Mike Tomlin has done a great job in his rookie season.

10. Mike Tomlin – Before the season started, everyone was picking the Ravens and Bengals to make the playoffs from the AFC North. The Steelers weren’t even in the conversation because of a lackluster season just a year ago. All the Steelers did after that was win football games. Sure, they haven’t won them all, but many of their wins were impressive, with complete games on both sides of the ball. Their defense is the #1 ranked defense in the NFL with the fewest points scored against them. And their offense scores touchdowns and eats the clock by running the ball. It’s all pretty basic, actually. Tomlin definitely has the personnel to do it. The great thing about that is, he didn’t try to reinvent the playbook. He went in, set his ego aside, and worked with what was there. When coaches do that, teams tend to be successful.

9. Bengals – The Bengals are 2-5. They are in the cellar of the AFC North, two games behind the Browns. If there was ever a team that resembled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this is it. The offense is a quality NFL offense that should be able to carry most squads through an NFL season while piling on the wins. On the other hand, the defense is terrible. If a small, tired boy were slowly walking up a steep hill, the Bengals defense wouldn’t be able to stop him from reaching the top. In fact, the offense is more like the power of Mike Tyson while the defense is comparable to Woody Allen. Imagine the Bengals offense playing against their own defense and the result would be similar to the Tyson-Allen match-up. But all kidding aside, Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson, and the rest of the offense work so hard to score – they have to be frustrated when their effort is basically erased and they are forced back onto the field, often times in do or die situations. To be fair, the Bengals defensive unit has been hit hard with injuries. When backup linebackers are missing games due to injury, you know things aren’t going right.

8. Brett Favre – There are bad surprises, there are good surprises, and then there is Brett Favre. Maybe once in a generation of players do we as sports fans get to witness a living legend playing near the end of his career at an extremely high level, but so far this season, that is exactly what Brett Favre has treated us to. Nicknamed the “Gunslinger,” Favre has been hitting his receivers and playing with a rejuvenated confidence. Couple that with a defense that seems to be emerging as one of the better units in the NFL (another surprise), and the Packers will vie for the top spot in their division. But how much of a surprise is Favre and his play? He was drafted in the 10th round in my fantasy league, the same round I drafted my kicker. Ouch!

7. Randy Moss – Randy Moss has always been a me kind of guy. His incredible talent is sometimes dwarfed by his monstrous ego. Because of this, few teams were willing to take a chance on him after his days in Minnesota. The Raiders, who, up until just recently, had been a team for misfits from around the league, decided to roll the dice. And it quickly became apparent that the guy who plays when he wants to didn’t want to play. His on-the-field performances were lackluster at best. He dropped balls, didn’t finish routes, and often times, appeared as if he just didn’t care. Then, in a surprise move this off-season, the Patriots traded for Moss. Moss even accepted a huge pay-cut to join the team. Would his arrival in New England slowly make the Patriots implode? Would his me-first attitude be accepted by such a disciplined group of staff and players? These questions were quickly replaced with accolades. So far this season, we are quite possibly seeing Moss play at the highest level he has ever played at. He is hustling to passes, leaping through the air, dragging his feet, and making crazy, one-handed catches on a weekly basis. He is placing himself in perfect positions so only he can get his hands on the ball. But even more surprising than all of that, he is being a team player. He is not mouthing off to Tom Brady. He is not complaining to coaches. He’s not walking off the field early or pretending to moon the crowd. Has Moss matured? Because it appears that he has become the ideal teammate. And that, in and of itself, is a huge surprise.

6. Patriots Hype/Colts “under the radar” – The Patriots. If you read about sports, listen to people talking about sports, or turn on ESPN, it sounds like everyone has handed them the Lombardi trophy already. Sure their passing offense is incredible. But the rushing game for the Patriots is average at best, and the defense has rarely put teams away this season. On the other hand, the team flying under the radar – you know, the guys who won the Super Bowl – their offense is pretty good too. The Colts have a great passing attack as well as a balanced rush. On paper, the Colts defense is slightly stronger, allowing about a point fewer per game than the Patriots. And if you consider the strength of schedule for both teams, the competition for the Colts has been better, with 27 wins and 23 loses, while the Patriots opponents have a combined record of 24-34. Even though the Colts won the Super Bowl and are the defending champions, everyone wants to anoint the Patriots. The Patriots haven’t done anything yet except play really well against sub-par squads in the regular season. Remember folks. This is the NFL. There’s a reason people say that on any given Sunday, either team can win. And just a single loss in the playoffs will make this entire run that the Patriots are stringing together meaningless. Because in sports, the guy who comes in second place is the first one to lose.

5. The Browns Offense – Drew Carrey was right. Cleveland rocks. Someone over there has discovered how to spin quarterbacks made from straw into gold. Well, sort of. By trading their starting quarterback and ushering a guy with only backup experience onto the unforgiving gridirons, the Browns have totally reinvented their own identity. Only a season removed from what has been a fumbling, stumbling, bumbling team for the past few years, the Browns appear to be a team whose stock is rising. In fact, their offense has been so prolific since swapping out their starting quarterback that they have scored more points than the Cincinnati Bengals, their division rival who was billed to have one of the best offenses in the league.

4. The Rams Offense – If the Browns picked up some mojo, maybe they took it from the Rams. Their offense is awful considering they are just a season removed from being one of the better scoring units around. But the timing isn’t in the passes on the field, it’s in the injuries that have occurred. Nearly every starting skill position has faced injuries that kept them from playing on Sundays, including Marc Bulger, Steven Jackson, Torry Holt, and Isaac Bruce. Not to mention an offensive line that has been depleted by injury. Too many injuries to too many players have really hurt this team. And without a single checkmark in the ‘W’ column, the Rams are in danger of having the season’s worst record.

3. Teams continue to kick to Devin Hester – I don’t get this. Devin Hester is the most explosive kick return specialist in the NFL today, and quite arguably of all time. After all, the position doesn’t carry quite the same pedigree as something like quarterback. But here’s the part that boggles the mind. When a running back is good, defenses stack eight guys in the box to stop him. When a game-breaking receiver is on the field, teams double team him. When a quarterback is prone to scrambling, teams spy him with a linebacker. So why do teams continue to kick it to Hester? I am not getting paid like NFL coaches, so maybe there’s something I don’t see or understand. All I know is, when I was a kid, the first time I touched a hot stove was also the last.

2. The Chargers Slow Start – After opening the season by nudging out the Chicago Bears, the Chargers dropped three straight games. In the “what have you done for me lately” environment of the NFL, people started to point fingers. Norv Turner, the new head coach, was often cited as the reason the team wasn’t doing well. People questioned the defense, and how it didn’t seem as menacing as it was last season. And when things got really desperate, whispers of Tomlinson perhaps losing a step entered the equation. But if you really look at the period of games where the Chargers dropped three in a row, you’ll see the Chiefs, the Packers, and the Patriots. All three teams currently have winning records. The Green Bay Packers are having a fantastic season with Brett Favre playing better than he has in years. The Chiefs have also turned it on as of late, winning 4 of their past 5 games. And at this point, the Chargers get a pass on the Patriots – we can’t really blame them for losing to the most talented team in the NFL – even if they are the second most talented team.

1. New Orleans Saints – How can a team that had last year’s number one offense in the NFL drop so dramatically? Sure, they have some injuries, but it’s not like the Rams, whose offense suffered simultaneous injuries to just about everyone on the offense. And while the Deuce was sidelined, they had a more than capable replacement with Reggie Bush seeing more snaps. So what happened? Drew Brees was an early season bust, Marques Colston seems to be in a sophomore slump, and Bush is experiencing déjà vu. He can’t seem to get a solid grasp on the NFL just yet, with only 298 rushing yards (before Week 8, he had fewer than 200 rushing yards), and more fumbles than touchdowns. Here’s what some people might be thinking but no one is saying. Last year was a mirage. After the tragic events that destroyed the city of New Orleans, the Saints rallied together and created sports magic. They caught lightning in a bottle for the course of a season, and now that it’s gone, the Saints are back to what they were before. Not quite the Aints, but not nearly as good as their record from a year ago.  

These surprises are from the midpoint of the season. There is definitely time for some of these teams to turn the season around, and some of them have already made great strides in that direction. Only time will tell.

Did we miss a team or player who should be on the list? Let us know. Express your opinion in the space provided  below.