Biggest Surprises & Disappointments from the 2024 NFL Season

Every NFL season comes with its fair share of surprises (even as recently as this past weekend) and when you’re this deep into things, it’s always interesting to take stock of the state of the league and see where we were right and where we were wrong.

There have been massive surprises and unprecedented downfalls, all sandwiched between the wild randomness that is Sunday football. So, let’s take a look at some of the biggest shockers of the 2024-2025 season:

Commander Daniels and the Washington Resurgence

Fresh out of Daniel Snyder’s exit from the Redskins/Commanders/Football Team, the seemingly-cursed Washington franchise took a big swing, taking LSU QB Jayden Daniels with the 2nd overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. In a QB class with a clear #1 pick in Caleb Williams, many fans and pundits questioned the talent outside of him, with Daniels, Maye, Penix, and Nix all being picked apart. Washington, looking for a spark to usher in a new era, put their faith in the 6’4, 210 pound late bloomer, and they couldn’t have made a better choice.

In his rookie season, Jayden Daniels came in as the starter of a team that many people didn’t believe in and led them to a 12-5 record, their highest win total since 1991. Daniels, far from a bystander in the Commanders’ success, came in hot with a 69.0 completion percentage (2nd all-time for rookies), 25 touchdown passes (including 5 in one game, tied for the single-game rookie record), and 3568 passing yards, all leading to a 100.1 passer rating on the season.

While all of this is more than enough to call things a successful season, Washington has now stunned the NFL world by grinding out a tough wild card win against the Mayfield-led Buccaneers before taking down the league-darling Lions in grandiose 45-31 fashion. No one had Washington even competing in this game (myself included), much less winning. Safe to say, looking at expectations vs. reality, Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders exceeded all metrics.

The Bungles get back to Bunglin’

The Cincinnati Bengals just posted their second consecutive 9-8 season, stretching their playoff hopes all the way out to Week 18 before falling short. So how does this come as a surprise?

Well, the Bengals were expected to make a jump back to contention after a 2023 season that saw them struggle with injuries. Many had them bouncing back to their Super Bowl-level capabilities, with a high octane offense and aggressive, turnover-happy defense. As it turns out, one of those things turned out to be true.

Cincinnati’s offense, led by the healthy Joe Burrow (we’ve got an LSU quarterback theme going on), was explosive all season long, posting over 6200 yards as a team and 472 points scored. Joe put up ridiculous numbers (4918 yards, 43 TDs, 9 INTs, 70.6% completion, 108.5 rating) that would have likely put him at the front of the MVP race, if the Bengals hadn’t been struggling so mightily for most of the season.

But struggle they did. The Bengals’ defense was an anemic sieve, ranking in the bottom 10 in points against, passing touchdowns allowed, and rushing touchdowns allowed. Ranking third-worst in defensive red zone percentage, the Bengals simply had no idea how to stop teams from scoring, nullifying an all-time offense and leading to a middle-of-the-pack finish.

And, in context, the Bengals were lucky to make 9-8, having an incredibly soft record (33-59 opponent record) when they went on their 5 game win streak to close out the season. Some fans are looking for Zac Taylor to be fired, but for now, they’ll have to settle for a new defensive coordinator in Al Golden and hope 2025 offers new (and realized) hope.

The Super Bowl (Loser) Hangover

Even more disappointing than the Bengals, the 49ers fell hard from grace, tumbling from a Super Bowl appearance in 2023 to a 6-11 record in 2024. Seen as having a strong chance to make another deep playoff run, San Francisco dealt with major injuries in several areas and were simply unable to find a consistency or groove, despite Kyle Shanahan’s best efforts.

There’s not much to be done about a rash of injuries other than accept them. Considering the season-altering, lengthy injuries sustained by Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy, Dre Greenlaw, Trent Williams, and a slate of other starters, the simplest reaction is to chalk it up and move on.

However, there are some underlying issues that may make this drop in performance more than a blip. Can Christian McCaffrey get back to his healthy, full-time status? He’s seen numerous injury plagued years over the span of his career, and running backs rarely age like fine wine. And if he can’t, is Jordan Mason the long-term replacement? And what does San Francisco do with Deebo Samuel, their WR/HB hybrid who’s quite aggressively declined in the past couple years? Is he worth the diva attitude and decreased productivity?

Moving to a more scrutinized position, what do the 49ers have in Brock Purdy? Is he a system quarterback shining in Kyle Shanahan’s offense? Can he handle cold weather games (something he has historically struggled with, and a situation that becomes more important in January playoffs)? Are the 49ers putting more faith in him than warranted? While this season was a disappointment for the 49ers, the bigger surprise is just how hard it is to tell whether this is a one year blip, or a sign of a team’s window closing just as fast as it opened.

The Rise (and Fall?) of Darnold

Finally, the biggest surprise of the 2024 NFL season: the play of Minnesota Vikings Quarterback Sam Darnold.

The former first round pick of the New York Jets came into this season with the Vikings as a bridge QB, seen as a short term filler while Minnesota and Kevin O’Connell assessed the readiness and viability of their own first round pick, JJ McCarthy. What the Vikings got instead was a shocking and confusing season by a long-time journeyman.

Sam Darnold, starting every game for the first time in his career, shattered his previous career highs, posting 35 touchdowns (16 more than his 2nd best), 4319 yards passing (nearly 1300 more than his 2nd best), and a completion percentage of 66.2% (close to 5 full points higher than his career best). The rise in play came immediately, posting 11 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in his first four games, showing fantastic chemistry with Justin Jefferson, and ultimately leading the Vikings to 14-3 record, good for 2nd in the historically strong 2024 NFC North division.

Unfortunately, that all came to a screeching halt in the Vikings Wild Card game against the LA Rams, with the Vikings losing to LA 27-9 and Sam Darnold playing like his old self, uncertain and making poor decisions.. Posting 245 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, Darnold looked little more than the game manager and borderline starter he’d been labelled in years past.

So the question becomes simple, yet insanely hard to answer: Which Sam Darnold is real, and what is he worth?

The Vikings will be hard pressed to let Darnold go, as McCarthy’s season-ending injury has likely made it hard for them to evaluate his game. On the other hand, any significant salary commitment to Darnold could lead to a cap situation similar to the Atlanta Falcons with Kirk Cousin and Michael Penix Jr., with a young QB ready to go and an older QB eating up cap space.

The reality is no one saw Sam Darnold having the season he had, and even worse, no one saw it ending as badly as it did. His upcoming offseason will likely be just as surprising as his regular season, but it’s safe to say, whichever team does ultimately give him the nod, their fans will be stressing their way through the summer, waiting to see what they’ve bought.

Now, as the Conference Championship weekend rolls our way, it’s time to prepare for another weekend of craziness and unexpected results…or not. Settle in and enjoy the games as we head to Super Bowl LIX!