We've already almost made it through the first "month" of the NFL season as September comes to a close, and as you might expect, things aren't exactly going as predicted so far.
We have seen some unfortunate history already start repeating itself in just the first few weeks of the season, including multiple NFC teams already having to deal with injuries at the quarterback position. Even when you expect the unexpected in the NFL, the league always finds a way to catch you off-guard.
Which teams -- and players -- have been the most surprising so far through the first three weeks of the season? We're taking a closer look at the 3 most surprising storylines so far this season in the NFC, what preseason narratives have shifted, and how some outlooks for this year have changed drastically.
3 biggest surprises in the NFC through the month of September
3. Tyler Shough & Bryce Young leading the NFL in passing yards
If you had to guess back in August which quarterbacks would lead the NFL in passing yards through the first month of the season, I can almost guarantee you that nobody would have said, "It's absolutely going to be Bryce Young and Tyler Shough, no question."
Young leads the NFL with 939 passing yards through three games, and Shough is right behind him with 917 passing yards.
They also just so happen to be the only two quarterbacks in the entire league with 900 or more passing yards through three games. And to complete the NFC South three-fer, Michael Penix Jr. (who has only played one game, to be fair), leads the league in yards per attempt at 10.2.
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The idea that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers might struggle in the early stages of the season (which they have) is not all that shocking.
The idea that they would be 0-3 to end the month of September? That would have been considered a very far-fetched prediction at the beginning of the season.
The Buccaneers had a road game against the Bengals to start off the season, and they would have been at least slight underdogs in that game. However, they followed that with home matchups against the Browns and Vikings.
For a team with division title aspirations, 1-2 after the first month of the season would have been a worst-case scenario. The world we're living in now, with the Bucs at 0-3 and Baker Mayfield out with a thumb injury, is somehow worse than the worst-case scenario.
This has the feel of a "blow it up midseason" type of situation.
1. The Rams & Cardinals having the same record
The Arizona Cardinals came out swinging to start this season, notching an impressive win over the Los Angeles Chargers to get to 1-0.
The Los Angeles Rams couldn't have been more on the opposite end of the spectrum with a brutal loss in Australia against the 49ers to open the season, spoiling their super-team narrative right out of the gates.
Even though the universe seemed to course-correct in Week 2 with the Cardinals getting blown out by the Seahawks and the Rams blowing out the Giants, both of these teams lost in Week 3 to finish the month of September at 1-2.
Even though the Rams had some tough games to open the season against the 49ers and Broncos, they were expected to absolutely steamroll through their schedule. On the other hand, the Cardinals were just expected to be bad from the start, yet they played the Chargers exceptionally well and even had the 49ers sweating a bit in Week 3.
These two teams still appear headed very different directions this season, but the shock factor of both having the same record at the end of September is still high.
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