Jared Goff, Lions QB

A season after a heartbreaking loss in the NFC Championship Game, Jared Goff has ensured there has been no letdown for the Lions. Goff has been a model of efficiency, completing 74.1% of his passes while posting career bests in yards per attempt and passer rating. While other NFC contenders have struggled, Detroit looks arguably better than a season ago. 

TJ Watt, Steelers LB

Can a defensive player really win MVP? If any player on that side of the ball can make a claim to the award, it’s T.J. Watt, who is unquestionably the best player on a Steelers team that’s in first place in the AFC North. Watt doesn’t have the crooked sack totals he often puts up — he has 6.5 in eight games — but he remains a game-wrecking force. Watt has forced four fumbles this year, tied for most in the league. 

Christian McCaffrey, 49ers RB 

Wait, a player who has yet to play a single down? Believe it. Just as his presence allowed the 49ers’ offense last season to become an advanced-stats outlier and the league’s most effective at scoring touchdowns in the red zone, his absence this season, because of Achilles tendonitis in both legs, has only underscored his value as the offense lacks dynamism. The 49ers are 4-4 as a result.

Most Disappointing Teams

Cincinnati Bengals

Starting 1-4, with each loss by six points or fewer, led to two schools of thought: Were the Bengals snakebit? Or just not good enough to close out a tight game? Either way Cincinnati is on the verge of wasting what has been a strong season by quarterback Joe Burrow and receiver Ja’Marr Chase, the league leader in receiving yards.  

New York Jets

No matter how many of Aaron Rodgers’s friends the Jets bring in, they can’t seem to make it work. Despite trading for Davante Adams and firing head coach Robert Saleh, New York is only 2-6 — two games worse than its record at this point last season. Rodgers, 40, has been one of the biggest problems. He’s posting career worst numbers in completion percentage, yards per attempt and passer rating. 

Miami Dolphins

A year after having the league’s top passing offense and the second-best scoring offense, the Dolphins find themselves at 2-5 and near the bottom in most offensive categories. A Week 2 concussion suffered by Tua Tagovailoa not only sunk a season with high expectations, it brought back fears about Tagovailoa’s ability to be a long-term answer for Miami. 

Most Surprising Teams

Green Bay Packers

A trendy offseason pick to make the Super Bowl, Green Bay was expected to be good. But no one would have predicted they’d be 6-2 with quarterback Jordan Love healthy for less than six games, or that backup quarterback Malik Willis, a cast-off who joined the team only in late August, would step in so seamlessly for Love. Don’t sleep on a defense with a league-high 19 takeaways.

Pittsburgh Steelers

Importing a pair of quarterbacks who had disappointed mightily in their last stops could have set the stage for a rebuild. Instead, Justin Fields went 4-2 while Russell Wilson recovered from a calf injury, and Wilson has since won two straight in his return to as starter. Coach Mike Tomlin’s QB gamble has paid off. 

Minnesota Vikings

Notice a trend? Like the Packers and Steelers, Minnesota (5-2) has surprised in the NFL’s strongest division behind a strong defense — coordinator Brian Flores will likely be in head-coaching interviews in a matter of weeks — and a quarterback, Sam Darnold, who has minimized the type of mistakes that doomed his previous stops in the league.  

Kansas City Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes is on pace to finish with the least amount of touchdowns (19) and most interceptions (22) of his career, and yet the Chiefs are still the only undefeated team in the NFL headed into Week 9. It’s been confounding watching Mahomes this season. He is still very clearly recognized as the most terrifying player in the game, even if the stats don’t back it up. If anything, he’s embodying one of the most eye roll-y clichés in sports: He just knows how to win. 

Most Impactful Offseason Signing

Derrick Henry, Ravens RB

Playing at a position that front offices deem the most expendable in the league, Henry is not only still relevant four years after breaking the 2,000-yard mark, he has proven to be invaluable. He’s made the Ravens look brilliant for adding him. By rushing for a league-leading 946 yards on 6.5 yards per carry — an incredible 1.1 yards more per rush than he averaged in that historic 2020 season — he’s taken pressure off of Jackson.

Best Play 

This moment was both shocking in real time and a neat microcosm of the Jayden Daniels experience. It was an incredible throw, an exciting moment for a Washington franchise that’s had very few this century, and it was a reminder that Daniels is further along than Caleb Williams — the highly touted quarterback prospect that was selected ahead of Daniels in April’s draft. That not only explains the play, but what Daniels has brought to a Commanders team that won’t go away.