On Sundays, you can find many people watching the National Football League, or the NFL, which is America’s premier football league and the most popular televised sports league in the United States. Although, most NFL fans could tell you that the 2025-2026 season has been defying all the expectations. Players who weren’t supposed to be good are in the race to be named most valuable player, or MVP, and teams who were supposed to be the best in the league are plummeting to the bottom. Not to mention, star players are being injured left and right.  What is going on with this NFL season? What is the NFL’s “New Normal”?

Last NFL season, the New England Patriots were considered one of the worst teams in the league with a record of 4-13. After only winning four games, most fans didn’t expect much from them. This season was supposed to be a fresh start for the Patriots with their new coach, new quarterback, and other new, young players to the team. Not only did New England obtain their fresh start, but also a Super Bowl contending team. Their current record midway through the season is 8-2, and they are on pace to be one of the top seeds in the playoffs. The Patriots have not performed well these past five years since the departure of their quarterback Tom Brady, who is considered the best of all time. Due to this, none of the NFL fans expected the Patriots to be good in at least ten years, but it seems the Patriots have found their answer. 

Drake Maye is the New England Patriots quarterback. This is his first season officially starting for the team, and he is on pace to lead them to one of their best seasons for five years. Not to mention, he is in the race to be named MVP. Maye’s stats consist of 2,555 passing yards, 19 touchdowns to 5 interceptions, a 113.9 passer rating, and a 71.1% completion rate over the span of 10 games. In comparison, the Patriot’s quarterback last year, Jacoby Brissett, acquired 826 passing yards and 2 touchdowns over the span of 8 games. This shows a drastic improvement in Maye attaining over 1,700 more yards and 17 more touchdown passes than Brissett in almost the same amount of games which is earning them more wins. This gameplay has uplifted the spirits of not only their team, but the fans as well. Sophomore Aidan McCarthy is a student at Ledyard High School who is a diehard fan of the New England Patriots. When asked about his thoughts on their performance, he said, “It was supposed to be awhile before the Patriots became a good team again, but I didn’t expect for it to be this soon. I am not complaining though, my hopes were almost nonexistent before this season but now, as a Patriots fan, I am thriving with one of the best teams in the league.” Even though his hopes were low, he is currently thrilled and ecstatic, positively affecting him and most likely all Patriots fans. There are other teams in the league who have also been performing unlike themselves, but for the worst. 

Another team that is playing drastically differently than last year is the Washington Commanders. Last season, the Commanders had a standing of 12-5. They made it all the way to the NFC championship which is one game away from the Super Bowl, but unfortunately lost to the team which would be the Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles. They started with a new head coach that year in Dan Quinn, who had low expectations from most NFL fans. He proved them wrong though, taking them far in only his first year. Another person leading this team was rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who had a chance of being the first rookie quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl. He finished with incredible stats, 3,568 passing yards, 891 rushing yards, 25 passing touchdowns, 6 rushing touchdowns and only 9 interceptions demonstrating how versatile of a quarterback he can be, a scrambler and a precise passer. Alongside Quinn and Daniels, they had star players such as wide receiver Terry “Scary Terry” McLaurin, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, running back Austin Ekeler, and linebacker Bobby Wagner. Though this year, it has not been going as smoothly.

The standing this year for the Washington Commanders mid-way through the season is 3-7, which in comparison is way worse than last season. They are on pace to miss the playoffs and not have a chance to even compete for the Super Bowl, despite making many new additions to the team in order to be the best version of themselves. These new additions consist of stars like wide receiver Deebo “Sweet Feet” Samuel who got his nickname for his speed, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil who is considered to be one of the best offensive linemen in the league. Despite Daniels outstanding stats last year, in his sophomore year, he has only achieved 1,184 passing yards and 8 touchdown passes, which is less than what he had last year during the mid-season.  Even all of the other star players are not meeting the expectations set by every NFL fan. Not only the Washington Commanders fans, but also the NFL fans in general are wondering the reason behind this poor playing style.

The blame for their poor season can definitely be put on injuries. Many of their most important players on the team with the most impact are injured. These players include quarterback Jayden Daniels, cornerback Marshon Lattimore, running back Austin Ekeler, and wide receiver Terry “Scary Terry” McLaurin. This is upsetting to the fans of the Washington Commanders, as they are not reaching their full potential. Junior Grace Moynihan is a student at Ledyard High School who has been a fan of the Washington Commander since she was little because of her father. When asked about the substandard season, Moynihan said, “It really is devastating. My family and I had so much hope that the team would achieve great things this year just like last year. The team had not performed well until last year, which got our hopes up but with Jayden Daniels recent injury, now they are entirely crushed again.” This pictures how Moynihan and other fans of the Washington Commanders can be negatively impacted by this abnormal performance and the upsetting injuries, destroying their hopes for their favorite team to finally be good after years of playing poorly. With Daniels’ new injury, being out for the season, the team is most likely to not make the playoffs and have a chance to compete for a spot in the Super Bowl. 

Overall, this “new normal” in the National Football League can influence a fan’s emotions either in a satisfactory way or in a disappointing way. There are many teams who are exceeding their expectations set by NFL fans and many teams who aren’t able to deliver and perform how they are supposed to. However, this is only the mid-season. These teams may bounce back and these other teams may experience a downfall. Ultimately, the remaining games will determine which teams and fans’ morale will stay on top and which will fall to the bottom, and will be found out towards the end of the season.

Junior Nyela Whitney is a staff writer for the 2025-2026 Colonelnews Site. She likes writing, spending time with her friends, and playing video games.