Face it: you had no idea who was making Super Bowl 54 in the middle of the season, even if you think you did.
Really? Were you sure the San Francisco 49ers were really the best team of the NFC bunch? Not the New Orleans Saints, who looked every bit like the favorites when Drew Brees returned from injury? Weren’t you worried about the Seattle Seahawks?
And I know a lot of you thought this was the Baltimore Ravens’ year. Perhaps you had your doubts about the Kansas City Chiefs while Patrick Mahomes is on the mend.
But here we are. And here’s how we got here, week by week.
Week 1
Two words: LAMAR. JACKSON. The Ravens put up 59 points in a win over the Dolphins. The Chiefs scored 40 of their own in their Week 1 win over the Jaguars, and the Rams started out their post-Super Bowl berth season with a three-point win over the Panthers.
HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS? They beat the Giants 35-17. And the Saints eked out a win over the Texans, 30-28.
Week 2
The 49ers made a statement by steamrolling the Bengals 41-17 to go 2-0. They were joined by the Chiefs, Rams, Packers, Ravens, Patriots and … Bills! … at 2-0. So much for the Steelers — they were 0-2 after a home loss to the Seahawks.
Horrible news for the Saints — Drew Brees injured his hand and would be out for a while.
Week 3
Ho hum, the Patriots just keep being the Patriots, going 3-0 after an easy win over the Jets. The Chiefs handed the Ravens their first loss (!) 33-28 while playing in KC, and the Cowboys looked every bit like an NFC contender, along with the Rams (3-0 after beating the hapless Browns, hey remember when we all thought Cleveland might make the playoffs?). Little did we know …
Week 4
What was that I said about the Browns? Oh, right. THEY BEAT THE RAVENS 40-25!!!!!! ZOMG. I seriously forgot that this happened. Elsewhere, the Saints eked out a win over the Cowboys 12-10 and maybe the Bears aren’t so bad after a win over the Vikings? They went to 3-1.
The AFC South is WIDE open with all four teams at 2-2, and the Chiefs became the only other team besides the Patriots to go 4-0 in the AFC. Mahomes to the Super Bowl is INEVITABLE!
Week 5
Um, yeah, about that … the Chiefs lost at home to the Colts. The Browns fell to Earth in San Francisco.
And BAH GOD IS THAT TEDDY BRIDGEWATER’S MUSIC? The Saints keep winning without Brees, 31-24.
The Ravens right the ship and the Patriots beat the Redskins, which in hindsight is a reminder that New England’s early schedule was filled with teams that might be XFL contenders, but NFL also-rans.
Also, there’s MVP talk with Russell Wilson. The Seahawks are 4-1, as are the Packers.
Week 6
This is the week we started to doubt the Rams returning to the big game. They lost 20-7 at home to the Niners. The Chiefs lost their second straight, this time to the Texans, who are suddenly looking feisty.
Bridgewater’s offseason contract numbers went up as he won another game for the Saints. And have we talked about the Vikings yet? No? Kind of telling that we haven’t, because they moved to 4-2 with a victory over the Eagles, but we weren’t taking them seriously even back then.
Week 7
TOM BRADY BACK TO ANOTHER SUPER BOWL? IT’S GONNA HAPPEN!
The Pats beat the Jets, and again, we should have all seen what was about to happen coming.
The Colts took down the Texans and maybe it was time to worry about Houston’s defense all the way back then in mid-October.
Also this was the week that the Niners won a football game over the Redskins by a score of 9-0, and they might win the Super Bowl on Sunday.
But the big news this week was Mahomes’ dislocated kneecap, which we’re not talking about enough right now. He recovered so quickly, partially because of his anatomy.
Week 8
Remember when Matt Moore nearly beat the Packers? That happened! But the Chiefs would be just fine with the other three AFC West teams continuing to be mediocre.
Meanwhile, holy cow, the Niners put up 51 POINTS against the Panthers (this is around the time I thought Kyle Allen should start over Cam Newton when Newton was potentially returning. More than happy to admit that was a scalding hot take) and this was about the time we started saying, “Ryan Tannehill is … good now?” He took down Jameis Winston and the Bucs with three touchdown passes, and the Titans were back to .500.
Week 9
We haven’t talked about the Ravens in a while. But after this game, a 37-20 trouncing of the Patriots, it was time:
Moore helped beat the Vikings and suddenly, maybe it’s not all Mahomes in Kansas City? And the Texans are 5-3.
Week 10
Mahomes returns, throws for 446 yards and LOSES to the Titans! WOW! And there are four really good teams in the NFC: the Packers, Saints, Niners and Seahawks. The Cowboys? Nope. They fall to 5-4 in a loss at home to the Vikings.
Also, WELCOME BACK DREW BREES! You lost to the Falcons, though. Imagine what this season would have been like for the Saints if Brees hadn’t been injured. Missing out on an NFC bye was huge.
Week 11
Lamar Jackson! Deshaun Watson! Should be a good one!
NOPE. Ravens, 41. Texans, 7.
That’s pretty much the highlight in terms of contenders, although this was the week when there was that “wait are the Raiders kind of good?” talk that lasted for like two weeks. And one of those was Oakland’s bye.
Week 12
The Patriots only scored 13 points against the Cowboys, but Dallas put up just nine. WELP for both teams. The Rams were officially donezo at this point after a terrible performance against the Ravens despite the fact they were 6-5.
Speaking of which! The Texans beat the Colts (6-5) and the Titans entered the Derrick Henry zone with a 42-20 win over the Jags. They’re also 6-5.
Week 13
This might have been the only week we doubted the Niners could be Super Bowl champions … or maybe we were still impressed? Because they lost by just three points to the Ravens on the road. I guess the latter. This cemented everyone’s RAVENS GOING TO MIAMI pick.
The Chiefs quieted all that Raiders talk with a blowout victory, and the Seahawks beat the Vikings by a touchdown and moved to 10-2. Russell Wilson … No. 1 seed? It nearly happened (foreshadowing!).
Week 14
Can we talk about the NFC East for a sec? The Cowboys lost to the Bears (!) and the Eagles barely scraped by in overtime against the Giants. Both teams were 6-7 and that’s just hilarious.
I don’t think I’ve talked once about the Steelers, but this was the week in which they beat the Cardinals and were 8-5 and starting a quarterback whose nickname was Duck.
Oh by the way the Patriots lost at home to Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Week 15
This is really when the playoff picture started taking shape. In the AFC, the Ravens had locked in on a bye and the Patriots were just one game behind. The Chiefs were West champs and the South had two contenders in the Texans and Titans. The Bills were 10-4! That was cool.
In the NFC, it was completely muddled. Four teams were at 11-3 — the Packers, Saints, 49ers and Seahawks. The Vikings knew they were pretty much in at 10-4. And the Cowboys and Eagles were both 7-7 LOLOLOLOL.
Week 16
Congrats to the Eagles, who emerged from the NFC East muck with a win over the Cowboys, but no one figured they’d do anything in the postseason. And the rest of the conference was completely up in the air.
Week 17
NO BYE FOR YOU NEW ENGLAND. YOU NEITHER, NEW ORLEANS!
Both teams who we thought were contenders back in Week 1 are knocked out the next week, and although the Ravens got a week off, they were knocked out in the Divisional round the week after.
Eventually, the Chiefs and 49ers emerged. And here we are.
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