Every NFL season is remembered for a few things.
It’s looked back upon with the champion in mind. But also, who won MVP? Who was the breakout star? Which team disappointed the most, and which came out of nowhere to make a magical run?
These are the story lines and topics that define a campaign, and there were plenty of them coming out of the 2024 season. But there’s no better place to start than in the nation’s capital, where a team long in the wilderness finally found the light in a rookie quarterback.
The winners and losers of the 2024 NFL season.
Winners
Philadelphia Eagles
Not only did the Eagles win Super Bowl LIX, but they did so in memorable fashion.
First, they scored 55 points to demolish the Washington Commanders in the NFC title game. Then, behind a virtuoso performance from defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Philadelphia pounded the Kansas City Chiefs, 40–22, in a game not nearly as close as that score would indicate.
For the Eagles, it’s a capstone on what has been a brilliant run by general manager Howie Roseman over the past few years. While Roseman has found value in trading for receiver A.J. Brown and signing players such as safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson and guard Mekhi Becton, he’s been phenomenal in the draft, too. Just over the past two seasons, Roseman landed corners Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean, defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith Jr.
Philadelphia is a resounding champion led by its general manager and all its star players.
Jayden Daniels
The Commanders had been a hopeless, rudderless franchise under owner Dan Snyder for a quarter-century. Then, in 2023, the team was sold to Josh Harris, and one year later, Daniels arrived as the No. 2 pick fresh off winning the Heisman Trophy with LSU.
As a rookie, Daniels authored what is arguably the greatest first year in NFL history. With the team having a new coaching staff and limited talent, Daniels still led Washington to 12 wins and a pair of playoff victories, including a stunning upset of the top-seeded Detroit Lions.
Daniels threw for 3,568 yards and 25 touchdowns in the regular season while rushing for another 891 yards and six scores. Only Lamar Jackson rushed for more yardage from the quarterback position.
The future couldn’t appear more brighter for the Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowler.
Running backs around the league
For years, we’ve heard about and seen the devaluation of running backs in the NFL. Case in point? Darnell Mooney and Gabe Davis got bigger offseason contracts than Saquon Barkley last March. Heck, Noah Fant got more money over the same length of time than Derrick Henry.
Things might be shifting. Barkley won Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for 2,005 yards over 16 games with the Eagles before going wild in the postseason. Henry posted more than 1,900 yards with the Baltimore Ravens, helping them lead the league in rushing yardage.
Looking at the league’s best teams, almost all were able to run the ball effectively. The Eagles and Ravens were dominant in the category. The Lions had the Sonic and Knuckles combo of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The Buffalo Bills have James Cook, Ty Johnson and Ray Davis. Bucky Irving rushed for more than 1,100 yards for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a rookie. In Kansas City, the Chiefs saw Kareem Hunt lead the team in total yardage, while as a team, they ranked eighth in rushing success rate.
The return of the ground game is here.
Sam Darnold’s bank account
The season certainly ended with a thud for the Minnesota Vikings and Darnold, but overall, it was a smashing success for the journeyman quarterback.
Darnold started all 17 games for the Vikings, leading them to a 14–3 record. He threw for 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions, showing the ability to play well consistently under coach Kevin O’Connell.
Now, with his contract up, Minnesota could use its franchise tag to keep him, sign him long-term despite having second-year quarterback J.J. McCarthy on the depth chart behind him, or allow him to hit unrestricted free agency. The best bet is the tag, which would mean Darnold earning roughly $39.6 million in 2025.
That’s somehow the worst-case scenario for Darnold’s wallet. Not bad.
Lamar Jackson
There’s no more polarizing player in terms of how history will judge Jackson.
The Ravens had another stellar regular season, earning the AFC North crown and the conference’s No. 3 seed. Jackson threw for career highs in yardage (4,172) and touchdowns (41) while tossing only four interceptions. He also ran for 915 yards and four scores, leading one of the most prolific offenses in the league.
Jackson, only 28 years old, is one of the most accomplished players in NFL history. He’s already set the record for rushing yardage for a quarterback. He’s also an era-defining talent, one of the truly spectacular, must-watch players in the league.
And yet …
Losers
Jackson
It’s impossible to talk about Jackson and not quickly get to his playoff resumè, which is getting uglier by the year.
Yes, Jackson and the Ravens dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC wild-card round. But in the divisional game, in which Baltimore was favored over the Buffalo Bills, Jackson threw a mind-numbing interception, lost a fumble in scoring position and then took a brutal sack inside the Bills’ 10-yard line, ensuring a field goal try instead of getting a potential seven points.
Jackson is now 3–5 in his playoff career, having only advanced to the AFC championship game once. Plus, he’s 0–3 in the postseason against Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes.
Everyone associated with the New York Jets
There’s so much to say and so little space. The Jets were the league’s biggest calamity, finding ways to lose while simultaneously embarrassing themselves almost every week.
Whether we’re talking about Aaron Rodgers spewing nonsense to the media, or Rodgers not showing up to mandatory minicamp because he took a vacation to Egypt, or owner Woody Johnson reportedly nixing a trade to acquire Jerry Jeudy because his teenage sons were concerned about Jeudy’s Madden rating, the stories couldn’t be more bizarre.
Now, the Jets have a new coach and front office, and reports indicate they could sever ties with Rodgers before the final year of his contract. Finally,
common sense in the building. Rodgers has been nothing but one of the most disastrous acquisitions we’ve seen in recent memory due to being both disappointing on the field and a constant distraction off it.
Terry Fontenot’s judgment call on Kirk Cousins
Fontenot may turn out to be an excellent general manager with the Atlanta Falcons, but his management of the quarterback position over the past year can only be described as a complete mess.
Atlanta signed Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal with $100 million guaranteed at the dawn of free agency. Then, less than two months later, the Falcons drafted quarterback Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick. Effectively, there were two outcomes for Atlanta. Either Cousins wasn’t going to fully recover from his 2023 Achilles tear and the contract would be an albatross, or Penix was going to sit for years on his rookie deal despite entering the league at 25 years old.
The result? Cousins was benched after 14 starts, throwing nine interceptions with one touchdown over his final four games. On the bright side, Penix looked good in his three games, but it wasn’t enough for Atlanta to reach the playoffs.
Now, Cousins is almost certain to be moved this offseason, either by a trade or release. History says it will likely be the latter, which would mean the Falcons eating $65 million in dead money next season unless it’s a post-June 1 designation, which would mean $40 million in 2025 and $25 million in ’26. Yikes.
Jerry Jones and the Cowboys’ future prospects
If you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan, this is the time to solemnly close the laptop and head to church, lighting every candle you can find for your sanity.
Last year, Jones proclaimed Dallas was going all in. Then, in the following months, the Cowboys were the least active team in the league regarding free agency before failing to extend star receiver CeeDee Lamb and quarterback Dak Prescott until the end of summer, costing the team extra millions of dollars in both cases.
After the season went belly-up, Jones then sat around and retained coach Mike McCarthy before firing him on the eve of the divisional round, putting Dallas at a serious disadvantage in the race for a quality coach on the market. But no worries, as Jones wasn’t going to pursue any of them anyway, instead going with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who Jones characterized “as big a risk as you can take” upon his hiring. Tremendous stuff.
The San Francisco 49ers in all ways possible
After going to the Super Bowl the year prior, the 49ers couldn’t have gone through a more painful season in 2024.
San Francisco saw personal tragedies with the death of corner Charvarius Ward’s 1-year-old daughter, along with left tackle Trent Williams and his wife, Sondra, losing their son in a stillbirth. Then there was first-round receiver Ricky Pearsall, who was shot Aug. 31 during an attempted robbery in downtown San Francisco.
On the field, injuries sabotaged any hope of a successful season. The Niners saw Christian McCaffrey deal with Achilles tendonitis throughout the year, limiting him to four games before he was shut down for the year. In Week 7, receiver Brandon Aiyuk was lost for the year with a torn ACL. Former All-Pro safety Talanoa Hufanga played only seven games, while receiver Deebo Samuel and tight end George Kittle combined to miss four as well.
A total disaster for San Francisco.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Winners and Losers of the 2024 NFL Season.
