Which Team Is The Biggest Surprise, And The Biggest Disappointment?

[Diehard Otis]

It's pretty self explanatory folks.  As this thread is being created, it's the night before the Thursday game that kicks off Week 11.  Therefore, we've seen enough to suggest that we more-or-less know what we're getting (from most teams) this year.  Of course there's always a team or 2 that starts hot, then fades late.  And naturally, a squad out there that's started slow will catch fire.  We know this.  

But right now, which team has surprised you the most?  Either conference, doesn't matter.  Conversely, which team do you feel has disappointed the most?  

Why?
------------------------
I'll go 1st.

The team that has surprised me the MOST is The Hated Rival.  Being good is one thing (which did surprise me), but running away from the rest of The League?  I did not expect that.  Although Seattle is the NFC's best team in my opinion, the NFC East team in Texas could wind up with Homefield Advantage in The Playoffs!  Didn't see that coming.

As for the team that disappointed me, that's Pittsburgh.  Not only did they completely fool me by coming into FedEx Week 1 & hammering us, I don't think they've beaten a single team worth a damn since.  Their rival Baltimore almost shut them out, Philly humiliated 'em, and The Hated Rival ripped their hearts out IN PITTSBURGH!!  I thought the Steelers were made of sterner stuff than that.

(Honorable Mention: Philly, most surprising: Cincinnati, most disappointing)

Who's yours? 

[Cooleyfan1993]

I'd choose Dallas as both most surprising AND most disappointing ? Surprised that they're 8-1, and disappointed that they're 8-1. 

But jokes aside, most surprising to me is Oakland. I didn't expect them to be this good. Most disappointing to me would have to be the bengals as well. They haven't been good lately and are now 3-5-1 I think. 

[Diehard Otis]

Yeah, I didn't expect the Raiders to be in 1st, but I figured them to be good.  They are surprising, but our Rivals trumped them in the degree of their success.

[Warhead36]

Surprise: Detroit. Didn't think they'd be anything close to a playoff team. Stafford has evolved from erratic inconsistent streaky mess to legit MVP candidate.

Disappointing: Pittsburgh. I know they've injuries but they were my preseason Super Bowl pick. Right now they don't even look like a playoff team.

[Taco Bell]

Surprise to me are the Raiders. When you look at their roster, it's easy to see why they could be good, Carr, Mack, Cooper, Crabtree, O line, etc., but they are historically maligned, like our franchise, so it just looks surreal that they are 7-2.  The cowboys have had top notch records in semi recent memory, so they maximizing their roster (in the regular season) isn't all that surprising. Dak is the surprise, not the Cowboys necessarily. 

It's a strange year where no team has had a massive implosion, it's more a bunch of teams having minor ones.  I'd say it's either CAR, MIN, PIT, or GB.  And then ARI, IND, and CIN are all close behind.  My personal pick for this one is Minnesota. I know CAR looks like an easy choice on paper going from SB to 3-6, but Minnesota seems to be the ones going through the most upheaval in their struggle, even with a still current winning record.

Their franchise QB is gone for who knows how long, they traded premium picks for another QB out of desperation, they've relieved their OC, and they've changed kickers during a losing streak.  This is the EXACT reason why the offseason we got Gruden I figured he was our personal best choice.  A guy like Zimmer - who more or less inferred it himself - would not have lasted on our franchise because he seems to operate on a zero-tolerance scorched earth policy.  He mortgaged the future for this year on a team that didn't need to, and clearly likes to play the blame game with his team pre-maturely.  If he doesn't salvage this year he's most likely coaching for his job in 2017 despite seeming to gain job security by changing their culture last year.

[Destino]

The biggest disappointment has to be Carolina even if it is a boring obvious choice.  Cam won MVP and the Panthers lost just two games last season, and one of them was the superbowl.  ...and now they are 3-6 with a QB that's received more media coverage for complaining about hits than for his play.  There are other teams that have failed to meet expectations but the Panthers went off a cliff when expectations were they'd be a contender. 

Biggest surprise is unfortunately the cowboys.  8-1 without Romo?  Unthinkable.  Not only did the ****s pull a QB out of thin air, they landed the next superstar running back in the same draft.  This is horrible, hopefully Jerry Jones finds a way to screw it up.   

[MisterPinstripe]

5 hours ago, Destino said:

The biggest disappointment has to be Carolina even if it is a boring obvious choice.  Cam won MVP and the Panthers lost just two games last season, and one of them was the superbowl.  ...and now they are 3-6 with a QB that's received more media coverage for complaining about hits than for his play.  There are other teams that have failed to meet expectations but the Panthers went off a cliff when expectations were they'd be a contender. 

Biggest surprise is unfortunately the cowboys.  8-1 without Romo?  Unthinkable.  Not only did the ****s pull a QB out of thin air, they landed the next superstar running back in the same draft.  This is horrible, hopefully Jerry Jones finds a way to screw it up.   

Im hoping that Dak falls back down to earth once teams get pressure on him. He has about an hour to throw each time he drops back, that OL is the MVP.

[Califan007 The Constipated]

Texans are the biggest surprise for me. I expected the Cowboys to be good--maybe not 8-1 good, though lol....but with that OLilne and Elliott, I expected them to be good even without Romo behind center after seeing Dak in preseason.

Caronlina, biggest disappointment.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

On November 17, 2016 at 7:53 PM, Califan007 said:

Texans are the biggest surprise for me. I expected the Cowboys to be good--maybe not 8-1 good, though lol....but with that OLilne and Elliott, I expected them to be good even without Romo behind center after seeing Dak in preseason.

Caronlina, biggest disappointment.

How are the Texans the biggest surprise though, when they won their division last year? At 6-3, they are basically on pace to repeat what they did in 2015.

Destino nailed both of them. Dallas was 4-12 last year. They're 8-1, and have the best record in the league, with a rookie RB and QB...with each playing at an MVP level.

And, as D pointed out, the Panthers were 17-2 last year. Through 9 games, they've already lost 3 times as many games as they did all of last season.

Also, I'm dumbfounded that a few people chose Oakland. What they are doing isn't all that surprising at all. 

[Busch1724]

Agree with all this here, but I'll add to the disappointment list. The Jaguars were expected to take the leap but have not. 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

12 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

How are the Texans the biggest surprise, when they won their division last year?..lol At 6-3, they are basically on pace to repeat what they did in 2015.

Zero faith in Osweiler and when Watt went on IR it just solidified to me that they'd have a losing season easily. Didn't see them beating the Chiefs or even the Lions.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

49 minutes ago, Califan007 said:

Zero faith in Osweiler and when Watt went on IR it just solidified to me that they'd have a losing season easily. Didn't see them beating the Chiefs or even the Lions.

Osweiler has actually been terrible. And Miller and Hopkins haven't done much either. They are still winning, thanks to the other two phases of the game. 

I actually thought their record would be about what it is now. Only, I thought Osweiler would be an upgrade over the trash they had at QB the past few years. I can't believe he's been this bad, when he has two weapons like that at RB and WR.

Think they are something like 5-0 at home. And they'll need to keep that up to hold off the fast charging Titans. Talk about a team on the rise. Love what they are building there. I'm close to writing off the Colts. They just don't have enough pieces around Luck to be a contender.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

3 hours ago, Busch1724 said:

Agree with all this here, but I'll add to the disappointment list. The Jaguars were expected to take the leap but have not. 

They really have been awful.

[Wildbunny]

4 hours ago, Busch1724 said:

Agree with all this here, but I'll add to the disappointment list. The Jaguars were expected to take the leap but have not. 

They're by far my biggest disappointment so far.

I expected them to at least be a contender in the AFC South, and they are far from it. What I don't get is the regression of Blake Bortles. Their OL is still suspect, but with merely the same one, Bortles was doing mircle last year. And with the return of Fowler, Jalen Ramsey... You thought that their D would be quite good. (Actually they're worse than ours).

Other disappointments? Carolina somehow. I didn't expected them to fall that far, even if I didn't expected them to repeat last season. They've been playing yo yo for quite some time, so I guess it would be all alike. Let's see if they can grind it back to 8-8.

Surprises?

Broncos, Never expected them to be so relevant after losing Peyton and letting Osweiler go. I expected them to rest in the 8-8 range, still, 7-3 is quite good. Others? Cowboys obviously, even if I thought from the beginning that Zeke was their best choice to do in the draft (and they did it). Never saw Dak coming. But I still think they're making a mistake not pulling him for Romo. Eagles, honestly, everyone around here thought they would be looking for 1st pick in the 2017 draft...

And the NFC East in general. Last year we were barely an afterthought in the media's thinking. Now we're the only division with no teams having a losing record so far. That's telling.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

1 hour ago, Wildbunny said:

They're by far my biggest disappointment so far.

I expected them to at least be a contender in the AFC South, and they are far from it. What I don't get is the regression of Blake Bortles. Their OL is still suspect, but with merely the same one, Bortles was doing mircle last year. And with the return of Fowler, Jalen Ramsey... You thought that their D would be quite good. (Actually they're worse than ours).

Other disappointments? Carolina somehow. I didn't expected them to fall that far, even if I didn't expected them to repeat last season. They've been playing yo yo for quite some time, so I guess it would be all alike. Let's see if they can grind it back to 8-8.

Surprises?

Broncos, Never expected them to be so relevant after losing Peyton and letting Osweiler go. I expected them to rest in the 8-8 range, still, 7-3 is quite good. Others? Cowboys obviously, even if I thought from the beginning that Zeke was their best choice to do in the draft (and they did it). Never saw Dak coming. But I still think they're making a mistake not pulling him for Romo. Eagles, honestly, everyone around here thought they would be looking for 1st pick in the 2017 draft...

And the NFC East in general. Last year we were barely an afterthought in the media's thinking. Now we're the only division with no teams having a losing record so far. That's telling.

Again, how is anyone a bigger disappointment than Carolina? They didn't lose their second game until the Super Bowl. They went from 17-2, to 4-6. And have had to win 3 of their last 4, just to attain that record. Jacksonville hasn't been relevant...ever. Don't you have to actually build a resume, and then fail, before you can become a disappointment? I bet if this were a national poll, it would be something like 94% Carolina.

Also, you're probably the only person I know that feels Dallas should have handed Romo back the job. Hell, even TONY ROMO doesn't believe that!

 

[Califan007 The Constipated]

5 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

Osweiler has actually been terrible. And Miller and Hopkins haven't done much either. They are still winning, thanks to the other two phases of the game. 

I actually thought their record would be about what it is now. Only, I thought Osweiler would be an upgrade over the trash they had at QB the past few years. I can't believe he's been this bad, when he has two weapons like that at RB and WR.

Think they are something like 5-0 at home. And they'll need to keep that up to hold off the fast charging Titans. Talk about a team on the rise. Love what they are building there. I'm close to writing off the Colts. They just don't have enough pieces around Luck to be a contender.

Very true about the Colts...I thought they'd rebound, though.

[Wildbunny]

17 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

Again, how is anyone a bigger disappointment than Carolina? They didn't lose their second game until the Super Bowl. They went from 17-2, to 4-6. And have had to win 3 of their last 4, just to attain that record. Jacksonville hasn't been relevant...ever. Don't you have to actually build a resume, and then fail, before you can become a disappointment? I bet if this were a national poll, it would be something like 94% Carolina.

Since 2011, and the arrival of both Ron Rivera and Cam Newton the Panthers are:

6-10 / 7-9 / 12-4 / 7-8-1 / 15-1 / 4-6 (right now). That's hardly a powerhouse to me. They're an up and down team. Before the season, odds of them repeating were small, just because 15-1 is tough to do. Adds in the fact that they lost Norman prior to the draft, and went on drafting 3 CBs in the later rounds (I'm not even sure one of them is still on the team right now), they had a HUGE concern in their secondary (worse as ours). The fact were 94% would see them as biggest disappointment means that national follower of NFL doesn't look that far into teams and don't know much.

Jacksonville was trending upwards with Bortles at QB and Bradley at the helm. Everyone thought it was due to a crappy defense (which it really is and they were 14th in points last year, now they're 27!), and they went heavy for it, so you could have envisioned them to keep on going up. Then, with no real reason, you have Blake Bortles going backward.

A disappointment is when you're not meeting up your expectations. (Btw Jacksonville have more division crown than us since entering the NFL in 1995)

17 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

Also, you're probably the only person I know that feels Dallas should have handed Romo back the job. Hell, even TONY ROMO doesn't believe that!

Tony Romo is being polite, a great, classy, teammate as always, I believe he still sees him as better as Dak Prescott, and he's right about that (otherwise, he can just retire because he doesn't belong in the NFL anymore).

Now if you really believe that Rookie Prescott is better than Romo, sure, go on. It's not even close to me. Before the draft, in our annual ES Mock Draft, I was arguing for the Cowboys to take Zeke, because that was the smarter choice for them, with their OL, and to spell plays out of Romo that is often injured. Lots didn't believed in it, but the results is here. Prescott is having a great season because of its OL and Zeke, but teams are mostly focusing on stopping the last two.

I bet a lots of DC would feel like Mike Zimmer after playing the Redskins O if they also had to take care about Romo as well.

Problem is, the Cowboys will remain with Prescott, will get rid of Romo during next offseason, and will be in for a stall as Prescott will heavily regress most likely.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

Wildbunny, I had a longer reply written out to your last post that didn't go through. It's just as well though, since you would have probably turned that one into a straw man, too. But I'll hit on a few points:

1. Nowhere did I ever say or imply that the Panthers would go 17-2 again. I wasn't saying they were going to "repeat" their success from last year. You would have to be a fool to think that would happen. But no one on the planet had them starting the season 1-5, and having to win 3 of their last 4 games, just to get to 4-6. They were expected to win a third straight South title, and possibly contend for another SB though. That's why they are the biggest disappointment.

2. The conversation wasn't about whether or not I feel Dak is better than Romo. It was about whether or not Romo should have been given back his starting spot. Those are two different things. To me, you don't take out a guy that is playing at an MVP-level, and risk messing with the chemistry that Dallas has built. Every Dallas fan I know is obviously excited about their team right now, but at the same time worried that Jerry will do the very thing you're advocating. 

[BornaSkinsFan83]

Biggest surprise? That Andrew Luck is still the most overrated bum in the league and the Colts aren't ****.

Sike

[Wildbunny]

On 19/11/2016 at 5:32 PM, Ray-Ban Dan said:

1. Nowhere did I ever say or imply that the Panthers would go 17-2 again. I wasn't saying they were going to "repeat" their success from last year. You would have to be a fool to think that would happen. But no one on the planet had them starting the season 1-5, and having to win 3 of their last 4 games, just to get to 4-6. They were expected to win a third straight South title, and possibly contend for another SB though. That's why they are the biggest disappointment.

I understood that was your expectation for them. Not mine. So I don't really see why I should be disappointed when they look like what I guessed for them...

 

On 19/11/2016 at 5:32 PM, Ray-Ban Dan said:

2. The conversation wasn't about whether or not I feel Dak is better than Romo. It was about whether or not Romo should have been given back his starting spot. Those are two different things. To me, you don't take out a guy that is playing at an MVP-level, and risk messing with the chemistry that Dallas has built. Every Dallas fan I know is obviously excited about their team right now, but at the same time worried that Jerry will do the very thing you're advocating. 

So you're going with the less skilled player at the most important position in Football? OK, that's your choice.

Now Cowboys fans believe Dak is the best rookie NFL have ever seen and is already better than Tom Brady, so I don't care much about what they say.

[Warhead36]

I don't think Carolina is as disappointing because last year was an absolutely everything went their way type year for them. They were bound to regress.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

2 hours ago, Warhead36 said:

I don't think Carolina is as disappointing because last year was an absolutely everything went their way type year for them. They were bound to regress.

Of course they were going to regress from 17-2. But no one on the planet had them going 1-5 to start the season. Or having to win 3 of 4 just to reach 4-6, at this point in the season. 

Thats the point I've been trying to get through to bunny, to no avail. They are without question the biggest disappointment. 

[Ray-Ban Dan]

8 hours ago, Wildbunny said:

 

 

So you're going with the less skilled player at the most important position in Football? OK, that's your choice.

 

I'm going with the guy that has helped lead his club to 9 straight wins.

By your logic, the Patriots should have never stayed with Brady over Bledsoe. 

 

[Wildbunny]

11 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

I'm going with the guy that has helped lead his club to 9 straight wins.

By your logic, the Patriots should have never stayed with Brady over Bledsoe.

You really don't want to go this way.

You really don't want to go on comparing Bledsoe and Romo.

Or compares that Dallas OL compared to that Patriots OL back in 2001? Or the fact that Bledsoe was 0-2 before being injured. That he tops 60% completion only 4 times in his whole career, while Romo's lowest % is 61.3 (which is nearly Drew Bledsoe's best at 61.5% in 2002), or then Bledsoe have thrown for 206 interceptions his whole career, while Tony Choke only have thrown 117 in 4 less years. (I'm not counting those two years he spend on the bench behind... Drew Bledsoe in 2005 and 2006 before taking him the job after Bledsoe got hurt once again. (Bledsoe was 3-3 and Romo went 6-4).

You're playing it like it's a Montana / Young situation in Dallas. It's definately not.

[Boss_Hogg]

Surprise: Cowturds

Disappointment: Panthers