Every year during the pre-season, NFL analysts rank each team 1-32 on how they believe the team is bound to perform in the upcoming NFL Season. Every year there are teams that over-perform and under-perform their expected rank by analysts. Let's go through and see which teams I believed performed much better than expected.
Seattle Seahawks
After the complete tear off of the Seahawks defense, no one expected them to be in a position to make the playoffs. Most analysts including myself believed that the Seahawks would be a rebuilding team that would win an occasional few games because of Russell Wilson. Instead of winning a few games the Seahawks guaranteed themselves a non-losing record through their strong defensive play and their running backs playing well. The Seahawks have the opportunity to make a deep run in the playoffs.
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns aren't making the playoffs this year, I'm going to be honest, but still they look good. Granted the scale for the Browns is a lot lower than for other teams, but they still have outperformed their expectations. There's no where to go, but up for a team that won a total of... Zero games, but 5 games and possibly more is a huge improvement. Give it up to the Browns for drafting well and rebuilding their team.
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Houston Texans
Last year the Texans had so many injuries that it was difficult to see if any of the players would be able to come back and play at the level they had been playing. I envisioned the Texans finishing with a mediocre 7-9 record, but they have already passes that. After losing their first 3 games, they looked finished, but winning 9 straight they look like contenders. The Texans have greatly outperformed their spot.
Kansas City Chiefs
When the Chiefs lost Alex Smith, no one knew what Patrick Mahomes would be like. One thing is for sure though, no one expected him to play at the MVP level he has been playing at. The Chiefs weren't expected to win the division with teams like the San Diego Los Angeles Chargers, but Mahomes proved everyone wrong and is now on verge of leading the Chiefs to a Superbowl that Alex Smith could never.
Chicago Bears
The Bears are the new Rams. They have a new coach who's brilliant, a second year QB who is performing well, and a solid defense. Everyone expected the Bears to improve this year, but no one could have expected it at the pace the Bears did. With Green Bay and Minnesota in their division it seemed inevitable that they would be third in the division, but they proved all the doubters by being first and potentially making a deep playoff threat.
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