After the first two weeks of the 2024 NFL season, nine teams remain undefeated. Some, such as the Chiefs and Texans, were expected to be hard to beat. However, regarding five others, fans are quite surprised that they’ve gotten off to a hot start. In this article, I will discuss the five teams and determine whether they’re as good as their record suggests, contenders, or if they’re 2W-0L by coincidence, pretenders.
Pittsburgh Steelers: Contenders
Even though the Pittsburgh Steelers aren’t a flashy team, they’re certainly good. The Steelers’ front-7, is arguably the best group in the NFL. The group is highlighted by superstar pass rusher TJ Watt. Nonetheless, Watt is only the beginning. Pittsburgh has 3 more stars in the linebacking core, Nick Herbig, Alex Highsmith, and Patrick Queen, and 2 more game wreckers on the defensive line, Larry Ogunjobi, and Cameron Heyward. Pittsburgh’s secondary is top-tier as well. Minkah Fitzpatrick, Joey Porter, Donte Jackson, and DeShon Elliott are all high-end defensive backs. Mike Tomlin is a veteran coach with a history of finding ways to win. In 18 seasons, Tomlin has a career record of 277W-175L. There’s no doubt in my mind that with this much talent on his defense, Tomlin will find a way to reach the playoffs.
However, as of now, the Steelers’ offense isn’t talented enough to allow their defense to take them on a deep playoff run. Nonetheless, I believe that there’s still a chance that Justin Fields breaks out. He did enough in weeks 1 and 2 to get the win, and he has at times shown sparks of his high ceiling. For the first time in his career, Field has a good playcaller, Arthur Smith, and a stable running game. While the Steelers probably won’t make the Super Bowl or the AFC Championship, they will consistently be a good team throughout the 2024 season.
Los Angeles Chargers: Pretenders
I do believe that the Chargers will find success under Harbaugh, but it won’t be in year 1. They started the season 2W-0L by beating up on two bad teams, the Raiders, and the Panthers. However, their next few games will be against better teams, who will expose the many holes in Los Angeles’s roster. To this point, they’ve leaned on JK Dobbins and the run game. When a defense inevitably takes away their run game, the Chargers will be in trouble. Their receiving core isn’t deep or explosive enough, their offensive line isn’t complete enough to provide Herbert with consistent clean pockets, and I lack faith in Greg Roman’s ability to scheme players open. Furthermore, outside of their edge rushers, the Chargers’ front-7 isn’t good. They were 5th-worst in the NFL in yards allowed in 2023 and didn’t do nearly enough to address that in the offseason. They play the Steelers and the Chiefs in weeks 3 and 4. These next two games will tell us a lot about the Chargers’ true identity.
Minnesota Vikings: Contenders
Earlier this week, I wrote an article discussing the masterclass of roster construction that the Vikings’ general manager, Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, has put together (Click here). Over the first two weeks of the season, Minnesota has shown talent all over the board. Already six different Vikings have recorded a sack, four have forced a turnover, four have scored touchdowns, and three have above 120 scrimmage yards, in only 2 games! Sam Darnold has looked like the quarterback he was originally supposed to be out of USC, posting a 111.7 passer rating and completing 72% of his passes.
The cherry on top and the reason that I believe they will maintain their success is their coaching staff. Kevin O’Connell and his staff have been brilliant. O’Connell is an offensive guru who learned everything he knows from Super Bowl champion head coach, Sean McVay. O’Connell was McVay’s offensive coordinator when the Rams’ offense led the league in yards in 2020 and when Los Angeles won the Super Bowl in 2021. On the other side of the ball, Brian Flores has one of the top defensive schemes in the NFL. In 2020, Flores’s defense in Miami led the NFL with 37 takeaways. So far this season, Flores’s defense in Minnesota has forced 2 turnovers in each game. Between O’Connell calling plays on offense and Flores calling plays on defense, the Vikings’ opponents will be outcoached every time.
Seattle Seahawks: Pretenders
The Seattle Seahawks have great playmakers on both sides of the ball. However, football games are won and lost in the trenches, and Seattle struggles there on both sides. While their defensive front is underwhelming, their offensive line is far worse. Before the season, PFF ranked Seattle’s offensive line 29th in the NFL, and all Seattle’s done is justify the low ranking. Seattle’s offensive line is one of the worst units in the NFL and it has caused their entire offense to be sloppy. Geno Smith has been hit often, resulting in safeties and interceptions. They barely beat two bad teams due to the opponents' offense missing multiple opportunities. They won by single scores against teams that haven’t been able to move the ball in yeast. 13 of their remaining 15 games are against prolific quarterbacks. Once Seattle falls behind, they will be forced to throw the ball. Their offensive line won’t be able to keep Smith on his feet and they will fall apart.
New Orleans Saints: No Clue!
On paper, the New Orleans Saints have a horrible roster. In PFF’s preseason offensive line rankings, they had the Saints’ unit in 31st, ahead of only the Patriots. In the backfield, New Orleans hasn’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Mark Ingram did it in 2017. In the receiver room, Chris Olave is the only one who broke 750 yards last season. In addition, Derek Carr’s passer rating has steadily decreased in each of the past three seasons. On the other side of the ball, their three stars, Davis, Mathieu, and Jordan, are all well past their primes and into their mid-30s. The worst of all, Dennis Allen entered the season with a 24W-46L career record as a head coach. I expected the Saints to have a poor season and enter a full rebuild this offseason.
Nevertheless, the Saints kicked off the season with two statement wins against the Panthers and Cowboys. Beating the Panthers and Cowboys isn’t too impressive, but the way they beat them is. The Saints smacked Carolina 47-10 in week 1 and then beat the Cowboys 44-19 in Dallas in week 2. Carr led scoring drives on each of his first 15 drives of the season. Alvin Kamara has scored 5 touchdowns in two games. Their defense has forced 5 turnovers and 7 sacks. They’ve been unstoppable in every aspect of the game.
However, the Panthers and Cowboys are no strangers to being blown out. Blowouts are often flukes. For example, last season, the Detroit Lions lost by 32 points in week 7 and still ended up being one of the best teams in the NFL. At the end of the day, while winning in style is more exciting, in the win column, a 30-point win is the same as a 1-point. Over the last 6 years, over a quarter of the teams that started 2W-0L didn’t make the playoffs. The Saints’ wins were both very convincing, but I’m not sure if they were enough to disprove how atrocious they are on paper. The Saints have major tests coming up against the Eagles and Chiefs. Hopefully, those games will make their true identity more clear.
Comments