Mark Craig's Five Extra Points for the 2022 NFL season

1. Dare we call Patrick Mahomes and the mighty Chiefs underdogs?

Remember when the Chiefs won their first Super Bowl in 50 years with a 24-year-old starting quarterback? Remember when Tyreek Hill, a receiver on that team, said his quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, would one-up Michael Jordan's Bulls by winning seven Super Bowls? Three years later, Hill is in Miami, Mahomes is 1-1 in Super Bowls and 2-2 in home AFC Championship Games, and the Chiefs are somewhere under the radar.

Vegas is loving Buffalo as its Super Bowl favorite. Next up is Tampa Bay, followed by the Chiefs in most cases. Are we sleeping on Kansas City, or will the Chiefs slide backward as Mahomes becomes one of those great quarterbacks who get ripped for winning "only" one Super Bowl (See: Rodgers, A.)? The Chiefs have hosted a record four straight AFC title games. But they did lose Hill while division foes were adding Russell Wilson (Broncos), Davante Adams (Raiders) and Khalil Mack (Chargers).

2. Cowboys, Commanders share 'easiest' schedule

The pressure on Mike McCarthy to win is plenty tense enough to begin with, but, what the heck, let's throw another log of expectations on the fire and point out that Dallas shares the league's easiest schedule with Washington. The 2021 record of their 2022 opponents is a combined 133-155-1 (.462). The Cowboys get six games against the NFC's worst division (East) and four games against the AFC's worst division (South). They also get an extra home game. Easy, eh? Well … the extra home game is against defending AFC champion Cincinnati in Week 2. And Week 1 is against Tom Brady and the Bucs. And Week 5 is at the defending Super Bowl champion Rams. And there's a Week 10 trip to Green Bay.

Washington, meanwhile, plays Cleveland instead of Cincinnati, Atlanta instead of Tampa Bay, the 49ers instead of the Rams, and gets Green Bay at home.

3. Defending champion Rams have 'toughest' schedule

Any hint of complacency this season will surely sink the reigning Super Bowl champions . Beginning with Thursday night's NFL season opener against a loaded Bills team at home, the Rams' schedule is the toughest in the league based on their opponents' combined record last season (164-125, .567). Not only do the Rams have to play Arizona and San Francisco twice apiece, they also play the AFC West, which has three teams coming off winning seasons and a fourth (Broncos) that added Wilson in the offseason. The Rams also play at Tampa Bay, at New Orleans and Kansas City on consecutive weeks, and at Green Bay on Monday Night Football.

The last team to repeat as Super Bowl champs was the 2004 Patriots. Of the past 10 Super Bowl winners, three missed the playoffs the following year, three lost the Super Bowl and one reached the conference title game.

4. Catching Papa Bear, Thielen, Cordarrelle and other milestones

Of the many NFL milestones to look for in 2022, none is bigger than Bill Belichick surpassing George Halas for the second-most total victories (regular season and postseason) by a head coach. Halas was 324-151-31 (.683) in 40 seasons with the Bears. Belichick is three back at 321-156-0 (.673) in 27 seasons with the Browns and Patriots. The record belongs to Don Shula, who was 347-173-6 (.666) in 33 years with the Colts and Dolphins.

Current Viking Adam Thielen and his former teammate Cordarrelle Patterson also can reach milestones. After consecutive seasons of 10 or more receiving touchdowns, Thielen can become the second undrafted player since 1967 to notch 10 touchdowns in three different seasons. Antonio Gates did it four times. Meanwhile, Patterson, now with the Falcons, needs one kick return for a touchdown to set the NFL career mark at nine.

5. Who are the top 10 quarterbacks, and is Cousins among them?

Athlon Sports ranked the top 30 quarterbacks in its preview magazine this summer. Perhaps fittingly, the Vikings' Kirk Cousins checked in at No. 15. That means the guy with the perfectly average 59-59-2 record was smack dab in the middle. That does seem low, though.

Disregarding age, potential and paychecks, and focusing only on what the quarterback gives you this season, this impromptu ranker of NFL QBs would move Cousins ahead of Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson, Derek Carr and Justin Herbert. This ranker would then call it a toss-up tie for 10^th between Cousins and Dak Prescott. The fellas ahead of Kirk, in this ranker's order: Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray. Cousins is in his 11^th season. He's never finished a season with a career record better than two games over .500. Will that change four months from now?