INSCMagazine: Get Social!

We are just wrapping up a quarter of the 2016 NFL Season. Although it is still early in the season, you see some surprises and disappointments.

Here are three surprise teams through Week 4.

Minnesota Vikings (4-0)

This team is doing great things. Within a few weeks, they ended up losing both Teddy Bridgewater and Adrian Peterson to season-ending injuries. When both got injured, many football fans thought it was going to be a long season for the Vikings. Well, that is not the case now as they are 4-0 and atop the NFC North. They are getting help from Sam Bradford and Jerick McKinnon, who are both playing well. However, what is making the Vikings a very good team is their defense. I know it is still early in the season, but I have heard people say that the 2016 Vikings defense is like the 1985 Bears defense.

Dallas Cowboys (3-1)

When it was announced that Tony Romo would be out for at least the first ten weeks and it was announced that Darren Fadden would not be playing this year, many people were riding the Cowboys off because they were going to have a rookie QB in Dak Prescott and a rookie RB in Ezekiel Elliott.

They lost their first game against the Giants, but then they would turn it around and are now 3-1. Dak Prescott is having a phenomenal start to his young career as he has yet to throw an interception and has over 1,000 passing yards. On the other side, Elliot has 414 rushing yards and has three rushing touchdowns. They are getting good now, and it can be a long season for Cowboys opponents.

Los Angeles Rams (3-1)

I will come right out and say it; this team has taken me by surprise in the early parts of the season. They had no offense at the beginning of the season. Since then they have started to get their offense in order. I remember saying that I didn’t suspect that the Rams would do anything this season, I will admit that I am wrong and obviously it is still early but the Rams are looking good early on.

While I had these teams as surprises, there are a few teams that are not performing up to where they should be and if they don’t change something soon, they could be in store for a long season.

New York Jets (1-3)

There is so much I can say about this team. Going into this season, many football experts were saying that the Jets will make the playoffs. After the first four games, they are now tied for last place in the AFC East. The last two weeks has also seen as a terrible QB that has nine interceptions in the last two games. While the Jets are dealing with some injuries, that shouldn’t be the excuse to not win. While the Jets have tough opponents, you can’t use that as you can win any game.

New York Giants (2-2)

After starting off the season off 2-0, the Giants have lost the last two games. They have been embarrassed and have a lot of drama with OBJ. Hopefully, the Giants can turn something around or they won’t make the playoffs. I understand that Ben McAdoo is a first-year head coach, but he needs to take control of the team.

Carolina Panthers (1-3)

This is a much different team than they had last year that made a Super Bowl run. Cam Newton has not been himself this season and that is not a good thing. Overall, the Panthers could probably turn it around but it needs to be done sooner rather than later.