Last year the Lions were 1-6 heading into week 9. They went 8-2 the rest of the way. Which team, with a horrible record right now, do you think will finish the season off strong and be a spoiler along the way?
Last year the Dolphins were 8-3 heading into week 13 and then finished off with 5 straight losses, almost missing the playoffs. Which team, with a great record right now, do you think will end the year with a bad streak of losses?
My fear is that my Lions are about to come up against a bunch of bad losses. 5 divisional games (which always can go either way) two of which are against the Vikings who are putting together a streak and getting healthy plus 2 more against the Bears who have a mobile QB that seem to give the Lions D fits. Plus the Cowboys! Maybe its the 30 year Detroit fan in me expecting the worst, but I fear them even losing the division. Its set up too perfectly for us Lions fans to have the proverbial "ball pulled out by Lucy" in week 16-18.
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Arranged by division with a team most likely to make a run.
Good teams not listed because they're not 'unexpected'
AFC South
The Texans are going to win the AFC South, and may very well win a playoff game. Stroud is great, and that defense is underrated. No stars, but well-coached.
IND sucks at QB.
TEN is bad.
AFC West
The Broncos have all the parts and a good coach has got them together.
LAC is just waiting for their dumbass coach to go full Charger. Then Belichick can be hired.
LVG doesn't have the QB to do the job anymore.
NFC North
MIN - Dobbs is a good story. They may make the playoffs because the NFC is so weak
GRB - No love.
CHI - LOL
NFC South
NOL has Carr now, but that guy just exudes "Nope" to me.
TAM may be a bit better than we think. Todd Bowles just isn't a good coach.
ATL - Arthur Smith shouldn't run a fork lift for Arthur Blank, much less his offense.
CAR is 5 players away from being good enough to evaluate the QB properly.
AFC North
The only AFC team that had underachieved based on roster was the Bengals. And to make a late run you have start out weak. But that's over.
CLE/PIT suck at QB.
AFC & NFC East (They get over-talked everywhere else. I'm condensing them.)
The Cowboys and Dolphins are all sizzle, no steak. Neither has beaten a winning team.
The Bills roster wasn't that good, and now it's a front-office smoldering dumpster fire.
Shut up about the Jets. It ain't happening, Rich Eisen.
WAS is a good story. Getting rid of Snyder is the win here.
NYGarbage
PAThetic.
NFC West
SEA - Could make a run, but are they unexpected?
ARZ - *tumbleweed*
LAR - Straight to DVD in a league built for streaming.