Ryan Tannehill is ... good? 7 things we’ve been wrong about this NFL season

Expectations are a funny thing in sports. Sometimes, those expectations are correct, like this one: the Cleveland Browns are cursed. Other times, those expectations are somewhat off, like this one: the New Orleans Saints are the best team in the NFC.

But whether we’re talking about the Browns capturing our hearts or the Browns ruining everything by losing anyway, it’s important to know when we’re wrong. Or at the very least, when we might have been a little premature.

Here’s what we’ll admit to misjudging so far in the early weeks of the 2018 NFL season.

In the same vein as the “Blake Bortles: good at football?” question, Tannehill has always been a little tough to define. He’s got a franchise quarterback contract, but isn’t exactly one to inspire us with his play. And coming off his second ACL injury, we didn’t have for Tannehill, or the Dolphins, this season.

But credit where credit is due. Tannehill has led the Dolphins to two consecutive wins to start the season and is now 9-1 in his last 10 starts. His first outing wasn’t anything special — 230 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in a long, rain-soaked win over the Titans. In Week 2, though, Tannehill was efficient, composed, and accurate against the New York Jets. He completed 17 of 23 passes for 168 yards and a pair of touchdowns, all while getting sacked four times. He even added 44 yards on the ground.

Tannehill is still probably not the guy who will go out and win you a game all on his own. He’s been exactly who he needs to be for the Dolphins so far, though. There’s still a lot of season left, but that might be enough to get them back to the playoffs

In their season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles, the Falcons struggled mightily in the red zone. The final drive of the game was especially frustrating as it looked nearly identical to how they lost the Divisional Round game back in January.

Atlanta was able to rectify those woes in its 31-24 win over the Carolina Panthers. The Falcons scored four touchdowns in four red zone trips, including a near disastrous, leaping touchdown by Matt Ryan.

We all know Atlanta has the talent to be one of the best red zone offenses in the league, even with Devonta Freeman out with an injury. It’s all about execution for them, which they finally did at a high level against the Panthers.

When Ryan Fitzpatrick stunted all over the Saints with 417 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-40 showdown, surely that meant the New Orleans defense was trash, right? I mean ... this is the same Fitzpatrick who had 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions with the Jets in 2016 — his last extended time as a starting quarterback.

And it definitely wasn’t going to happen again when the Philadelphia Eagles traveled to Tampa Bay in Week 2, right?

But it did happen again. Immediately.

Fitzpatrick connected with DeSean Jackson for 75 yards on the first play of the game and finished a 27-21 win over the defending Super Bowl champs with 402 yards and another four touchdowns. What in the name of FitzMagic is happening in Tampa Bay?

The Texans went from a Divisional Round loss in 2016 to 4-12 in 2017, but things were supposed to get back on track in 2018. Budding superstar Deshaun Watson and already superstar J.J. Watt returned from injuries and expectations were high again in Houston.

Even after a loss in Week 1 to the Patriots, the Texans had the 12th-highest Super Bowl odds. better than teams like the Broncos and Panthers, and only slightly worse than the Chiefs.

Then they lost to the Blaine Gabbert-led Titans, in a mostly uninspired effort to fall to 0-2.

Watson, who tried to do too much against the Patriots a week ago, played a pretty good game overall. He threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns, but there were two big problems:

Down three, the Texans had a chance to get into field goal range to tie the game up. Instead, by the time Watson hooked up with DeAndre Hopkins, time had expired.

They shot themselves in the foot in other ways, too. They didn’t cover the gunner and gave up a way-too-easy fake punt touchdown. And after the Texans got their first lead of the game, Jadeveon Clowney — who was inactive because of an injury — got called for a 15-yard penalty that eventually helped the Titans tie it up:

The Titans went on to win 20-17, and the Texans left us shaking our head in disappointment.

Without their star running back, it made the Patriots an easy pick to beat the Jags for a lot of people this week. It would just be too much for Blake Bortles to handle the offense.

Nope.

Jacksonville kept its foot on the gas, protecting their lead with a very DUVAL brand of aggressiveness. The defense stayed in man coverage and kept attacking Tom Brady. The offense had Bortles stretching the field with his arm, debasing New England’s defense, and the result was a 31-20 win. They must have learned something from letting their lead slip away in the AFC Championship last year.

It’s only been two weeks, but it’s going to be hard for anyone else to wrest control of the AFC South from the Jaguars.

The Packers took punter JK Scott in the fifth round this year. This week was a reminder why that was such a good move. Scott booted five of them against the Vikings, putting two inside the 20 and sending a rocket sailing 63 yards down the field with enough hang time to read a book while you waited for it to come down.

Michael Dickson — also drafted in the fifth round — has been the best reason to watch the Seahawks.

Other punters have had their moments to shine, too. Rams punter Johnny Hekker filled in capably for kicker Greg Zuerlein, handling kickoffs, an extra point, and a chip shot field goal.

Dolphins punter Matt Haack had his third career game with at least five punts inside the 20. His ball placement made it that much harder for the Jets to get anything moving on offense with so many drives starting with them squeezed against their goal line.

It’s been a rocky start to the season for kickers, but punters are here to salvage the good name of specialists.

Lighting up the Bills in a 44-7 rout was a nice way to start the year, but a week later it looks like that was the NFL equivalent to a college football team beating up a FCS team to start the year.

With Nathan Peterman and Buffalo in the rearview mirror, the Ravens looked much less invincible against the Bengals.

Andy Dalton threw four touchdown passes in the first half against a Baltimore defense that looked like it desperately missed linebacker C.J. Mosley, who left early in the game with a bone bruise, and cornerback Jimmy Smith, who is serving a four-game suspension.

A week after Joe Flacco looked like a world beater to open the year, he looked more like the guy we’ve become accustomed to seeing in recent years with two touchdowns and two interceptions. It seems the Ravens aren’t on a one-way road to the AFC North crown, after all.