4 Teams That Will Have Surprisingly Good 2022 Seasons (And 4 Teams That Are Going to Be Atrocious)

Every season, there are teams that exceed expectations and teams that fall off a cliff.

Here are the 4 teams that will have surprisingly good seasons:

1. Minnesota Vikings

This has nothing to do with Kirk Cousins. I want to make that extremely clear before we go any further. Kirk is Kirk. Nothing has suddenly changed to make be believe he is no longer the mendoza line for quarterbacks.

The Vikings will most likely win the NFC North. They have four games against the Lions and Bears—the two worst teams in the NFL. They play the Green Bay Packers twice and I am allllll the way in on the fall of Aaron Rodgers now that Davante Adams is gone and he’s spent all of his free time on 4chan with Alex Jones’s podcast blasting in the background.

Also, Mike Zimmer is no longer the head coach and it became quite clear he had totally had enough of watching Cousins get sacked on 3rd and long.

2. New York Jets

If Zach Wilson were starting Week 1, they’d be a complete afterthought. Zero ink spilled from my pen when it comes to the Wilson Jets. But now that he’s recovering from a torn meniscus and texting ‘u up?’ to his mom’s friends, get ready for the Jets to shock people thanks to the great Joe Flacco on a revenge tour.

3. New Orleans Saints

Me and Jameis Winston vs. Everyone. Last season, Jameis went 5-2 in 7 starts with a tremendous 14 touchdowns to only 3 interceptions. Throwing only 3 interceptions after throwing 30 INTs just two seasons earlier is a huge improvement. If Winston can take care of the ball then he could be an MVP candidate.

Plus, Michael Thomas is back—maybe—so giving Winston a star no. 1 receiver might be a reaaaal problem for the league.

4. New York Giants

Of course the Giants are on this list. Welcome to Deadseriousness.com, home of pretending like the Giants aren’t an out-of-touch and dysfunctional shit organization.

Brian Daboll is the most exciting of the new crop of head coach hires. He’s coming off a run in Buffalo in which he transformed one of the worst college quarterbacks ever into a perennial MVP candidate. Not saying that Daniel Jones will suddenly wake up and become Josh Allen but I trust Daboll to shape this team better than Ben McAdoo, Pat Shurmur or Joe Judge.

Plus, they get to play against Carson Wentz and the Commanders twice.

Anddd, here are 4 teams that will be surprisingly bad this year:

1. New England Patriots

Speaking of Joe Judge, it is insane to me that Bill Belichick watched Joe Judge lead the Giants to the literal worst offense in the league last season only to hire that loser as his quarterback coach to work alongside Matt Patricia—a former defensive coordinator who is now being tasked with calling offensive plays for a 2nd year QB.

Patriots might go 0-17.

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

There are two things I will always bet against in the NFL: 1. Defensive coordinators coming in as head coach and replacing offensive masterminds (especially if those DCs have any history wearing Jets colors) and 2. old ass Tom Brady who missed all of training camp despite being far closer to dementia than puberty. Personally, I wouldn’t want my geriatric QB1 taking the summer off with insane expectations of walking onto the field week 1 against the Cowboys and avoiding getting folded by Demarcus Lawrence and Micah Parsons with no preseason or training camp reps.

I feel genuinely sorry for Brady and his unrelenting quest to die on a football field. Tampa Bay has lost key offensive linemen—G Ali Marpet and G Alex Cappa—as well as future Hall of Famers like Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Jason Pierre-Paul and Ndamukong Suh.

Bucs are gonna suuuuuuc(s).

3. Denver Broncos

For some reason, the NFL media conglomerate has universally agreed on Russell Wilson’s ability to lead the Denver Broncos to the playoffs. A team that finished 7-10 last season acquired an aging quarterback. An aging quarterback whose entire success was built on his elusiveness when scrambling out of the pocket. An aging quarterback who no longer scrambles thus removing the only advantage he had over opposing defenses.

The Broncos play in the same division as the best two teams in football—Kansas City and Los Angeles. This team is winning 7 games again. If they’re lucky.

4. San Francisco 49ers

Every report from 49ers camp indicates Trey Lance’s inability to move the offense down the field. It sucks because I’m rooting for my brother but at the same time, this is what equality looks like—we have finally reached the point in this league where black quarterbacks can be mediocre as hell and still get starting jobs. Free at last, free at last.

Kyle Shanahan choosing Lance of Jimmy G should solely because he wants the credit of developing a trash QB into a star should make Shanahan a laughing stock but thankfully, we found out that Jon Gruden chose Derek Carr over Tom Brady for the same reason and that’s wayyy funnier.