Who has been the 2 biggest surprise teams (1 positive and 1 negative)

[PATRIOT64]

Who has been the most surprising teams in the league,1 surprisingly good and 1 surprisingly bad team?

GOOD SURPRISE TEAM:
Its a VERY tough call between Green Bay and Cleveland but I give the nod to Green Bay because of Favre's resugence as an all-pro QB and the fact that Cleveland has lost more games than GB.
so of course the Runner up is Cleveland

BAD SURPRISE TEAM:
Another tough call but one that comes most to mind is San Diego who was
14-2 last year,Sure Norv Turner was a lousy replacement and we expected SD to not be that great as last year but at 5-5 right now? - I expected better with all that talent which just proves a lousy coach can make a good team just as lousy
Runner up goes to the Oakland Raiders who I thought was going to make progress to at least be a 7 win team this year with what looked like a solid defense but 7 wins is not going to happen.

Your selections?

 

[RayClay]

Detroit-Diego

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Good surprise: The Patriots. I know I know...but even with the additions we made in the off-season I didn't think we would be this good. It was reasonable for fans to expect Brady to need time to get in sync with Welker, Moss and Stallworth, especially after two of them missed training camp, but turns out he didn't need the time.

Runner up: Green Bay, Cleveland.


Bad surprise: New Orleans and San Diego. I don't care that the Chargers won this week, there's no other way to characterize their season other than dissapointing (I'm enjoying it though). New Orleans has regressed.

Runner up: St. Louis, Cincy

 

[PATRIOT64]

Detroit-Diego

Are you saying you thought before the season that Green Bay was going to be better than Detroit this year? - I didn't

As for Detroit,that debacle on Thanksgiving shows me where they will probably end up - Thats on the outside of the NFC playoff team bubble looking in

 

[PatsFan24]

Cleveland - Denver

 

[RayClay]

Are you saying you thought before the season that Green Bay was going to be better than Detroit this year? - I didn't

As for Detroit,that debacle on Thanksgiving shows me where they will probably end up - Thats on the outside of the NFC playoff team bubble looking in

Absolutely. They have a ticked off Favre and somewhat of a tradition.

Detroit has had the worst GM in Millen. They've drafted the most overrated position, WR, very high then repeated again and again. They spent big for a QB and cut him and they've sucked pretty much forever.

They had a good coach (I thought) in Mariachi and that didn't work.

I could keep going.

Why in the world would you expect Detroit to do more than vie for the #1 pick again?

As much as Favre sucked last year, they were still 8-8 while Detroit was 3-13.

Did I misunderstand the question?

 

[dwayne]

Negative?

Norval. He ####### both us and the Chargers up....there's no reason we shouldn't have made progress with an improved roster, but Mike Nolan was just too ******* stubborn to hire an offensive coach all season.

Positive?

I'll go Cleveland.

 

[MrClutch]

Packers and Chargers.

 

[Ishdul]

Packers and Ravens.

 

[Deus Irae]

For a positive surprise, it's got to be the Browns. For a 'negative' surprise, I'll go with Baltimore.

 

[DisgruntledTunaFan]

The Good-Tampa and Cleveland. Tampa b/c Garcia continues to prove he's every bit the starting QB in the NFL that can lead his team anywhere. Cleveland-DUH!

The Bad-Chicago and the Jets-the Bears b/c they seemed to make upgrades from their Super Bowl team last year, and as BAD as Rex is, Lovie hiring Alex Smith's QB coach(Pep Hamilton, who did wonders with him last year) seemed like the BEST offseason move. However-that didn't pan out, and their D has really gotten exposed for the frauds they really are.

The Jets b/c Mangini came in last year and made chicken salad out of nobodies, but his arrogance in the offseason by not making the nec upgrades for this team really sunk it into the ground. Otherwise, this team had ALOT going for them.

As for others...

New Orleans-even as a Saints fan, I'm not surprised they're not SB contenders. To their credit, going deep into the playoffs last year with most of their starters being scrubs was really something. However-they were SCRUBS, rejects, and career backups. What's the saying-"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? Hopefully-Payton will overhaul this roster in a big way next year.

Carolina-this team has gotten OLD to begin with-not surprised that they've been dead meet this year.

San Francisco-for a team with ALL that cap room, they really didn't make many upgrades. Paying Nate Clements $100m? LOL.

San Diego-I knew Norv Turner will run this team in the ground from the get-go.

Baltimore-We ALL knew Steve McNair is washed up, he showed that in the playoffs last year.

Cincy-Not only have they sucked on D, but they went into the season with only 4 healthy LBs?? Wow-you talk about a team NOT prepared.

Philly-they can still make a run, especially considering even Joe Schmoe is a significant upgrade over McPuke under center. However-it's probably too little, too late, especially with 5 conference losses and a tough schedule ahead.

Giants-No, wasn't surprised they started 0-2. No, wasn't surprised they pulled off 6 straight, including stealing one from the Skins. No, wasn't surprised they lost 2 of their last 3. And no, if they start pointing fingers and calling each other out, I won't be surprised if they have another late season meltdown.

Dallas-they would go as far as Romo would take them. So whether they're 10-1 or 1-10, I'm not surprised either way.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

Cleveland is the good surprise. They looked awful in week 1 at home vs. Pittsburgh and Romeo had the Pete Carroll/Art Shell face going. Then they sent Charlie Frye packing and went with Derek Anderson (who?) and the rest is history.

San Diego is the bad surprise. We can joke all we want about Norv, but seriously...that team had way too much talent for even Norv to screw up. And it's talent was where it counted: OL, RB and defensive front 7. Rivers has regressed badly, the ILBs have had some horrible days and the bookend OLB pass rush isn't what it was in 2006.

Regards,
Chris

 

[VJCPatriot]

+ Cleveland Browns. Wow what a turnaround.

- Chicago Bears. From the Superbowl to the cellar. Not living up to expectations at all. What happened to that vaunted D?

 

[fnordcircle]

Good: Cleveland. Expectations were lower for them as an AFC bottom dweller than the Packers who were mediocre in the also mediocre NFC. It'll be interesting to see how the Pack does playing a good team that isn't coached by Norv Turner.

Bad: I'd say SD but I honestly stopped worrying about them when they got Norv. They replaced a coach who can't get postseason wins with one who can't get regular or post season wins. Good job.

The bad surprise has to be the Jets. Everyone expected a lot more out of them and so far they've been absolutely horrible. Much to my pleasure

 

[Brownfan80]

Surprise good - Green bay.

If you'd told me before the season that they'd be 10-1 after 11, I'd have laughed in your face. The level of their success is shocking to me considering that I thought they'd be in the bottom ten league-wide.

Surprise bad - Jets.

They were a playoff team on the way up last season. I was surprised that they fell to the depths that they've reached so quickly. Other teams shocked me with they way they started, but have slowly worked their way back into things (San Diego), otherwise my pick would be different.

 

[makewayhomer]

Negative: Baltimore went from a top 5 team last year to a bottom 10 team this year. that team has completely fallen apart

positive: either Cleveland (from horrible to average) or Green Bay (from average to top 5)

 

[Ring 6]

Who has been the most surprising teams in the league,1 surprisingly good and 1 surprisingly bad team?

GOOD SURPRISE TEAM:
Its a VERY tough call between Green Bay and Cleveland but I give the nod to Green Bay because of Favre's resugence as an all-pro QB and the fact that Cleveland has lost more games than GB.
so of course the Runner up is Cleveland

BAD SURPRISE TEAM:
Another tough call but one that comes most to mind is San Diego who was
14-2 last year,Sure Norv Turner was a lousy replacement and we expected SD to not be that great as last year but at 5-5 right now? - I expected better with all that talent which just proves a lousy coach can make a good team just as lousy
Runner up goes to the Oakland Raiders who I thought was going to make progress to at least be a 7 win team this year with what looked like a solid defense but 7 wins is not going to happen.

Your selections?

Wouldnt the Patriots be your biggest surprise? Didnt you predict 10-6?

 

[ChoWZa]

Cleveland, Chargers.

 

[bradmahn]

Positive: I absolutely have to go with the Browns here, purely based on anticipated success. I figured the Packers would be average, somewhere between 7 to 9 wins and enough to get into the playoffs. They've obviously been better than expected, but I still thought they'd have some chance of success.

The Browns, on the other hand, I expected to be a top ten team... in the draft. They've gone from potentially picking first over all to have a very real chance at double digit wins and having the inside track to a playoff spot.

Negative: The Chargers are first in their division with a winning record, I expected them to finish in first. I think the vast majority of this board also felt that Norv was going to F that team up... and that's about the only thing he's succeeded at doing this year.

The Ravens offense has always been an absolute mess, and, frankly, I'm more surprised when that team is successful than when it fails.

How about an interesting team for the Biggest Disappointment so far: the San Francisco 49ers. I thought they were going to challenge the Seahawks for a division title and, in turn, a playoff spot. Nowhere in my wildest dreams did I anticipate them being so piss-poor in every facet of the game.

With that, I introduce you to the San Francisco 49ers, the biggest "disappointment" of 2007.

 

[richpats]

SURPRISE+ Green Bay
SURPRISE- Chicago