10 biggest surprise NFL teams thus far on the season

Detroit Lions: 0-2

I’ve said before that the Minnesota Vikings could end the season above the Detroit Lions and while it’s way too soon to really predict whether or not that is true, I think still feel good about it.

The Lions are a bit baffling, and partially a cautionary tale about reading too much into the preseason. A defensive line which looked dominant in the preseason and, to an extent, the first week of the season looked bad against the Vikings, a team which has a ton of offensive line issues.

So the defense is not living up to expectations, even against an offensive line which is missing two key players and was shredded by the San Francisco 49ers.

The other strength should have been the offense but so far it hasn’t been. Matt Stafford has so far graded out as the worst starting quarterback in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus. It’s not the end of the world, since he shares the bottom of the barrel with Peyton Manning, Andrew Luck and Drew Brees, but it is disappointing. Especially with an offense that has Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate in addition to exciting rookie running back Ameer Abdullah.

Everything is misfiring offensively and the defense is not quite performing as well as hoped. Is there a way to change it?

Well, defensively I think it’s just going to take time. They have a talented group and guys like Ziggy Ansah, Haloti Ngata and Stephen Tulloch are good players but the defense is underperforming. At some point, the rest of the defense will catch up to them and the Lions should be able to stem the bleeding.

Offensively, it’s a trickier problem. Ultimately, this comes down to Stafford regressing and making terrible choices during the game. People have talked about fixing his issues (weird mechanics, tendency to lock on to Calvin Johnson, odd delivery) for years and have yet to do it. Can they do it now, in the midst of a season?

Next: Baltimore Ravens: 0-2