But they sure had a short era of dominance, didn't they? I thought they'd be the conference favorite to lose to the Chiefs in the Super Bowl again.


If I had to pick positive surprises, they would be the Bears and the broncos. I didn't think the Bears would be bad, but I figured 3-5 was more likely than 5-3. We all know that they've gotten some lucky bounces. And as for the broncos, I pegged them for a 3 or 4 win team on the season. They're already at 3 and could even get to .500 by their eighth game. At this pace, they could potentially end up with more wins than Garrett Bolles can count.

I chose Miami as a positive surprise. They could sneak into that last wild card spot, IMO.

[EPodolak]

Could end up the worst combined W-L for the Texas teams in a real long time.

[eDave]

Pit, SEA, Tampa, and Houston.

Hard to choose just 4

[EPodolak]

Surprised when an AZ team does this well, they'll contend all year. Kyler Murray being a very good NFL QB wasn't expected. Colts at 5-2 is another surprise, be surprised if that winning % holds up. Who would have thought after a few months the Texans and Niners would have fallen so far. It's like a pile-on that won't end for those two, after their devastating playoff losses.

[oldman]

On the plus side, I'd have to say the Bills and Chicago. Houston?? WTF is wrong there? Dallas, now having to play a clipboard holder at QB is something I didn't expect to see, either.

[tk13]

I chose Miami as a positive surprise. They could sneak into that last wild card spot, IMO.

They're going to be interesting to follow. They have the #1 ranked scoring defense which is usually super legit, but they're 20th in yards. You usually don't see a spread like that with the #1 defense so who knows how good they are.

At the same time they completely smashed the Niners and Rams, which are legit wins. And they have a very favorable schedule. Not hard at all to see them getting 9 or 10 wins if they keep playing like this. Tua's a real wildcard though.

[big nasty kcnut]

Surprised when an AZ team does this well, they'll contend all year. Kyler Murray being a very good NFL QB wasn't expected. Colts at 5-2 is another surprise, be surprised if that winning % holds up. Who would have thought after a few months the Texans and Niners would have fallen so far. It's like a pile-on that won't end for those two, after their devastating playoff losses.

Yeah they lost to somebody. Who was that team?

[St. Patty's Fire]

Steelers, Saints, and bears being this good

pats being this bad

[Sorry]

Niners purely due to injuries

[Rasputin]

The only team surprising me is Steelers I thought Ben Rapelessburger would have not been playing as well as he has and get hurt as usual . Other than that nothing is surprising.




I do think the Rona has hurt a lot of teams that they were limited in the off season and next years draft is going be a lot harder to find gems in late rounds.

[Rasputin]

On the plus side, I'd have to say the Bills and Chicago. Houston?? WTF is wrong there? Dallas, now having to play a clipboard holder at QB is something I didn't expect to see, either.


I always expect the Cowboys to be over rated and over hyped by media then my expectations be less than mediocrity and either barely make the playoffs and lose first round or 8-8 team this year they are below my expectations but I think it's funny long live JJ.

They need to quit calling the Cowboys "Americas team" Fuck the Cowboys

[RN47]

For no real reason, I assumed the Titans would not look as good as they do; maybe .500 at best. They had a great run last year, but it seemed to be fool's gold to bet on them in 2020.

Arizona not sucking surprised me-- I haven't seen any of their games yet, but Murray seems like he's actually talented and smart; unlike Lamar Jackson who would lose at tic-tac-toe to the chicken at the county fair.

New England being terrible is pure schadenfreude for everyone in the United States outside of a geographical area the size of Jerry Jones' ranch. I thought they'd actually surprise and do well this year. Instead they're just as bad as their dumb uniforms say they should be.

Cleveland being 5-3 and performing like a competent football team surprises me. About time, when you think about it.

[loochy]

I'll say Dallas and Houston for just being so terrible

[mililo4cpa]

Picked two in each category: Surprised in a "good" way, and surprised in a "bad" way. Of course, with only 4 choices some get left out

Better than expected:
Pittsburgh: no way would I think they'd be undefeated with a pillow soft schedule remaining. I don't think they will go undefeated nor win the top seed in the AFC, but they've been very good thus far
Chicago: If you told me at the start of the season that Foles would replace Trubisky in the first few games, I'd have said that the Bears were winless....at that point, they were 3-0. Now they're 5-3, beat a pretty good Bucs team, gave the Saints all they could handle, so even though I don't think they hold up for an entire season, they are in the thick of it now

Honorable Mention: Indy, AZ

Bad thus far:
Houston: Didn't think they'd fall that far off the cliff....Chiefs have ruined them
Dallas: Many pundits pre-season SB pick.....I personally didn't think that, but thought they'd be clear favorites in the NFC East, and they didn't look that way even with Dak in the picture, and sure as heck aren't that now

Honorable mention: Minn / NE

[Dunerdr]

Really its just Dallas and Hou for me. I figured Houston to be a .500 team without DHop. But Dallas would probably be about where id expect if Dak is healthy, not good but winning that division. I didnt expect the Eagles to be this bad, but theyve gotten consistently worse since winning the SB. I feel like theyre tryingt too hard to hang on to an aging team. Paying Alshon Jeffrey like a number one when hes never healthy.

[MahomesMagic]

Patriots for me. I think they survived the Covid opt outs but when they didn't practice for a few weeks they went into a tailspin they couldn't recover from.

Again, didn't think they would be great. Just better than what we've seen recently.

[Dunerdr]

Patriots for me. I think they survived the Covid opt outs but when they didn't practice for a few weeks they went into a tailspin they couldn't recover from.

Again, didn't think they would be great. Just better than what we've seen recently.
I guess people had more faith in Cam than i did. He was piss poor since the super bowl appearance in Carolina.

[KChiefs1]

1. Texans
2. Vikings
3. 49ers
4. Dolphins

[old_geezer]

Going up:
Arizona
Chicago

Going down:
Dallas
New England

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Surprisingly good:
Pittsburgh

Surprisingly bad:
Houston
Minnesota
New England

[Mama Hip Rockets]

I guess people had more faith in Cam than i did. He was piss poor since the super bowl appearance in Carolina.

I thought Cam would be pretty bad, but I still figured they'd be around a .500 team.

[kccrow]

Chicago - 5-3 is pretty respectable for a team that never seems to have much consistency, especially at the game's most important position.
Cleveland - 5-3 is doing well in a division that has some heavy hitters in PIT and BAL
Minnesota - 2-5 is not to the talent level of this team and I expected them to be in opposite positions with Chicago. That defense really imploded.
Houston - 1-6 is dreadful even with the trade of Hopkins. That offensive line is a revolving door though, but even then you'd have expected a playoff contender a year ago to at least be a .500 team.

[Easy 6]

AZ- noob gimmick college coach and his Mahomes-ish protege showing genuine potential

Pats- we knew they'd dip without Brady, but not quite to this extent... BB can't draft

Frisco- biggest Super Bowl loser meltdown I can remember

Bengals- Burrow is LEGIT, you can already feel his teammates drawing confidence from him... they're starting to believe

[jjchieffan]

I can't just pick 4. The league is just crazy this year. I didn't expect the Panthers as good as they've beei, or the Bucs for that matter. I thought that the lack of off-season would hurt them both more. The Raiders are better than I expected too Arizona and the Rams are also exceeding my expectations. I expected Pittsburgh to be better, but certainly not the last undefeated team. And let's not forget Miami. They traded away most of their talent last year and are in a rebuild. Yet here they are, second in their division and in the playoff hunt. Impressive. And that's just the positive surprises.
On the surprised list for the downside, there's Dallas, Houston, Minnesota, SF, and the Pats.

[ChiefBlueCFC]

For me: Minnesota, Dallas, Houston and Arizona

Maybe a lot wouldn't be surprised by Arizona given that they have a good defense, traded for DeAndre Hopkins and have a really electric and exciting QB, but I didn't think they would be as good as they have been so far.

[jdubya]

Raiders. They arguably had the toughest first 6 game schedule and I had them 1-5 or 1-6 before the year started. For them to have a winning record at this point is very surprising.

[el borracho]

Why is everybody surprised by Houston? Bill O'Brien has been ruining that team for years. A combination of bad trades and no draft picks has only one logical outcome- the 2020 Houston Texans.

[PAChiefsGuy]

Cowboys. Didn't expect their D to be this bad.

Rest - Falcons, Pats and Vikings

[scho63]

Not surprised by Pittsburgh on the plus side. I called that early on at the start of the season.

On the downside the Vikings. They just plain suck. Didn't see that

The Cowboys suck but no one predicted Dak would break and ankle so I can't count them.

[kccrow]

Why is everybody surprised by Houston? Bill O'Brien has been ruining that team for years. A combination of bad trades and no draft picks has only one logical outcome- the 2020 Houston Texans.

Disagree.

This is a team that had KC on the ropes last year and they are suddenly one of the worst teams in football? Nobody saw that type of drop-off coming.

Not all of O'Brien's trades were bad. I don't, personally, think the Tunsil trade was all that bad. He got, arguably, the top LT in the game and a solid #2 WR in Stills for what was expected to be two low 1sts and a 2nd with a 4th and 6th kicked back. The players the Texans threw in were dogshit.

They basically flipped Jadeveon Clowney for Gareon Conley, which didn't look like a terrible idea last year. Clowney was a classic underachiever that wanted a ton of money. They got a solid CB in Conley. The fact he got hurt this year and hasn't played doesn't mean the overall series of transactions was terrible. They at least got some potential with Jacob Martin as one of the players kicked into the Clowney deal.

The bad trades were sending a 3rd for Duke Johnson and Hopkins away for a 2nd (essentially). That Hopkins trade is a real head-scratcher but I have to believe there was a lot behind the scenes between coach and player. Hopkins was a 1st + talent. That said, his trade of a 2nd for Brandin Cooks to replace Hopkins was actually solid value. He got a receiver that put up 1,000-yard performances in 4 of 6 years and he's on near pace to do so again.

So no, I don't see 1-6 as the talent level of this team despite the trades. I see the issues as an inability to fill out his interior offensive line in order to keep the heat off of his QB and run the football. A close 2nd would be shoring up the second level of the defense. They can't stop the run and are middle of the pack against the pass. They need to upgrade every LB sans Zach Cunnigham and get a better NT. I didn't see those as 1-6 issues heading in though.

[Megatron96]

I voted the other day, but now I'm not sure which teams I voted for exactly.

Anyway, I know I voted for both HOU and DAL.

Even though HOU has been teetering on the brink for a couple years now, it's still a little surprising to me that they've collapsed the way they have to start this season. I guess the piece that Jenga'd them was DHop. As long as he was there they could be competitive with a bad OL and a bad defense. Once he was traded by the dunce of the century everything kind of deflated.

DAL hasn't been able to maximize the talent on their rosters for over a decade now it feels like, but this year the wheels came off finally. And I had them winning their division with a 11-5 record this season, mostly because of the change in leadership with McCarthy. Really missed on that one.

I guess SF. Mostly I was surprised by the number of injuries to key starters all at once right at the beginning of the season. When you run down the list it's kind of shocking.

Nick Bosa, George Kittle, Richard Sherman, Jimmy Garoppolo, E. Moseley, Dee Ford, T. Coleman, Raheem Mostert, Ben Garland, E. Ansah, Jordan Reed, Jalen Hurd, etc. Basically just about every starter you can think of has been out for the season. I may be wrong, but I think I've never seen one team suffer through this many injuries to their starting line up before.

CHI. Their record is frankly shocking. Especially how they started, going 5-1. Even at 5-3 their current record is a little surprising because they are just awful.

Whoops, forgot to include a pleasant surprise.

How about ARI? I knew that Kyler would be good eventually, but I didn't have high hopes for the rest of the team. And they proved me wrong. They are definitely better than I expected them to be record-wise, and even though they play pretty sloppy at times they look like they are on their way to being really competitive sooner rather than later.

[TimeForWasp]

Pit, Tampa and Cards. Didn't think they would be this good.

Didn't think the Pats would be this bad.

Also Didnt think the Cowgirls would be this bad, but, Injury is the biggest reason for that.

[Buehler445]

I have Buffalo on the plus side. Now that MIA is rolling a rook, they probably have the division locked up. For a few weeks now. Who would have thought that could happen in a world that Belicheat still lives.

On the negative I have Brotherfucking Cheatriot. I thought those guys had the division forever. I knew cam sucked but it’s remarkable how unapologetically bad that team is on the offensive side of the ball. They are horribad. It warms my soul. Fuck all things Cheatriot.

Cowbitches. LOL @ Cowbitches.

Houston. They’re the Enron stock of the NFL.

[htismaqe]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.

[htismaqe]

Why is everybody surprised by Houston? Bill O'Brien has been ruining that team for years. A combination of bad trades and no draft picks has only one logical outcome- the 2020 Houston Texans.

Nobody expected the Texans to be 1-6. Don't even pretend you did.

[Buehler445]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.

To be fair it was reasonable to assume Rape was done. He might yet be. But he’s got enough to keep the defenses honest. Unlike Duck Dodger or whoever it was.

But yeah. There is enough talent on the team to make noise even if elite is off the table.

[St. Patty's Fire]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.

i can't speak for anyone else but I was 100% certain Houston was going to suck ass this year

they were a broken team after trading Hopkins

[CatfishBob2]

Pittsburgh was in the playoff hunt with with garbage at QB last year. Big Ben + nice draft was the easiest call of them all.
I thought Miami would be looking at at least another top ten pick this year. And I thought Dak would make a super bowl run and earn a big payday

[htismaqe]

To be fair it was reasonable to assume Rape was done. He might yet be. But he’s got enough to keep the defenses honest. Unlike Duck Dodger or whoever it was.

But yeah. There is enough talent on the team to make noise even if elite is off the table.

You have to look at their schedule too. They haven't really played anybody other than Baltimore and I had them winning that game 4 months ago.

[htismaqe]

i can't speak for anyone else but I was 100% certain Houston was going to suck ass this year

they were a broken team after trading Hopkins

You expected them to be 1-6?

[St. Patty's Fire]

You expected them to be 1-6?

Definitely below .500. Did not expect them to be competitive. Especially with the schedule they've had.

BoB not only destroyed that team's roster, he destroyed their soul.

[Rain Man]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.


I had Pittsburgh penciled in as a .500 team or a bit below. I had Houston penciled in as an above .500 team. Both are surprises to me, but Pittsburgh is less of a surprise. Houston was a playoff team last year, and this year it looks like they're being run by John Elway.*

I think that Houston was killed by internal strife rather than anything related to football. You look at BoB being fired so early in the season, and it tells you that there was a player rebellion. It's clear that the players liked Hopkins a lot more than they liked O'Brien.



* I saw an opportunity to slam Elway even though it was unrelated. Sue me.

[mililo4cpa]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.

I initially thought that they would be good, but the wild card going into the season was how well Big Ben would come back from injury. At his age, and with his mileage, there was no certainty that he'd perform well. If he was BB of old, then I thought they should be a very good team, but if his performance was average to poor, then they would range from Good to average with total reliance on the D.

Now, let's be honest: Big Ben has been very mediocre thus far, but here they are undefeated. I don't think that will hold up over 16 games, but a mediocre Ben would have never come with an undefeated tag after 7 games, hence my surprise

[Priest31kc]

I can't believe more people are surprised by Pittsburgh than by Houston.

Some of us were talking about the Steelers before the season even started.

Yep I said before the season that Pittsburgh would be better than Baltimore and probably be our top competition in the AFC.

I also picked Indy to win the South & Minnesota & Houston to fall off. Tennessee might win the South but Indy is right there & their defense is great.

But I was wrong on New England, Atlanta, Dallas & the Chargers. I picked NE & Dallas to win their divisions & ATL & the Chargers as WCs.