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The NFL has a habit of providing unexpected results, which makes the sport increasingly more challenging to predict. As spectators, this makes it thoroughly exciting to watch. The 2024 season proved that even the best sports picks can't be completely trusted, so here's a look at some of our favorites.
The Baltimore Ravens are seen as one of the elite contemporary NFL teams. Lamar Jackson has, at times, put the franchise on his back to elevate them to higher ground. Still, fundamentally, this is a good team that should qualify for the postseason more often than not and comfortably beat the Las Vegas Raiders.
Well, nobody got that memo. In Week 2 of the 2024 regular season, the Ravens were stunned by the Raiders by a fourth-quarter performance that nobody saw coming. The favourites had led the game for most of the play yet weren’t their clinical best and ended up losing here.
The San Francisco 49ers are supposed to be the heartthrobs of American Football. Simply put, they don’t lose many matches. Whether it be a regular-season game or a playoff-determining match, the 49ers are favorites in most of the games they play in, although looking at best free sports picks today, that could change going into the 2025 season after a major rebuild this offseason.
Yet in the second week of the 2024 season, they suffered a freak loss to the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings outscored the 49ers in the first three quarters, and despite a slight resurgence at the end, the 49ers succumbed to a 23-17 loss, which was not predicted by NFL statistics at all.
Following the prior game mentioned above, September 2024 was a torrid time for the 49ers and their fans. The expectation was that the San Francisco team would shake off the Minnesota result and perform much better in California in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams.
While the performance was night and day, the result was the same. The Los Angeles Rams soaked up early pressure but were able to mastermind their attack and ended up winning the game 27-24. Given how dominant the 49ers have been in the contemporary era, it is uncommon to see them lose consecutive games.
In what is considered a very lopsided rivalry, the Chicago Bears managed to salvage some pride on the final day of the 2024 season. They travelled to Lambeau Field to play NFC North rivals and eternal enemies, the Green Bay Packers.
The Bears hadn’t won on the road all season, they hadn’t beaten the Packers since 2015, and it was a decade ago since they last triumphed at Lambeau Field. This made the unexpected 24-22 victory all the sweeter. Of course, there is the caveat that the Packers had nothing to play for, having already qualified for the postseason in the prior week, but that didn’t stop the Chicago Bears fans from having a good time.
Sure, the Philadelphia Eagles were a good team, but who really saw them beat the Kansas City Chiefs? Patrick Mahomes has made a living out of Super Bowl appearances, usually lifting a trophy at the end of each game.
The Eagles' 14-3 record was excellent during the regular season, but even that was eclipsed by the golden standard of 15-2 set by the Chiefs in the same period. The analysts all predicted that Andy Reid would claim yet another Super Bowl ring, but the script wasn’t followed. In fact, the shock element was that the Kansas City Chiefs entered the half-time break with no score. The team could not rise to the occasion with a 24-0 deficit. While they improved in the second half, the damage was done, and the Eagles won.
Okay, here’s a rogue entry for you. There is plenty to play for on the final day of the regular season. Many teams are hovering around the playoffs, trying to get in. A few teams already in the postseason schedule have decided to rest players.
In 2024, this is how the Denver Broncos, a team on the outside looking in at the start of the day, ended up qualifying for the playoffs. A very weak-looking Kansas City Chiefs took to the field and lost 38-0. In soccer, this isn’t allowed – fielding excessively weak teams is seen as an insult to the league and the rest of the competition.
Sure, the Broncos were pleased with it; they qualified for the playoffs for the first time in eight seasons, but it was at the detriment of another franchise. Patrick Mahomes’ time on the sofa doesn’t look so innocent now.