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

[Ray-Ban Dan]

1 hour ago, Wildbunny said:

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.

There you go with the straw man again. And with that, I'm done with this conversation. You clearly don't get it.

[Wildbunny]

Just now, Ray-Ban Dan said:

There you go with the straw man again. And with that, I'm done with this conversation. You clearly don't get it.

I believe you're the one that don't get that others may have different opinions than you. But it's fine.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

Just now, Wildbunny said:

I believe you're the one that don't get that others may have different opinions than you. But it's fine.

No, I'm perfectly fine with someone having a different opinion. What I'm not fine with, is you constantly misinterpreting every post I make. 

 

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

On 11/20/2016 at 1:43 PM, Wildbunny said:

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...

 

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.

A less skilled player that has managed the game and made plays when needed to lead them to a league best 9-1 record.  Romo hasn't played since last Thanksgiving, that's one year.  Plug him in with all the rust, risk losing games they might have won.  What if they plug him in and go 2-4 down the stretch, finish 11-5 and we get hot and finish 11-4-1 or the Giants continue to play well and go 11-5 and one of us win the division.  Not saying either would happen, but it's possible.  

Then you have lost all momentum going into the playoffs and faced with making another change (back to Dak) or riding out a rusty QB who doesn't play well in the playoffs  (historically) even when 100% healthy.  You ride the hot hand (Dak) until there is not a reason to do so.  The only way Romo should see the field this year is if Dak gets injured or starts making major mistakes and they start tanking and he loses something like 5 in a row.  Even then, I don't know that putting Romo in would be the right move (thinking long term past this season).

[Dont Taze Me Bro]

Biggest surprise has to be the Cowboys at 9-1 with a rookie QB and what was supposed to be one of the worst defenses this year.  In yards per game they are #13, which is a huge improvement from last season.  

Biggest disappointment - I believe this can be split into two separate views.  Biggest disappointment as far as teams that were expected to make a huge step/leap whether talking being a legit contender for the playoffs/division or super bowl and teams that were expected to be in the mix and continue with being solid.

For teams that were expected to make a huge jump, I'd go with Jacksonville.  Bortles put up solid numbers and this year, they were projected to contend for their division and/or playoff spot.  Houston was showing signs of slowing down, new QB, etc.  Titans are hot garbage and the Colts seem like they are in need of massive upgrades themselves.  This was the year that the Jags were supposed to trend upwards and they have blown that opportunity.

For teams that were expected to be extremely good, competitive, legit contender, that has to be Carolina.  Nobody expected them to go 15-1 again, but they were the clear favorites to win the South.  They only lost Josh Norman and another defensive back, but with their front seven and that pass rush, it was thought to not to impact them that much.  Cam gets Benjamin back, who is a stud and should give him even more targets and success.  Fast forward to week 11 and they are playing horrible football, zero pass rush for the most part.  Benjamin is having a down year than what was expected.  Etc.  

 

[Ray-Ban Dan]

3 hours ago, Dont Taze Me Bro said:

A less skilled player that has managed the game and made plays when needed to lead them to a league best 9-1 record.  Romo hasn't played since last Thanksgiving, that's one year.  Plug him in with all the rust, risk losing games they might have won.  What if they plug him in and go 2-4 down the stretch, finish 11-5 and we get hot and finish 11-4-1 or the Giants continue to play well and go 11-5 and one of us win the division.  Not saying either would happen, but it's possible.  

Then you have lost all momentum going into the playoffs and faced with making another change (back to Dak) or riding out a rusty QB who doesn't play well in the playoffs  (historically) even when 100% healthy.  You ride the hot hand (Dak) until there is not a reason to do so.  The only way Romo should see the field this year is if Dak gets injured or starts making major mistakes and they start tanking and he loses something like 5 in a row.  Even then, I don't know that putting Romo in would be the right move (thinking long term past this season).

I agree with all this except the 5 in a row thing, and the Titans comment (they aren't garbage). I honestly feel Romo may get his chance, even if Dak only struggles a few games. Not saying that's how "I" would play things. But you just know Jerry would start getting antsy after a few losses, and start putting pressure on Garrett to play Tony.

[TheGreatBuzz]

Biggest surprise is the same as everyone else said, the stupid Cowboys.  And for obvious reason. 

 

The biggest disappointment is our Skins only because I expected more progress and us to win the division again.  They aren't the biggest disappointment in the league, but the biggest one to me.  But we will win tomorrow and all will be right again.

[TheItalianStallion]

Cowboys really aren't a surprise to me. Last year they were undefeated in games that Romo played the entirety of. They had a top 5 pass D. They had a top 5 rusher, even with the bad QB play to compliment it. And they were in nearly every game. An upgrade at QB and RB, and now those close losses have become close wins.

My surprise would be Detroit. Megatron retires, and their pass O keeps on rolling? Definitely surprising.

Disappointment: Carolina & Arizona have already been mentioned, so I'll say either Pittsburg or Cincy. I thought the former might be the best team in the AFC, and the latter I figured would be in playoff contention again. Now we look bad for not beating either of them, and decisively losing to the former.

[Ray-Ban Dan]

8 hours ago, TheItalianStallion said:

Cowboys really aren't a surprise to me. Last year they were undefeated in games that Romo played the entirety of. They had a top 5 pass D. They had a top 5 rusher, even with the bad QB play to compliment it. And they were in nearly every game. An upgrade at QB and RB, and now those close losses have become close wins.

My surprise would be Detroit. Megatron retires, and their pass O keeps on rolling? Definitely surprising.

 

Come on man!  They were 4-12 last year! They lost their final four games last year, including 3 of 4 by double digits. And those "upgrades" they added weren't Pro Bowl players. They were rookies. And one of them wasn't even expected to see the field this year. 

Their success this year parallels what we did in 2012 with RG3 and Morris. Give them their due. They've had an incredible season.

As for the Lions comment: to me, it isn't all that surprising what they are doing on offense. It's pretty apparent that Stafford was forcing the ball to CJ. Now that he's not there, Stafford is spreading it around to the newly acquired Marvin Jones, as well as Tate and Ebron. 

That stuff happens more than most people think. Just look at the Panthers: when Steve Smith was there, Cam felt pressured to get him the ball. He leaves, and they add a rookie WR and a bunch of castoffs, and Cam winds up having an MVP season. He even lost Benjamin prior to the season (I believe that's right). 

 

[jflow78]

Answers to the OP's questions:

Most surprising: Cowboys

Most disappointing: Cowboys

I'm surprised and disappointed at their success this year. HOWEVER, I fully expect them to lose their first playoff game when they're about to kick the game winning field goal and their backup QB bobbles the hold again:

[hail2skins]

It would require some thought, but has there ever been a more irrelevant division in football than the current AFC South?  I guess for a while one thought Luck was going to emerge as a long-term superstar (and perhaps he still will), but top to bottom, that division just seems brutal. Does anyone personally know anyone who is a fan of any of the four teams?

[Voice_of_Reason]

3 hours ago, hail2skins said:

It would require some thought, but has there ever been a more irrelevant division in football than the current AFC South?  I guess for a while one thought Luck was going to emerge as a long-term superstar (and perhaps he still will), but top to bottom, that division just seems brutal. Does anyone personally know anyone who is a fan of any of the four teams?

I have a lot of family in Houston.  So, yes.  

[TheItalianStallion]

16 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

Come on man!  They were 4-12 last year! They lost their final four games last year, including 3 of 4 by double digits. And those "upgrades" they added weren't Pro Bowl players. They were rookies. And one of them wasn't even expected to see the field this year. 

Their success this year parallels what we did in 2012 with RG3 and Morris. Give them their due. They've had an incredible season.

As for the Lions comment...... [edit]

 

 

Fair enough regarding the Lions, but regarding the Cowboys, you didn't dispute anything I said. One of those rookies you mentioned is the NFL's leading rusher, but last year Dallas already had a top-5 rusher, which shows how good their OL was and is.

Those final 4 games: one was to GB, where they held Rodgers to under 30 points. Their problem was offensive, with only 7 points. With upgrades at QB & RB, they might've won. They barely lost to a Jets team that had a winning record and nearly made the playoffs. They held Buffalo to 16 points; Dallas undoubtedly would've scored more than 6 points with their current QB & RB. We decisively beat them in the final game, but they beat us a month earlier.

I don't dispute that they've had a great season. All I'm saying is that it doesn't come as a surprise to me. It was VERY predictable. This is basically a repeat of the 2014 season, and all it took for them to get back to that was a better QB & RB than what they had in 2015.

 

[Ray-Ban Dan]

59 minutes ago, TheItalianStallion said:

 

Fair enough regarding the Lions, but regarding the Cowboys, you didn't dispute anything I said. One of those rookies you mentioned is the NFL's leading rusher, but last year Dallas already had a top-5 rusher, which shows how good their OL was and is.

Those final 4 games: one was to GB, where they held Rodgers to under 30 points. Their problem was offensive, with only 7 points. With upgrades at QB & RB, they might've won. They barely lost to a Jets team that had a winning record and nearly made the playoffs. They held Buffalo to 16 points; Dallas undoubtedly would've scored more than 6 points with their current QB & RB. We decisively beat them in the final game, but they beat us a month earlier.

I don't dispute that they've had a great season. All I'm saying is that it doesn't come as a surprise to me. It was VERY predictable. This is basically a repeat of the 2014 season, and all it took for them to get back to that was a better QB & RB than what they had in 2015.

 

I get the point you're making about their offensive line. I'm beyond jealous of what they've done there. But the point you're missing is, any time a team goes from 4-12 and last in their division, to arguably the top team in the entire league, It's a surprise. 

And you keep talking about the QB they added, like he was Kurt Warner going to Arizona. Dak is a 5th round ROOKIE, that wasn't expected to even see the field for a few years! Great line or not, he's been incredible. And so has Zeke.

I'm just not buying the whole "I knew they would be this good" bit. That's BS. No one saw this coming. You're more or less giving all the credit to their line. We will just have to agree to disagree.

Btw, one another thing we haven't discussed is Dez. That's especially remarkable what they've done, when you consider that Bryant has been out for most of the season.

[TheItalianStallion]

5 hours ago, Ray-Ban Dan said:

I'm just not buying the whole "I knew they would be this good" bit. That's BS. No one saw this coming. You're more or less giving all the credit to their line. We will just have to agree to disagree.

 

I can't refer you to specific posts, but I have said on this board many months before the season started that I wouldn't be surprised to see Dallas return to their 2014 form.

[Rey713]

4 hours ago, TheItalianStallion said:

 

I can't refer you to specific posts, but I have said on this board many months before the season started that I wouldn't be surprised to see Dallas return to their 2014 form.

When Romo went down I was expecting no better than 8-8. I think most Cowboys fans thought the same.

Even with Romo back I would have predicted like 10-6 or 11-5. 10-1 (at this point) has truly been a surprise in every sense of the word.

Panthers are probably the biggest disappointments. From SB contenders to bottom dwellers...

[TheItalianStallion]

2 hours ago, Rey713 said:

When Romo went down I was expecting no better than 8-8. I think most Cowboys fans thought the same.

Even with Romo back I would have predicted like 10-6 or 11-5. 10-1 (at this point) has truly been a surprise in every sense of the word.

Panthers are probably the biggest disappointments. From SB contenders to bottom dwellers...

Assuming their success continues and they finish 13-3 or 14-2 or something, I suppose the exact extent of their success is somewhat surprising. But I'm not at all surprised that they've emerged as the team to beat in the division this year.

[Rey713]

3 hours ago, TheItalianStallion said:

Assuming their success continues and they finish 13-3 or 14-2 or something, I suppose the exact extent of their success is somewhat surprising. But I'm not at all surprised that they've emerged as the team to beat in the division this year.

 

The NFL is just hard to predict. 

[Cooleyfan1993]

dallas is very good. it hurts to admit that. 10-1 is no joke. and I am not happy about that.

the one thing this season i'm very surprised about is Andrew Luck...he's had 2 bad seasons in a row...wasn't he the 1st draft pick in the 2012 draft??? wasn't he supposed to be as good as peyton manning? wasn't he supposed to lead the colts to the super bowl? what has happened to him? (I mean, yes, I know, injuries)

[Ray-Ban Dan]

2 hours ago, Cooleyfan1993 said:

dallas is very good. it hurts to admit that. 10-1 is no joke. and I am not happy about that.

the one thing this season i'm very surprised about is Andrew Luck...he's had 2 bad seasons in a row...wasn't he the 1st draft pick in the 2012 draft??? wasn't he supposed to be as good as peyton manning? wasn't he supposed to lead the colts to the super bowl? what has happened to him? (I mean, yes, I know, injuries)

The short answer is he has a terrible GM, that doesn't know how to build a team around a star QB. The injuries are largely a result of said GM not knowing how to properly build a team around his star QB.

[BornaSkinsFan83]

Or he's just overrated and not actually a star.