The 2024 NFL season was like any other: It had plenty of good, plenty of bad, and plenty of ugly. For every positive and welcoming development, however, there was a negative that largely soured what was a dramatic regular season.
So with the postseason quickly approaching, let’s dive into five reasons why the 2024 NFL regular season was EPIC and memorable..and five why it straight-up sucked.
Is the 2024 NFL season everything you hoped for, or was it a dud?
Epic: RBs Strike Back
So much for the running back position declining and devaluing…
Fans who’ve watched football long enough know that winning the offseason means nothing when the regular season rolls around. Just look at the 2011 “Dream Team” Philadelphia Eagles…or this year’s New York Jets.
But there have been some beautiful reminders that free agency and the trade market can make the ultimate difference if you spend your money accordingly — and on the right players. In 2024, running backs have proven this especially.
The Philadelphia Eagles gave Saquon Barkley a three-year deal worth $37.75 million in free agency. Barkley followed it up by posting a career year, one that would probably net him MVP honors if the award wasn’t so biased toward quarterbacks.
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Looking to beef up the ground game around Lamar Jackson, the Ravens handed Derrick Henry a two-year deal worth $16 million. Henry and Barkley have been neck-and-neck for the rushing title all season long, with the former proving that the “before-30-wall” doesn’t hit every running back.
Josh Jacobs got a four-year deal from the Green Bay Packers, who hardly spend in free agency. Jacobs has returned to the form of the guy who won the 2022 rushing title, adding another explosive element to the Jordan Love-led offense.
Following his release from Green Bay, new Minnesota Viking Aaron Jones hit the 1K mark for the fourth time in his career. Proving he wasn’t a product of the Dallas Cowboys’ o-line, Tony Pollard crossed 1K as a Tennessee Titan in year one of a $24 million deal.
Joe Mixon solidified the Texans’ long-struggling ground game. Chuba Hubbard got a new deal in the midst of a career year. Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs poked fun at the critics who couldn’t believe they were drafted so early in 2023.
Guess there is still a LOT of value in running backs after all?
Sucked: The Disaster In Gotham
Love or hate Aaron Rodgers, there’s no denying that the NFL is more exciting when he’s at the top of his game. And it is better for the league when at least one of the New York Giants or New York Jets is relevant.
Rodgers’ return from a season-ending Achilles tear a year ago was supposed to elevate this NFL team to Super Bowl contender in 2024. When they got off to a sluggish start, GM Joe Douglas finally reunited Rodgers and Davante Adams by acquiring the All-Pro wide receiver in a blockbuster deal with the Las Vegas Raiders.
But everything that could go wrong for the Jets this year has, indeed, gone wrong. Head coach Robert Saleh was fired after a Week 5 loss in London, with Douglas receiving his own pink slip a few weeks later.
It’s been reported that Jets owner Woody Johnson lobbied for the team to bench Rodgers. And get this: He reportedly vetoed an offseason trade for Jerry Jeudy because his EA Sports’ Madden rating was too low.
Instead of competing for a playoff spot, the Jets have somehow finished worse than the 2022 and 2023 squads, with Zach Wilson as their main quarterback. With all that talent on both sides of the ball and with a four-time MVP behind center, the Jets have somehow become the biggest laughingstock in football.
Epic: Jayden Daniels Immediately Saves The Commanders
Year one of the post-Dan Snyder era in Washington was hardly exciting except for the fact that Dan Snyder was finally gone.
Washington won just four games and finished with the second-worst record in football in 2023. New owner Josh Harris wasted no time cleaning house, bringing in ex-Dallas Cowboys DC Dan Quinn as his new head coach and former San Francisco 49ers executive Adam Peters as his head coach.
With the No. 2 pick in 2024, the Commanders drafted LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels. And as talented as the guy is, nobody really thought the C’s would amount to much in year one of a rebuild.
Lo and behold, the Commanders have emerged as a force in the NFC — and it’s thanks to an MVP-caliber 2024 NFL season from Daniels himself. From outdueling Joe Burrow in Cincinnati on Monday Night to the Hail Mary walkoff vs. Caleb Williams’ Bears to the last-second heroics vs. Philly in Week 16, Daniels is having a rookie year on par with a Christopher Nolan action-packed thriller.
Washington is finally relevant again. Snyder is gone. They have the right management and coaching staff in place. Oh, and a new young phenom quarterback to build around for years to come. Unless you cheer for the Eagles, Cowboys, or Giants, you gotta love what you’re seeing in DC — and you oughta be happy for long-suffering Washington fans.
Sucked: The AFC South
If there was a world where division winners didn’t automatically earn playoff berths, there’s a good chance that both the AFC South and NFC South division crowns would have zero representatives in the 14-team playoff field.
With the AFC South, just consider the division outlook heading into Week 1: The Houston Texans were ready to make that next leap after adding Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon, and Danielle Hunter to a promising young core led by CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, Will Anderson Jr. and Derek Stingley Jr.
The Jacksonville Jaguars were supposed to bounce back from a disappointing 9-and-8 finish after adding Brian Thomas Jr., Gabe Davis, and Arik Armstead to their own young nucleus.
The Indianapolis Colts went 9-and-8 last year with Gardner Minshew II as their main quarterback. Surely, a healthy Anthony Richardson would keep them in contention?
Expectations were low for the Tennessee Titans…but even they’re worse than most envisioned.
As for the rest of the division? Houston unraveled in the second half following an excellent 6-and-2 start. The Jaguars have been unwatchable all year long. The Colts have been a mediocre bunch, with Richardson yet to showcase himself as a franchise QB.
So congrats to the Texans on winning the AFC South…now enjoy getting blown out in the wild-card round.
Also Read: 10 Nastiest Injuries Of The 2024 NFL Season That Made You Want To Gag
Epic: QBs Silencing The Haters
We only have so many entries here, so allow us to devote one to the many quarterbacks who defied expectations this year.
We’ve already touched base on Jayden Daniels. But we want to give a shoutout to the other quarterbacks who shut up the doubters with phenomenal 2024 NFL seasons.
It starts with Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, who pulled a 2023 Baker Mayfield by enjoying a career year with his new team.
Nobody thought much when the Vikings signed Darnold to a one-year deal in free agency, but he became the starter by default after rookie JJ McCarthy required season-ending surgery.
But here’s Darnold playing like an MVP and leading the Vikings to a stunning playoff berth. If Minnesota won’t pay him in 2025 free agency, somebody else will.
Folks expected a step back from Josh Allen and his Bills following the departures of Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. Instead, Allen has put together the best season of his career that will surely culminate in NFL MVP honors.
Proving he wasn’t washed, Russell Wison has elevated the Steelers’ offense and guided them back to the postseason. Not bad for a guy who had to sign a one-year deal worth the veteran’s minimum.
Some love has to go to Denver Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix, who guided the team to their first winning season since 2016. Suddenly, the future is bright, and Nix and Sean Payton are calling the shots in Mile High City.
On another note, how about Bryce Young shedding the early “Bust” label by finally breaking out in the second half of the 2024 NFL season?
Sucked: Weekday Games
My goodness, Murphy, what a waste of time the majority of these weekday games were. We’re talking Monday Night Football, Thursday Night Football, and the two yawn-fests on Christmas Day, which fell on a Wednesday this year.
Five Thursday night football games were decided by double-digit points. In terms of one-score games? The Rams beating the 49ers 12-6 in Week 15? The Seahawks beating the Bears 6 to freaking 3 in Week 17? Give us a break!
Two of the three Thanksgiving Day games were also worth skipping unless you had fantasy football implications. The Lions-Bears game was a thriller, but even Matt Eberflus’ mind-numbing clock management that cost him his job soured the excitement.
Kansas City beat Pittsburgh 29 to 10 on Christmas Day. Hours later, Baltimore bested Houston 31-2. Yippee….
Monday Night Football was more disappointing than the last “Star Wars” movie, too. The highly-anticipated 49ers-Jets Week 1 clash was over at halftime. Buffalo thrashing Jacksonville 47-10 in week 2? Houston beating Dallas 34-10 in Week 11? The Week 15 doubleheader where Minnesota crushed Chicago and Atlanta beat Las Vegas 15 to 9?
Let’s just all hope that next year’s Weekday games go better…Not sure what else to say!
Epic: Rapid Rise Of The Rookies
Even if your NFL team sucked this year, at least most of you got to enjoy the immediate production out of your first-year players. The 2024 NFL season left a lot to be desired, but knowing your team just drafted a future franchise cornerstone means reason for long-term optimism.
The Bears were a disaster this year, but Caleb Williams looks every bit like the franchise QB this team needed. If Chicago gets the right coaching staff to help him, his Bears will be a legitimate contender for years to come.
We touched base on Jayden Daniels’ MVP-caliber rookie year and Bo Nix’s unexpected success in year one with the Broncos, but we’ll mention them one last time anyway. How about Drake Maye slinging it left, right, and center on a hapless New England Patriots team while we’re at it? There’s another team that has its franchise QB.
Brock Bowers had the best rookie season ever for a tight end on a mostly unwatchable Raiders team. Marvin Harrison Jr., Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr, and Ladd McConkey all stepped up as the new No. 1 receivers on their respective teams.
Chargers’ tackle Joe Alt, 49ers guard Dominick Puni, and Steelers center Zach Frazier have emerged as All-Pro-caliber offensive linemen right away. Bucky Irving became the new star running back in Tampa Bay, too.
On defense, let’s give hat tips to Chop Robinson, Jared Verse, and Braden Fiske. Oh, and how about that new Eagles’ super corner duo of Cooper DeJean and Quinyon Mitchell?
Jolly good show by the rookie chaps in 2024.
Sucked: The Refs Ruined The Fun Again
Nobody can be surprised that officials have once again dominated the storylines. But is it just us, or has 2024 especially been a terrible year of officiating? EVEN in a year when they expanded the replay assistance system.
The Kansas City haters will remind you of all the mind-numbing calls that went their way: The questionable defensive PI call against the Bengals that saved Kansas City in Week 2. The ridiculous amount of times Patrick Mahomes’ guys got away with blatant holding.
Is Bryan Cook bear-hugging Kyle Pitts in the end zone in Week 3? No penalty.
Not a good look that Walt Anderson admitted to two costly mistakes by the refs in the Commanders-Eagles Week 11 game. How about Byron Young’s game-sealing sack-and-safety on Sam Darnold, made possible by a blatant facemask that the officials missed?
Hang in there, folks. One day, the NFL officiating may be better, and the games may stop being taken over. I mean, it’s not like they’ve had much time to fix it, right?
Epic: The NFC North Reigns Supreme
In some ways, you gotta feel for the playoff-bound Packers. If they were in most other divisions, they would have locked up the crown well before Christmas.
But alas, Matt LaFleur’s star-studded group is merely the third-best team in a historically good 2024 division. Consider this: The Pack, Lions, and Vikings all had nine-plus wins through Week 13.
It’s insane that either Detroit or Minnesota will be on the road in the postseason with 13 or 14 wins. The Packers will also visit a division winner with an inferior record.
Dan Campbell’s Lions have been the most exciting team to watch all year. Sam Darnold’s career year has made the Vikings this year’s feel-good story. The Packers have looked every bit like a contender in the 2024 NFL season as the No. 3 team in their division.
And hey, even the Bears were 4-and-2 at one point!
What a fun three-way horse race this division will be for years to come. And to think we’ll probably get at least one all-NFC-North playoff matchup…
Sucked: The Injury Bug That Wouldn’t Go Away
As entertaining as the regular 2024 NFL season was, you can’t help but wonder how different things would look right now if so many key players didn’t suffer injuries.
For starters, the San Francisco 49ers’ bid for a return to the Super Bowl was crushed by injuries. Christian McCaffrey was limited to four games. Brandon Aiyuk played seven games before suffering a season-ending injury.
Trent Williams missed nearly half the year. Defensive stars Talanoa Hufanga, Javon Hargrave, and Dre Greenlaw all missed most of 2024, too.
The Dallas Cowboys lost Dak Prescott for the year after eight games with a hamstring injury that required surgery. Tua Tagovailoa’s concussion sidelined him for four games and ended Miami’s postseason hopes. Not to mention Jaelan Phillips and Bradley Chubb’s injuries, which also derailed Miami’s season.
Star receivers Rashee Rice, Chris Godwin, Tank Dell, and Stefon Diggs all suffered gruesome season-ending injuries as well.
Also Read: Who Are The 5 Fastest Players In The 2024 NFL Season?
