Which NFL teams are bound to be better than people think in the 2022 season? We take a look at two teams from each the AFC and NFC.
In less than a month, every NFL team will be in the thick of training camp and the 2022 season will finally be upon us.
After free agency, the NFL Draft, coaching changes, and everything in between, which teams are poised to exceed expectations this coming season?
Although the AFC is a bit more loaded than the NFC this season, at least on paper, we could have some teams rising up in both conferences, making noise when no one really expected it.
Let’s take a look at two of the teams that will be better than people think from each conference.
Underrated NFL team no. 4: Jacksonville Jaguars
Are the Jacksonville Jaguars the NFL’s best example of “addition by subtraction” in 2022?
The Jaguars hired Urban Meyer in 2021 and that decision turned out to be an absolute nightmare for everyone involved.
Although number one overall pick Trevor Lawrence showed some nice things, the Jaguars’ offense was stale and nuggets of Lawrence’s growth as a rookie had to be sifted through the horrible layer of awful that Meyer was building on top of it all.
With Meyer out of the fold, the Jaguars had a seemingly disastrous coaching search in 2022 before ultimately hiring Doug Pederson.
Having a Super Bowl-winning coach like Pederson in the fold as compared to the disastrous Urban Meyer might be enough to put the Jaguars on this list, but this team actually has a lot of young talent.
I suppose that’s what picking high in the NFL Draft pretty much every year can do for you.
Banking almost solely on the combination of Lawrence and Pederson being the driving force behind this, I think it’s safe to say the Jaguars will be tougher than people think in 2022.
Underrated NFL team no. 3: Detroit Lions
One of the teams I think people are really sleeping on for the 2022 season is the Detroit Lions.
I get it, though.
Everybody likes to bag on Jared Goff.
Everybody thinks Dan Campbell’s press conference tirades and daily Starbucks coffee order are hilarious.
Nobody really takes the Detroit Lions seriously anyway, but you put together this whole combination of factors for the team and it’s easy to understand why there is really not a lot of hype surrounding them in 2022 at this point.
I’m here to tell you to take the “over” on whatever their wins projection is for the season.
The Lions started to really galvanize down the stretch last season. This is a well-coached team that plays hard and often hung in there with teams to the bitter end of the fourth quarter last season.
Do they need to be better at closing out games? Definitely.
But the ingredients are there.
The additions of players like DJ Chark and Jameson Williams to an already vastly-improved wide receiver group are huge.
The offensive line in Detroit is good.
The defense will get a massive boost from top pick Aidan Hutchinson and a healthy Jeff Okudah.
The Lions are poised to be one of those teams that exceed the expectations of the masses in a huge way in 2022.
Underrated NFL team no. 2: Carolina Panthers
I don’t think there’s any question about this one.
The Carolina Panthers are going to be way better than most people think in the 2022 season.
Carolina’s recent trade for Baker Mayfield is a move that I really think can help put this roster over the top. Everyone has a different opinion on Mayfield at this point, and that’s fine.
I personally have faith that he can be the guy we saw a couple of seasons ago, and even better than that.
Is Carolina the best environment for that? With Ben McAdoo as the offensive coordinator, I really don’t know.
With that said, Mayfield has a host of weapons at his disposal including:
- DJ Moore
- Christian McCaffrey
- Robby Anderson
- Terrace Marshall
- Tommy Tremble
The Panthers made big improvements on the offensive line this offseason, adding free agents Austin Corbett and Bradley Bozeman on the interior and then scoring Ikem Ekwonu with their top pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
Defensively, this team already had a strong foundation in place with players like Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, Jeremy Chinn, and a secondary loaded with former high draft choices.
Matt Rhule’s job in the NFL is hanging on by a thread, and while he would certainly be coveted by college teams again if it doesn’t work out for him, I think with Mayfield in the fold, this is Carolina’s best chance yet to put together a consistently good team.
Underrated NFL team no. 1: Miami Dolphins
After back-to-back winning seasons, it might not be the boldest thing to be putting the Miami Dolphins on a list like this.
However, just like everyone’s got an opinion about Baker Mayfield, everyone’s also got an opinion of Tua Tagovailoa.
At this point, most of those opinions and the general consensus seem to be rather negative.
Tagovailoa was the hero of the National Championship game back in his freshman season at Alabama. During that game, watching things unfold on Twitter, everyone was certain that Tagovailoa was going to be the next great thing in the NFL.
As time unfolded, injuries were really all that prevented Tagovailoa from being the most dominant player in college football during his time with the Crimson Tide.
As an NFL prospect, there were plenty of mixed opinions back in 2020. There was a debate at the time about Justin Herbert versus Tagovailoa as the QB2 of the class and the Dolphins obviously decided the answer to that debate was Tua.
Now, entering his third NFL season, expectations will be sky high.
Tua has one of the best receivers in the game to throw to in Tyreek Hill, acquired in a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs. For my money, nobody changes games more than Hill.
The Dolphins added a new left tackle in Terron Armstead in free agency.
They brought in a creative, offensive-minded head coach in Mike McDaniel.
The defense was already good and should be even better as 2021 rookie studs Jaelan Phillips and Jevon Holland continue to develop.
This Dolphins team might only go as far as Tua Tagovailoa can carry them, but I think they’re going to be better than most people think they will be in 2022 considering the general consensus seems to be they are not to be taken seriously with Tua at QB.