Surprise, surprise.

This NFL season has been full of surprises, per usual. Many teams have endured ups and downs and only the best have come out stronger. Whether it's due to offseason moves or injuries or changes in coaching and personnel, 4 teams have stood out to me this season. 

Let's do the good surprises first:

First up, Arizona. This one was probably a given, considering how all sports networks/websites/magazines have featured the Cardinals more this season than they have since the early 2000's. After last season, I knew the Cardinals were going to be good. I mean they were good last season. This season though, they've gone above and beyond anything I had expected. Especially when you take into consideration the injuries they have had to overcome. They're just an all around good team. One thing that really sticks out to you is their will to win. As previously mentioned, Arizona has lost several key players to injuries for significant amounts of time. It's hard enough to win without your starting quarterback...throw in the fact they haven't had a fully healthy Larry Fitz or Tyrann Mathieu all season, they lost Carson Palmer for the season in his first game back from an injury sustained earlier in the season, and one of my new favorites to watch this season, RB Andre Ellington, was put on IR this past week. That's just a few of the injuries the Cardinals have had to deal with this season. And for the most part, they just keep winning. As of now, Arizona leads their division and can still clinch home field. Bruce Arians has done such a commendable job. He's bringing a good, competitive, winning football team back to Phoenix; something they deserve. I'm cheering for them in the NFC. 

Second: Buffalo Bills. It pains me to give any kind of high praise to a division opponent, who we still have to play one more time in this regular season. With that being said, I have to give credit where credit is due. And credit is definitely due. This was also kind of a weird pick for me because it's not so much the entire Bills team, but mainly the defense. As soon as Jim Schwartz was fired in Detroit during the offseason, I was practically begging for the Pats to hire him. He's a defensive mastermind. And he's definitely proved that this season. The reason Buffalo is second in our division and still in contention for a possible wildcard seed, IS their defense. More specifically their defensive line. Give them another offseason, minicamp, and training camp with Jim Schwartz and they'll be an even better unit. I promise. They can stop the run, break up plays, disrupt routes, and get to quarterbacks, week in and week out. Consistency is key in this league.  

Annnnd the bad:

Where to start. 

2) Bears - *sigh* it's truly disappointing that a team with so much talent and so much potential has had such a bad season (well really the past 4 seasons). Jay Cutler may not be, okay he's definitely not, a top 5 quarterback, but he's decent. Yeah, he whines too much and is severely overpaid, given his lack of production, but I can think of worse quarterbacks. Before the season started, the Bears looked like they could have a top 10 defense. Unfortunately, injuries have been the story for Chicago's defense. After one of my favorite defensive ends, Jared Allen, signed with them during the offseason, I couldn't wait to see what this defense was going to do this season. You know what a team with players like Charles Tillman (love love loveeee Peanut Tillman), Jared Allen, Lance Briggs, DJ Williams, and Tim Jennings, is capable of...but due to injuries and changes in coaching, they haven't lived up to the hype or most expectations.  On the offensive side, again, the Bears have a talented roster. Brandon Marshall, Matt Forte, Alshon Jeffrey, Martellus Bennett...Jay Cutler should be drooling. Even I'm jealous of the weapons he's surrounded by. 
I don't see Marc Trestman lasting long as a head coach in the NFL. Especially not in Chicago...Not if they're smart, anyway. They jumped the gun on Jay Cutler. His days in Chicago are numbered, or at least should be, in my opinion. He's had 6 seasons to prove himself, and what have they gotten out of that? Exactly one playoff win...in six years. I could see him going to the Titans or the Rams and having success. But how far he'll go in a Bears uniform? This is it, guys. He's reached his ceiling as a Bear. 

1) Panthers - Much has changed since last season, when so many people dubbed the Panthers defense as even better than Seattle's Legion of Boom. The Panthers defense has taken a major step in the wrong direction. Who's to blame? For starters, Ron Rivera. 
After losing two of Cam Newton's best (and only) receivers in free agency, Carolina's offense has struggled and Newton has been incredibly inaccurate and inconsistent. Maybe they should consider doing what the Texans are doing with JJ Watt... I could see Luke Kuechly being pretty good at hauling in touchdown passes. He already dominates on the defensive side, why not let him carry the team offensively, too. Sounds good to me.