Time for a bit of a look at where things stand with week seven now in the books. Parity has arrived with nearly every division having two or more teams within a game of each other. The AFC West is the sole exception. The Chiefs have a three-game lead and it's hard to see anyone catching them.
The NFC West is anyone's to win with all four teams within a game of each other and none looking drastically better than the rest. I trust Russell Wilson more than the rest of the QBs out there but the Cards may sneak up and surprise everyone. The Niners and the Rams have QBs who are a bit iffy to me. The Niners debated getting into the Tom Brady bidding war this past offseason and as they watch him in Tampa, they may be wishing they had.
The NFC North is largely a two-team race with the Bears and Packers. I suspect the Packers will get the edge there as Rodgers is more consistent than Foles. Nick Foles can play with anyone when he's hot, but when he's not, he's really not. Rodgers is always good. The Lions are paying okay and might save Matt Patricia's job one more year. The Vikings have melted. They're supposed to be a defense-first team and they've given up the fourth-most points in the NFC.
The NFC South looks like it'll come down to the Saints and Bucs and the two grizzled old vets at QB. It's been a weird year for the Saints. They started out with the team turning on Drew Brees for saying he was going to stand for the National Anthem and explaining why. Now their best wide receiver, Michael Thomas is supposedly on the trading block. There might be some stuff going on in that locker room that could prove disruptive down the road. The Bucs have brought in a hand grenade with the pin out in Antonio Brown. What could possibly go wrong there? Ask Pittsburgh, Buffalo, the Raiders, or New England. Can the Bucs find a way to manage Brown? If yes, they have one of the best wide receivers in the league added to their arsenal. If not, then all heck can break loose.
The NFC East is something of a trainwreck. Injuries have ravaged the presumed top two teams in Philly and Dallas. The Eagles are starting to get healthy again however and could/should pull away a bit. They found some good kids to fill in and the future looks okay in Philly. The Cowboys have no real defense and their offense is not looking good without Dak Prescott at the helm. I'm not sure there's a win left on the Cowboys' schedule. The WFT are still a bit iffy at QB with Haskins benched and demoted to third-string and Kyle Allen now behind the center. The Cowboys had been averaging giving up 36+ points to everyone (including the Giants who scored 34 somehow) but only gave up 25 to the WFT. Should the WFT have scored more? Probably. The Giants are largely an afterthought now. They can be competitive in some games, but something's missing there. I'm not sure what it is. Confidence? Killer instinct? I think the Eagles take the division with the WFT in second, the Giants third, and the Cowboys bringing up the rear.
On the AFC side of things, the AFC East looks like it belongs to Buffalo with the Bills having a two-game lead over the Dolphins (who are playing very good on defense this year giving up the second-fewest points in the league.) A good defense should keep the Dolphins competitive this year as they transition to Tua. Ryan Fitzpatrick helped them get their three wins, but he's far from the most reliable QB in the league. When he's good he's unbeatable, but when he's cold, he's really cold. Tua gives them the best chance moving forward. The Patriots are finding out just how good Tom Brady was. Cam Newton's not a bad QB, but he's hot and cold and lately, he's been cold. They've fallen three games behind the Bills and may end up below five hundred this year. The Jets are playing for the first overall pick in the draft. They could easily go 0-16.
In the AFC North, you've got a three-team race for the top between the Steelers, Ravens, and Browns. The Bengals could be right up there also, but they manage to somehow find a way to lose games in the last minute or so. They could claw their way back into the fight if they manage to stop doing that. I think the Steelers are the best overall team, but the Ravens are right behind them. The Browns may be the most talented team, but they need to keep everything working right and that hasn't been their strong suit. I really like what I've seen from the Bengals. Joe Burrow is a legit NFL QB. He just needs some help around him.
The AFC South is largely a two-team race between the Titans and Colts. The Titans are playing smash-mouth football and doing it well. Ryan Tannehill has somehow turned into a productive QB after languishing in Miami. The Colts need Philip Rivers to play well. The Jags and Texans are largely playing for next year. The Texans have bled too much talent over the last couple of years. The Jags are back into looking for a QB mode.
The AFC West is all KC. They're not suffering from a Super Bowl hangover and are playing really good football. Andy's built a solid roster and they're meshing well. The Raiders are coming on and getting better but may need another year or two. The Chargers have an ace in Justin Herbert while the Broncos are staggering a bit.
Each conference will get seven playoff teams this season and my best guess as to the playoff teams for the AFC now would be KC, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Cleveland, Tennessee, and Indy.
On the NFC side, I'd guess Seattle, Arizona, Green Bay, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Philly, and the LA Rams. (I suspect the cold Nick Foles will cost Chicago a few more games than they can afford to lose. Chicago could sneak in as the NFC West teams cannibalize one another later in the season. It'll be close.)
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
Blogs & Forums
