Halfway through season, surprises are everywhere
Football is a game of misdirection and disguise, and there have been plenty of both in the NFL this season.
Typically, the only certainty about the league has been its unpredictability.
The Philadelphia Eagles are soaring, the Rams are rising, the New England Patriots are starting to show their age and no one knows what to make of the Miami Dolphins.
Some of the game’s biggest stars — Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt, Odell Beckham Jr. — are injured and watching from the sideline as a new wave of talent emerges.
With the league approaching the midway point of the regular season, some of the surprises so far:
The arrival of Jared Goff — The Rams were 0-7 with Goff as their starter last season, and their offense was bogged down. While not everyone wrote Goff off as a bust, it certainly looked like the club wildly overpaid for him by trading all the way up to the No. 1 spot. So far, he’s the best quarterback in the NFC West, among the more composed and consistent in the league, and the Rams are 5-2. Shows what good coaching — along with a revitalized running back, sure-handed receivers and suddenly solid offensive line — can do.
Where did you go, Andrew Luck? — It feels like 2011 again for Indianapolis, when we never knew for sure whether Peyton Manning would be back. He never returned to the Colts after those four neck procedures (but would relaunch his career in Denver, getting the Broncos to two Super Bowls.) With Luck, who’s coming off shoulder surgery, the question persists: When is he returning to play?
Bolts are recharged — Really, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Chargers are digging their way out of a hole. It seems to happen every season. They were on the road to irrelevance at 0-4, but they’ve regained their footing with three consecutive victories and are back in the AFC West race. A lot of credit goes to the defensive front, which has caused all sorts of problems for opposing quarterbacks.
Wentzylvania — Carson Wentz was good as a Philadelphia rookie last season, but he’s really rounding into a star now. He’s poised in the pocket and can run (and with power) when the opportunity is right. He’s got the qualities of a healthy Luck. The bigger surprise on the Eagles has been the play of receiver Nelson Agholor, the former USC standout and 2015 first-round pick who has five touchdowns this season after scoring only three in his first two seasons.
The Cowboys are mediocre — Six games into its schedule and 3-3, Dallas has matched last season’s loss total. The team is 1-2 at home, and the luster is off the dynamic duo of Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. Fans even seem to be tuning out (a bit) as last Sunday’s game against San Francisco scored a 25.2 rating in Dallas. That’s the lowest since a 2015 Thanksgiving Day game against Carolina — and Thanksgiving ratings tend to be lower because people often are out of the house and watching in groups.
Broncos busted — Denver is as one-sided as the Rams were last year. The Broncos are totally reliant on their No. 1 defense to keep them in games. They’re 3-3 with 11 touchdowns. Remember when Manning had seven touchdowns in one game? Feels like a century ago.
Trick or tweet — No matter where you fall on the kneeling-during-theanthem protests, it’s pretty weird that the NFL has gotten so much attention on President Trump’s Twitter feed. Typically, the only talk of knees at this point in the season is chatter about injured ones.
Afterthought no longer — Jacksonville is for real, with a league-leading 33 sacks — Carolina is second with 24 — and 10 interceptions, second to Baltimore (12). The Jaguars can get the job done on the offense, too, with the No. 1 rushing attack and 10thranked offense overall. This can’t be ignored: Jacksonville is second in turnover differential at plus-8, with Buffalo leading at plus-10. Worst in the league? Winless Cleveland at minus-11.
Out of nowhere — The little-known Alex Collins is leading Baltimore in rushing and ran for 113 yards in the Ravens’ blowout of Miami on Thursday, becoming the team’s first player to break the 100-yard mark in more than a year. He was cut by Seattle and wasn’t on Baltimore’s active roster until Week 2. He’s also a talented Irish dancer, meaning he and Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, an accomplished opera singer, could put on a pretty good Broadway show.
It’s elementary — No list of NFL surprises is complete without mention of the remarkable emergence of Houston rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Texans have averaged 34 points per game in Watson’s five starts and have new life despite some crucial injuries. The third quarterback selected in last spring’s draft behind Mitchell Trubisky and Patrick Mahomes, Watson set a rookie record by needing only six games to throw his first 15 touchdown passes.
Razor’s edge — Once all but unbeatable at home, New England has lost two games this season at Gillette Stadium, and the team looks vulnerable. Tom Brady is still going strong at age 40, but that Patriots defense is ranked last in the league and has to cope with the loss of star linebacker Dont’a Hightower. Good time for the Chargers to catch them at home.
Clipped wings — What happened to that high-flying Atlanta Falcons offense? Kyle Shanahan, who drew up the plays last season, is now head coach in San Francisco (where the 49ers are still looking for their first win), and Steve Sarkisian is offensive coordinator in Atlanta. That transition has not gone smoothly, and the 3-3 Falcons have lost three games in a row, most recently 23-7 in a Super Bowl rematch with the Patriots. In fairness, Atlanta’s defense has been lousy too.
Anyone’s guess — The wackiest division has been the AFC East, where the Patriots have taken a step back, Buffalo and the New York Jets have been surprisingly competitive, and Miami has been all over the map. The Dolphins had won three games in a row before a forehead-slapping 40-0 loss at Baltimore that underscored the unpredictability of this season.