2011 Surprise Teams

Every year we have at least one.  Some years we have two or more.  I’m talking about the team that comes from nowhere and outperforms everyone’s expectations – except maybe their own.  Since the league’s inception those teams have always been there.  The 1999 St. Louis Rams, 2001 New England Patriots, 2003 Carolina Panthers – nobody saw those teams coming.

Last year was no different.  The Chiefs won their division.  The resurgent Buccaneers narrowly missed the playoffs.  Can these two repeat their performance from last year and even improve their standing this season?  We’ll have to wait to see.

There will certainly be many twists and turns that await each team in the upcoming season, along with the ever-present surprise teams.  Who will those teams be?  While most observers are expecting big things from Houston, Arizona, St. Louis and Detroit, there’s a few teams flying under the radar that have a good chance of being this year’s Cinderella.