We’ve reached the first quarter of the NFL season, and Nate Tice and Ben Solak hand out midseason-style awards — naming their picks for MVP, top rookies, biggest surprises and disappointments, and more. They open by breaking down Atlanta’s commanding win over New Orleans on Monday night, focusing on the Falcons’ dominant ground attack and what the 1-3 Saints’ start might mean.
They then run through the biggest surprises so far, highlighting the Las Vegas Raiders’ defense, the 3-1 Cleveland Browns, the unstoppable offense of the San Francisco 49ers, and the perfect-start Minnesota Vikings. On the flip side, they call out the season’s biggest letdowns: Nate points to the 0-4 Houston Texans while Ben singles out the winless Los Angeles Chargers.
The episode moves into player-specific awards — top rookies (with a shoutout to Denzel Boston), the early MVP frontrunner, and an easy pick for Defensive Player of the Year. They close by unveiling their top-five power rankings in both the AFC and NFC — a difficult ordering given how tightly bunched the conferences are at the top right now.
Timestamps:
– (1:40) Falcons steamroll Saints
– (16:35) Biggest surprises of the season
– (40:00) Biggest disappointments of the season
– (52:30) Top rookies so far, MVP, DPOY
– (1:16:45) AFC & NFC top-5 power rankings
(Photo note: image shows Denzel Boston of the Cleveland Browns before the Sept. 22, 2026 game at Raymond James Stadium.)
Watch the full episode on YouTube. Catch all episodes of Football 301 with Nate Tice and other Yahoo Sports podcasts at https://apple.co/3zEuTQj or yahoosports.tv.
Fan Take: Early-season surprises and disappointments matter because they reshape expectations and can alter playoff trajectories before December. The rise of unexpected defenses and breakout rookies suggests this season could produce more upheaval — and more compelling storylines — than many predicted.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
