As of right now, the NFL season has just completed its first 5 weeks, passing the quarter-season mark. So far, the season has been exciting with clear juggernaut teams emerging, as well as teams that are severely underperforming. The season has had many good and bad surprises for teams, and in this blog, we will discuss some of them. 

What better teams to start with than the ones that flat-out suck. The New York Giants had a fruitful season last year, with their quarterback Daniel Jones playing well enough to earn an expensive $160 million contract. Based on this, some expected the Giants to be somewhat decent, but alas this season has been nothing but pain for them (Literally for Saquon Barkley.). From getting blown out by 40 points in a shutout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, to getting utterly dominated by the Dolphins on every level, the Giants are facing problems on every aspect of football. The coaching job by Brian Daboll is also poor and leaves many questions regarding how this team is going to look in the future, especially with Saquon Barkley facing injury issues again. 

Despite the Giants being the most disappointing team in football, next up would be the Denver Broncos. Where to start with this team. Last season, the Broncos made the blockbuster trade for then disgruntled Seattle quarterback, Russell Wilson. This trade looked to make the Broncos competitors against the Chiefs for the AFC West title. The trade completely blew up in their face as Russell Wilson regressed significantly and gave my favorite team, the Seahawks, a top-five pick in the draft (Thank you Russ). Now with head coach Sean Payton, Denver fans had hope that perhaps they would be good. Their defense, which was amazing last year, had other plans, completely imploding against multiple teams. Although Russell Wilson looks better via the eye test and statistics, his decision-making led to their last loss against the Zach Wilson-led Jets where he fumbled in a crucial situation. The best way to describe this team is not one that plays football but one where football plays it. 

Despite these disappointments (I didn’t even get to the Bengals), in terms of great surprises, there are many. This year’s class of rookies are putting on a show, with C.J. Stroud, Anthony Richardson, Puka Nacua, Devon Achane, and Tank Dell standing out on offense, while rookies Jalen Carter, Devon Witherspoon, and Brian Branch are putting up great performances on defense. Although this fiery start may slow for a few, with Richardson’s injury and Cooper Kupp coming back (For Puka Nacua), this is still a great showing. Teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars and Detroit Lions are also sweet surprises so far, with each beating an AFC contender, the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs respectively. As the season continues, it will be interesting to see how the league changes and how this blogpost ages. Can’t wait for the halfway point!