Part 8 of a series I have been doing since the beginning of the season:
Normally I post this series on Mondays but wanted to wait until after MNF this week just based on the fact that most results lent themselves to overreactions on Sunday, not underreactions. There's a lot to overreact to in any given week (Do the Packers have a shot at the 1-seed? Jacksonville vs. Baltimore AFCCG? Are the 49ers done for? Are the Bengals back? ext...)
Instead, let's spend some time talking about the opposite - storylines that may have flown under the radar or otherwise just aren't getting the attention they deserve. Some things I think people are underreacting to or otherwise deserve more discussion:
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It's time to change the narrative about the Detroit Lions: This team is still being talked about as a fun, plucky upstart team, and the consensus is sort of "We'll see if they can keep it up." It's time to stop asking "Are the Lions legit?" and start asking "Will the Lions be able to win some playoff games?" Because they are 6-2 and their remaining schedule is one of the easiest in the entire NFL (Bears twice, Packers, Vikings twice, Chargers, Broncos, Cowboys, Saints). Barring an epic collapse or heartbreaking injury, the Lions will win their division, and they will host one, if not two, playoff games.
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Mayfield isn't the problem in Tampa - Boyles is: Last Thursday, Todd Boyles made multiple decisions that were far too conservative - electing to try a 50-yd FG on a 4th & 2 (kick was blocked) when losing by 3 in Q1, lining up the FG unit to attempt to draw the Bills offside and ultimately punting instead of going for it on 4th & 3 from the Bills 43 yd line just before halftime, and punting on 4th & 4 when trailing by 2 TDs in the 4th quarter. This was just the latest exercise in futility for a Buccaneers squad with legit playmakers but horrible coaches. This team should be running away with their milquetoast division. Instead they are on a 3-game losing streak.
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The Commanders are awful, but they have found their franchise QB: Sam Howell is a gamer. He's had his share of struggles over the season, but he has found ways to keep his team in the game and competitive even despite being sacked more than any other QB in the league. This is likely Rivera's last year in Washington, and I expect this team to build around Howell and be a very good team next year.
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The Titans are who we thought they were, but they took too long to figure that out: Sportsbettors loved the Titans as a bit of a sleeper to win the AFC South based on Vrabel's extremely consistent coaching, Derrick Henry, and the fact that we at least know what to expect from Tannehill. Instead they stumbled around for the first several weeks. This is not a bad team by any means, but they certainly aren't good either. They have a couple winnable games coming up and it's far too early to count them out, but they made lives a lot harder on themselves than it had to be.
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The Saints are poised to run away with the NFC South: Partially due to the Buccs slamming their heads into a brick wall repeatedly, the Saints now sit atop their division and their remaining schedule is cake - Bears, @ Vikings, BYE, @ Falcons, Lions, Panthers, Giants, @ Rams, @ Buccs, Falcons.
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This isn't so much an underreaction as me admitting that I'm wrong about one of my old reactions - The Rams are not "sneaky good". They aren't good at all. They're solidly mediocre. They beat bad teams and get their shit pushed in by good teams. Outside of a horrific Week 1 game by the Seahawks, their two wins are against the Colts and Cardinals. They haven't lost to a "bad" team, but this is the NFL - there's no such thing as a quality loss. They have a chance to get an easy win next week in GB before going on their BYE, but the rest of their schedule is a gauntlet, and the preseason expectation of them being a 6-win team is starting to look pretty accurate.