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5 Surprises & 5 Disappointments through week 11 of the NFL Season

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Caption: CJ Stroud drops pack to pass in a game against the Saints

By Carsen Hageman

Carsen Hageman is from Liberty Center, Ohio and is a Senior at BGSU majoring in Sports Management. Professional & collegiate football are his main interests. Upon graduation in the spring, he hopes to pursue a career in professional and college football.

November 25, 2023

Surprises

Caption: Jared Goff throws a pass during a recent game against the Ravens

  1. Lions

The Detroit Lions have surprised everyone this season. It all started with upsetting the defending champion KC Chiefs on the opening weekend of the season. Now, they have an 8-3 record and are currently the 2nd seed in the NFC playoffs. Armed with a top 10 statistical defense, a top 5 offensive line, and offensive weapons like Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jahmyr Gibbs, the Lions look poised to make a deep run in the playoffs.

Caption: Christian McCaffrey celebrates after scoring a touchdown.

2. Christian McCaffrey 

While his record-setting touchdown streak just ended, McCaffrey’s performance this year garnered early MVP attention. That talk has since subsided, but he is still arguably the top running back in the league and has been the workhorse behind the 49ers’ success this season. With a lack of a true deep threat at wide receiver, McCaffrey is the guy defenses key in on when playing the 49ers. Despite this focus, he leads the NFL in rushing yards.

Caption: Chiefs’ defenders celebrate.

3. Kansas City Chiefs’ Defense

    It is no surprise that any team with Patrick Mahomes is doing well. But unlike previous seasons, the Chiefs’ Defense has been a large part of their success this season. Statistically, they are currently the 4th best defense in the league. With a 7-3 record, the reigning champs look primed for another long postseason run.

    Caption: Lamar Jackson drops back to pass.

    4. Baltimore Ravens

    In the past, Lamar Jackson has been at the center of the Ravens’ issues. But with his turnover issues behind him for the most part, the Ravens are looking to challenge the Chiefs for the top spot in the AFC this year. Their defense is playing outstanding this year. Mike Macdonald’s unit has allowed the 2nd fewest yards per game average and has allowed the fewest touchdowns (15) so far this year.

    Caption: CJ Stroud celebrates with teammates.

    5. CJ Stroud

    With outstanding performance after outstanding performance recently, Stroud has officially entered the MVP conversation. It is almost unthinkable that he is a rookie and putting up consecutive great performances. As a rookie, he is 2nd in the NFL in passing yards. For a team that held the second pick in last year’s draft, the Texans look like a sneaky good team as the AFC playoff picture heats up. They look to earn a wild card and make a Super Bowl run with Stroud at the center of their playoff push.

    Disappointments

    Caption: Head Coach Matt Eberflus and players react to a play.

    1. Chicago Bears

    The Bears, a team with all the hype heading into the season, have disappointed in almost every respect this year. Preseason expectations had them challenging for a division title and making a postseason run. Now, their QB Justin Fields has been hurt most of the year, their defense has struggled all year by giving up 20+ points in all but 2 games, and they have not had consistent production from their weapons. With the likelihood that they will be in contention for a top draft pick, some are questioning if they should pick a quarterback.

    Caption: Patriots’ QBs Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe talk with Offensive Coordinator Bill O’Brien.

    2. New England Patriots

    With recent disappointing draft classes and poor coaching, the Patriots have been a mess this season. Perhaps the biggest story has been the lack of development of Mac Jones, their first-round pick from the 2021 draft. He has looked average at best over the past three seasons and has not looked good in general this season. It is because of draft misses like these that rumors of Bill Belichick’s departure have been swirling during their tumultuous season.

    Caption: Giants’ QB Tommy DeVito gets sacked.

    3. New York Giants

    About everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants this season has gone wrong. As a Giants’ fan myself, I personally have watched as this season has unfolded. Starting with a 40-0 Sunday Night Football route by the Cowboys, it has all gone downhill for a team that won a playoff game last season. With injuries to about every key offensive player, their offense has looked inept most of the season. Now with a 3-8 record, they are in contention for a top draft pick. With a top 5 pick all but locked in, it looks likely the Giants will draft a quarterback after not even a full season has passed since they guaranteed Daniel Jones an $82 million contract this spring.

    Caption: Raiders’ running back Josh Jacobs stiff-arms a Patriots’ defender.

    4. Las Vegas Raiders

    This season might not be a total wash since an in season coaching change appears to be the spark this team needed. Interim coach Antonio Pierce has guided the Raiders to a 2-1 record since Josh McDaniels’ departure and has this team playing harder than they ever did with McDaniels as their head coach. It is unfortunate that it took such a drastic move to get this team playing better. In the offseason, they looked like a team that could steal a playoff spot with newly acquired Quarterback Jimmy Garappolo, Davante Adams, and an improving defense.

    Caption: Panthers’ QB Bryce Young prepares to pass.

    5. Carolina Panthers

    While preseason expectations did not have the Panthers making the playoffs, I don’t think anyone had the Panthers looking this bad. The biggest storyline for this team has been Bryce Young. With the Panthers trading for the first pick in the 2023 draft, they could choose from the cream of the crop of available quarterbacks. With the first pick, they choose Bryce Young out of Alabama. Young has looked like one of the worst in this class. The Alabama product has recorded 8 passing touchdowns with 7 interceptions and 29 sacks. By comparison, the No. 2 draft pick CJ Stroud has 15 passing touchdowns with 2 interceptions and 19 sacks. Without a first round selection in this year’s draft things are looking bleak for the Panthers. They could also head into next season with a new coach with rumors of Frank Reich’s job status in question.

    Interview with Jerod Cherry

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    Je’Rod Cherry played safety and on special teams for 4 different teams  over the course of his nine-year NFL career. Cherry is best known for his special team work for the Patriots when they won three Super Bowls in 4 years. After his football career Je’Rod Cherry got into broadcast media and in 2009 became a talk show host  for WKNR 850 in Cleveland.

    I had the privilege of meeting Je’Rod Cherry and other former NFL player like Pro-Bowlers Michael Turner and Greg Jones at our annual NFL Journalism Boot Camp.

    Here is my full interview taken on April 22nd with Je’Rod Cherry.

    Q: How do you think the media narratives about Tom Brady and Bill Belichick differ from the people they actually are?

    One thing people don’t know about Bill Belichick is that he’s isn’t just a dark anti-social old guy. Belichick has a great sense of humor and can be a warm, caring person as well. What you see is what you get with Tom Brady. He’s just a great classy guy who everyone respects.

    Q: You played on some bad teams, and on one of the greatest dynasties of the last 20 years. What were some of the differences between the good teams and the bad teams as far as the locker room atmosphere?

    Good teams had a common purpose. Good teams won for each other while other teams had too many “me-first” guys. The Patriots instilled a culture that brought people together for the purpose of winning ball games.

    Q: You said on radio and at the Bootcamp that you feel that if a player truly wants to win they’d play through concussions? Could you expound on this statement?

    Football is a physical sport. You have to sacrifice your body just to be competent. Sometimes there are situations where you may be hurt. You have to make a decision about whether you value your long-term health or team. The guys that are willing to risk injury and long term health have more determination and warrior spirit needed to play football at the highest level.

    Q: What do think is the most distinct characteristic of the Cleveland Media? How does it compare to Boston’s media or the national media?

    The difference between Boston and Cleveland is that the Cleveland media speak there mind more. Cleveland media is more hopeful and can be positive.

    Q: What was the best advice you’ve received about transitioning from football to the broadcast world?

    Approach it the same way you would when you play football. If you study hard and work at it you will have a long successful career, just like you would have in football.

    What are the Issues with “Deflate-Gate?”

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    This piece is another in our ongoing series of posts written by those in academia. This piece comes from Dr. Nancy E. Spencer, a Professor of Sport Management at Bowling Green State University and the faculty advisor for The Maxwell Media Watch. 

    By Dr. Nancy E. Spencer

    January 25, 2015

    Since there is just a week leading up to the Super Bowl, many issues have been raised related to Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. It doesn’t take much imagination to guess that “Deflate-Gate” will be one of the main discussions. So what are the issues related to Deflate-gate? Since last week’s playoff games, both Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have held (multiple) press conferences in which they were asked to comment on what happened.

    Bill Belichick held the first press conference, in which many felt that he threw Tom Brady under the bus. In Tom Brady’s press conference he was “peppered with questions for 45 minutes” (Kim, 2015), as seen in this clip. Brady surprised many by saying that he had not yet been questioned by the NFL. He was asked directly if he was a cheater, to which he replied, “I don’t think so,” adding that this wasn’t about ISIS. What do you think? Were Tom Brady and/or Bill Belichick telling the truth? Whether or not they were telling the truth, someone must have known about the footballs being deflated. So who bears responsibility? And what should be the consequences? And why didn’t someone (like D’Qwell Jackson) say something during the game?

    Earlier reports suggested that D’ Qwell Jackson noticed that the football that he intercepted seemed to have less pressure than usual, so why didn’t he (or someone else) report it? Jeff Darlington spoke to Jackson, who said that since that was his first interception in a playoff game, and the pass was thrown by Tom Brady, he wanted to keep the football as a souvenir. Time will tell whether Jackson eventually receives the football as a keepsake. For now, the NFL has confiscated all the footballs in order to examine whether they were purposely deflated.

    On Saturday, Bill Belichick held another press conference, saying at the outset that in the past few days, he had dedicated himself to learning more about “bladders, air gauges, stitching, pressure, game day ball preparations,” and so forth (Stone, 2015). He provided this explanation to account for the difference in air pressure: “We all know that air pressure is a function of the atmospheric conditions. It’s a function of that. So if there’s activity in the ball relative to the rubbing process, I think that explains why when we gave it to the officials and the officials put it at say [12.5 psi], if that’s in fact what they did, that once the ball reached its equilibrium state it probably was closer to [11.5] psi” (Stone, 2015, para. 5). Since I am not schooled in how ‘rubbing a football’ might affect the air pressure, I turned to the “Science Guy” (Bill Nye), who basically said that Belichick “didn’t make any sense” (Schwartz, 2015). I must say that I am more inclined to believe Bill Nye’s assessment than the other Bill guy.

    Given that the science of air pressure may not fully explain what happened to produce under-inflated footballs, how do you think this issue should be settled? Should players, teams, and/or coaches be punished? If so, what should be the penalties? Should penalties be applied before the Super Bowl? Will this controversy ultimately put a damper on the Super Bowl? And/or will it affect the outcome?

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