NFL roundtable: What is most pleasant first-month surprise of season?

October is here, and thus ushers (most of) Week 4, with Thursday night’s game between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals kicking off the slate. While the majority of the league has played three games, it’s never too early to spot trends and provide takeaways from the very early portion of the season. The Houston Texans and the Las Vegas Raiders are the league’s only winless teams, perhaps giving the other 30 teams more reasons to be optimistic from this point forward. 

Still, some teams, coaches and players have stood out more than most in the first month. Here are what USA TODAY Sports’ NFL experts deem as the most pleasant first-month surprises.

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Jacksonville Jaguars

It’s gotta be the Jaguars. We’re not out of September yet and Jacksonville (2-1) is one victory away from matching its win total from the entire 2021 season. We knew they’d be better with new coach Doug Pederson replacing the disgraced Urban Meyer. But the past two weeks, the Jags flat-blasted the Colts and Chargers by a 62-10 margin. Like wow. While Trevor Lawrence is and will be the face of the product, this is bigger than the franchise QB. The defense has been balling under new coordinator Mike Caldwell, infusing a pair of first-round rookies in Travon Walker and Devin Lloyd. And the big offseason haul of free agent signings is paying dividends already. It’s too early to declare that the Jags have arrived and are destined to be playing in mid-January. But this much for certain: As bad as they’ve been in recent years, they have quickly ignited a turnaround. — Jarrett Bell

Rookie head coaches

What a job the five rookie head coaches have done bolting from the gate. Brian Daboll (New York Giants), Matt Eberflus (Chicago Bears), Nathaniel Hackett (Denver Broncos) and Kevin O’Connell (Minnesota Vikings) all have their teams off to mostly impressive 2-1 starts … though it’s fair to say Hackett and Co. have gotten there, at least in part, in spite of themselves. Meanwhile, Mike McDaniel has the Miami Dolphins leading the AFC with a 3-1 ledger, though Thursday night’s loss in Cincinnati, marred by QB Tua Tagovailoa’s head injury, took some of the bloom off the rose. If the season ended now – premature but fun thought – the Bears would be the only member of this quintet who didn’t qualify for postseason. And while it’s natural to assume the league will start to catch up with the schemes and tendencies of the newbies – plus the likelihood the Giants and Chicago, at minimum, will regress into the pack – let’s give credit where it’s due … for now. — Nate Davis

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