Every season we expect some things. The Colts will be good. So will the Patriots. The AFC West will be a tight race and LaDainian Tomlinson is going to have a great season.

Those predictions are easy to make. But there are other teams who emerge each season, seemingly from nowhere, and force fans — and opponents — to take notice. They might not dominate like the Patriots and they might not get that kind of media attention, but they get victories. And it isn’t until about halfway through the season that we care.

Well, here we are, at week 9, halfway through the NFL season, and we’re talking about the Colts-Patriots. We’re going to talk about that game’s outcome all week. And who can blame us? After all, it directly affects the face of the playoffs and these are clearly the NFL’s two elite franchises, quarterbacked by the NFL’s two best men under center.

But let’s take a few moments to shine the spotlight on three teams that we didn’t expect to be in the postseason conversation at this point in the season. Yet here they are, defeating teams we deem better.

And who would have thought two of these teams hail from the NFC North?

It’s the league’s weakest division, supposedly. Not anymore.

Chicago has fallen apart and the Vikings, thanks entirely to Adrian Peterson, aren’t 0-8 right now. But where those teams have failed, Green Bay and Detroit have excelled. They’ve proven critics wrong, thanks to outstanding coaching and some great veteran quarterbacking.

Finally, the third team which has managed the impossible calls the AFC South home. It’s a division perennially won by Indianapolis, but the Titans aren’t leaving much room for error for the Colts.

Green Bay Packers (7-1)

At 7-1, Green Bay has beaten some great NFL teams this season. They’ve swept the AFC West to this point — and you can bet it’s only a matter of time before Oakland falls. Brett Favre has been outstanding this season, the team’s MVP without a doubt. He’s made the media forget their criticisms of him the past two seasons, and he’s now being proclaimed the NFL’s third best quarterback.

And why not? His completion percentage this season — 66.6% — is higher than it’s been in any given season of his hall of fame career. He’s also on pace for 4800+ yards; again, well beyond his season high of 4413 back in 1994. More importantly, he’s not making the mistakes that have plagued him in recent years. That can be attributed to great coaching. Mike McCarthy has made it clear to Favre that he can’t force throws that aren’t there and Favre has responded. You see fewer Favre-esque moments, but you also see fewer interceptions.

Green Bay’s defense, meanwhile, has grown tremendously. Built with youth at every position, the Packers are allowing only 17.1 points per game. In fact, Sunday was only the second time this season the defense has allowed 20 or more points, and not once has it allowed more than 24.

Detroit Lions (6-2)

Unlike the Packers, division rival Detroit isn’t winning games with a lot of help from the defense. But where they have sometimes faltered in that respect, they have risen to the occasion on offense thanks in no small part to the work Mike Martz has done.

Coming into Sunday’s game against the Denver, the Lions were averaging 25 points per game and were behind only Dallas in points scored this season (among NFC teams).

Don’t expect them to fall back after this weekend’s games are complete.

The Lions dropped 44 on a battered and bruised Denver team, injuring Jay Cutler early and showing no mercy to the Broncos. Kevin Jones has worked hard overcoming preseason injury and has ultimately revived his career, showing us the potential we thought he may never achieve. He’s averagig 4.3 yards per carry and has 4 touchdowns in 5 games this year.

A lot of thanks can go to Jon Kitna for that. His aerial attack, perfecting the Mike Martz offense, has dominated teams this season. He has exactly 2000 yards on the year, completing more than 67% of his passes, and his 94.3 rating is superb.

The Lions have made use of their talented receiving corps and Calvin Johnson has proven to be a solid pick. He may not win rookie of the year (I think Adrian Peterson has locked it up), but his 18.2 ypc average has made him a dangerous threat. He’s made the most of his 15 catches, two of which have gone for six.

Tennessee Titans (6-2)

Despite some obvious flaws the Titans remain in second place in the talented AFC South. They’re ahead of the physical Jaguars and they hung with Indianapolis week 2 in a losing effort.

Is it Vince Young? Partly. He’s a quarterback with mechanical problems, a player who doesn’t fit the league’s mold for the position. His numbers aren’t gaudy — they’re very unpretty to look at, especially the 66.0 rating. But somehow, some way he keeps the Titans in position to win. In fact, both of Tennessee’s losses this season were by a 3 point margin or less.

But if you want to point to the one person who has made the biggest impact, you don’t have to look further than Jeff Fisher. He’s been with the team since 1995 (Brett Favre’s third NFL season with the Packers, to put that in perspective) and it makes sense. He has them on a winning track, and he’s doing it with a team that is inferior to its opponents on paper.

How Far Will They Go?

Who knows how far these three teams can go. All three have playoff aspirations and the Packers are quickly becoming a NFC favorite along with Dallas. One thing is for certain, though. It’s going to be fun cheering for these teams as their Cinder-fella stories unfold.

Subscribe to The NFL Minute

This post is tagged