There are the teams you’re born rooting for, for better or worse, and then there are the bandwagon clubs – the franchises and star players that pique your interest, draw you in and drop you off. Each week of the 2022 campaign, we’re recapping some of the most encouraging and discouraging developments from around the NFL and deciding whose bandwagon to hop on or off – even if only for a week.
We’re through nine weeks of the 2022 NFL season, which means for better or for worse, we finally have a good sense of who all 32 teams are as we prepare for what should be a really fun run to the playoffs.
For the purpose of our weekly bandwagon exercise as we look ahead to the second half of the season, we’re looking not atop the league at teams like the Bills, Chiefs, Eagles and Vikings or the bottom with the Texans and Panthers but at the messy middle — the clubs that are very much in the race, and those on the brink.
Whether we’re ready to buckle up on a bandwagon or quietly depart, here’s our mid-season bandwagon report as we look ahead down the stretch.
Hopping on: Dolphins as true Super Bowl contenders
We knew at the beginning of the season these Dolphins boasted serious upside but now that we’re midway through the schedule, and especially considering Tua Tagovailoa is back healthy, this Miami team is starting to show what it’s capable of – particularly on offence. Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle have quickly become the league’s most dangerous one-two punch in the passing game with Hill leading all players with 1,104 receiving yards and 76 catches, complimented by Waddle’s 812 yards and six touchdowns. Hill, who’s on pace to challenge Calvin Johnson’s single-season receiving record, said after his team’s exciting 35-32 win over Chicago that he feels like a kid in a candy store in this offence.
The team also changed up the backfield by adding running back Jeff Wilson, whose familiarity with Dolphins’ first-year head coach Mike McDaniel from their days with the 49ers has already begun paying dividends. The defence has allowed 24 or more points in six of nine games, which isn’t ideal, however that’s something that should improve once Bradley Chubb gets acquainted and could be rendered moot if the offence keeps clicking like this. (MJ)
Hopping off: Patriots sneaking into contention like last year
The first half of the 2022 season has been a bumpy ride for the Patriots, complete with an uncharacteristic quarterback conundrum. Despite the fact they’re coming off a trio of impactful AFC victories, the second half looks like it’s going to feature more setbacks than successes.
At 5-4 mid-season, the Patriots are currently challenging for a playoff spot as they did last season but the biggest difference this year is the strength of the other AFC East teams — the Bills are still (almost) unstoppable, the Jets’ defence is propelling them into a playoff spot, and the Dolphins have the best receiving duo in the league.
New England’s second-half schedule, which includes four key divisional matchups, doesn’t exactly help things, either. A date with the Dolphins in Week 17 followed by a Week 18 meeting in Buffalo should bring the drama and make the stretch run interesting, at least. (ES)
Hopping on: Brady’s Buccaneers being back
Down four points against the Rams on Sunday with 44 seconds to go and no timeouts, Tom Brady became Tom Brady again. And in doing so, he just saved Tampa Bay’s season.
In the words of the GOAT himself, “That was ****ing awesome.”
Through the first half of the 2022 season, Brady and the Bucs have shown little resemblance to the Super Bowl-winning squad from two years ago and the team that almost ran it back last January. And for most of Sunday’s matchup against the reigning champs, that remained true. But to see Brady pull off yet another game-winning drive — his 55th, an NFL record — in a game where he became the first player in NFL history to throw for 100,000 yards in a career, felt like a wrong being righted. There are too many flaws and injuries on this roster to call them a superpower like we did two years ago, but those 44 seconds took the Buccaneers from suffering a potential lost season to being a contender down the stretch.
They are helped, of course, by the strength of their schedule through the second half of the season — just one of their opponents, the 6-3 Seahawks, currently has a record above .500 — as well as the quality of their divisional foes (watch out for Atlanta, though!). Brady’s got a hold on the NFC South’s top spot, and I don’t see that changing. (ES)
Hopping off: The defending champion Rams
Much has changed since the Los Angeles Rams celebrated a Super Bowl victory earlier this calendar year. For one, the Rams haven’t looked like a playoff team most weeks let alone a threat to repeat as champs. The offensive line has been decimated by injuries and off-season changes, so short term there’s little optimism to grasp onto. The Rams weren’t able to improve their situation at the trade deadline and letting a late fourth-quarter lead slip to Tom Brady and the Bucs this past Sunday to stay below .500 was extra deflating considering how well the Seahawks have played and the upside the new-look 49ers have shown post-CMC trade in the NFC West. (MJ)
Hopping on: San Francisco to win the division
The success of the Seattle Seahawks has been the best and most surprising story of the first half of the season, and while I don’t see them falling out of the playoffs I’m anticipating a different club finding their way to the top of the NFC West. It’s gotta be the 49ers. At 4-4 coming off their mid-season bye week, this club is far more talented than their record indicates. Of their four wins on the season so far, three have come against NFC West opponents (twice versus the Rams and once against the Seahawks) and they have yet to lose a divisional matchup. We saw what happens when you insert Christian McCaffrey into Kyle Shanahan’s playbook, and now we get to see what that duo can do with a week’s worth of rest and game-planning ahead of Sunday’s primetime battle against the Chargers. (ES)
Hopping off: The Giants as the plucky underdog contender
Even the most optimistic Giants fans likely didn’t predict this team would be 6-2 and firmly in a playoff spot midway through the season. Head coach Brian Daboll has galvanized this team and transformed them into a post-season contender. Unfortunately, the Giants have one of the toughest remaining strengths of schedule for the second half of the season with two games against the currently undefeated Eagles, another against the Cowboys who they lost to in Week 3, plus a road game in Minnesota. The post-season is within reach and with back-to-back games upcoming versus the Texans and Lions it’s entirely possible they get to 8-2, however they’ll still be hard pressed to go above .500 in the back half of the schedule. (MJ)
Hopping on: The disrespected Titans
Tennessee has been the most disrespected good team in the NFL for a few years now. Mike Vrabel has led the Titans to four consecutive winning seasons, three straight playoff appearances including one trip to the AFC championship, and it’s looking again like the Titans are going to emerge atop a weak AFC South. Tennessee is far from a Super Bowl frontrunner, but I’m done underestimating this roster so long as it doesn’t exhaust itself down the stretch. The Titans nearly upset the Chiefs in Week 9, losing 20-17 in overtime, and that was with their rookie backup QB only completing five passes all game (not one to a wide receiver, either). When you have the NFL’s most dominant running back, Derrick Henry, and a defence that doesn’t quit, you have a team that could be an x-factor in the AFC come winter.
It sure would be helpful if the team could begin involving its WRs effectively. The good news is starting QB Ryan Tannehill is on the mend and first-round pick Treylon Burks is eligible to return from injured reserve. (MJ)
Hopping off: Another magical Bengals run
Like Sunday Night Football flexing out of Bengals-Steelers in Week 11 to make room for Chiefs-Chargers, I’m taking a step back (just one though!) from expectations of Cincinnati following up last year’s run with another magical sprint to the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that this offence has an incredibly high ceiling when Ja’Marr Chase is healthy, there doesn’t seem to be a solution in sight for the offensive line, and that’s troubling. So, too, is their schedule for the second half of the season. After taking on Pittsburgh in Week 11, Joe Burrow & Co. face the Titans, Chiefs, Browns, Buccaneers, Patriots, Bills, and Ravens. There’s no room for error there, especially considering the strength of the AFC teams currently ahead of them in the playoff picture. (ES)
