NFC
1. Panthers (10-0): Quick, who has more double-digit wins -- the Patriots or the Panthers? The answer is Carolina with five. New England has four. The Panthers have not had a terribly tough schedule, but did win at Seattle and was blowing out Green Bay at home for much of the game. A strong defense, running game, and a dynamic Cam Newton lead the way for a team that still isn't getting a ton of respect. Carolina's Thanksgiving matchup with Dallas is pretty much a pick 'em, meaning neither team is really a favorite. That will probably motivate the Panthers, since the Cowboys are just 3-7.
2. Cardinals (8-2): Besides a couple questionable losses to the Steelers and Rams, Arizona has looked very good. Carson Palmer is having one of his best years at QB, and the Arizona defense is playing at a high level. The Cardinals' last four games: Vikings, Eagles, Packers, Seahawks, so not the easiest of roads to close out the regular season.
3. Packers (7-3): Green Bay was slowly starting to slide down this list, but a very good performance at Minnesota has the Packers one again looking like a contender. Not sure what happened in the three straight losses to Detroit, Carolina, and Denver, but vs. the Vikes, Eddie Lacy was running hard, Aaron Rodgers looked back to his normal self, and the defense shut down Adrian Peterson.
4. Seahawks (5-5): Yeah, I still have these guys pretty high on the list despite not having beaten a team with a winning record yet. They get a little of the benefit of the doubt since they've won the NFC two straight seasons, and Seattle will always be a tough out at home. The S play Minnesota in a couple of weeks so they could flip flop with the Vikings then.
5. Vikings (7-3): They don't have a win over a team with a winning record either, but I've been very impressed with the turnaround coach Mike Zimmer has helped orchestrate. The running game is getting going with Peterson, and the defense is very solid. Teddy Bridgewater is starting to come into his own as a QB. Seattle, Arizona, the Giants, and Green Bay are teams still on the schedule so the going is about to get tough. The victory over the Chiefs is looking better and better as KC gets it together.
6. Giants (5-5): It's all about consistency with these guys and trying to improve the defense. They took the Patriots to the wire and would've won with a pick, but gave up 52 points to the Saints in a loss. No doubt they can compete with the best, but they can also lose to bad teams.
7. Buccaneers (5-5): Tampa Bay has won three of four games and I'm sure they think it should be four of five. However, they blew a chance of having a winning record at this point by losing a 24-0 lead to the Redskins a month ago. I'm sure they want that one back. More recently, they've edged the Cowboys, crushed the Eagles, and topped the Falcons, the reason I've put them ahead of Atlanta.
8. Falcons (6-4): This team is quickly sliding down the scale, having lost three in a row and four of five. Included in the stretch is a bad loss to the 49ers and a three-point win over the Titans, when they were QBed by Zach Mettenberger (not Marcus Mariota). Matt Ryan has become a turnover machine under center. Despite this, Atlanta still holds the first wild card, but it needs to get things turned around quickly. Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Carolina are the Falcons' next three games, so things aren't getting any easier.
9. Bears (4-6): Chicago has improved a lot under new coach John Fox, but is still probably not good enough to make a late run at a wild card. Injuries to Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, and Alshon Jeffery have hurt, but overall, the effort has been much better than under Marc Trestman, who was fired as head coach after last season. The Bears are close to being a winning team, having lost three games by three points or fewer.
10. Redskins (4-6): Washington has made strides in Jay Gruden's second year, but the jury is still out on whether this team can beat anyone with a winning record. The running game has been nonexistent, Kirk Cousins has been both very good and pretty poor, and the defense similarly up and down. A good microcosm of the Redskins' season has been the past two weeks: First, a 47-14 triumph over the Saints, and then a blowout loss to the Panthers, 44-16. Washington has experienced everything in between, too. Up ahead are two games against the Cowboys, and one each against the Giants, Eagles, Bears, and Bills. The team is capable of winning all of them and losing all of them. Another litmus test comes up Sunday with a home game vs. the Giants. New York beat Washington easily at home earlier in the year.
11. Cowboys (3-7): Lots of work to do, but Dallas might be headed in the right direction after a 24-14 victory over the Dolphins, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The team is 3-0 under Tony Romo, but has a fairly tough schedule left, and it all starts on Thanksgiving with the Panthers coming to AT&T Stadium. No doubt, if the Cowboys can win and knock off the undefeated Panthers, they will then have some real momentum and start to put pressure on the NFC East teams ahead of them. A loss won't knock the Cowboys out of contention, but they will have pretty much no other option but to win out, get to 8-8, and hope for the best. That would be a tall order, even with Romo, since the schedule includes two games with the Redskins and road contests at Green Bay and Buffalo. So the game against Carolina could be a huge turning point. The frustrating thing with this team is, despite all the issues and controversies, two wins without Romo, even one, and things would be looking a lot different. I think a whole year of Romo would have this team as the clear favorite in the division after seeing how the other teams have played. But injuries are a reality of the game, and now the Cowboys need to fight to have a chance.
12. Eagles (4-6): Another NFC team that showed promise but has since showed some big cracks. The Eagles have lost three of four, and the one win was in OT over the Romo-less Cowboys, who I have to think would beat the Eagles in a rematch. Reports surfaced this week following a blowout loss to Tampa Bay that Chip Kelly has lost the team and his tactics and coaching aren't working in the NFL. It's widely speculated that he will end up back in college football after this season. Should the Eagles choose to keep trying, though, the NFC East is still wide open, and they've already beaten the Giants once.
13. Saints (4-6): New Orleans started the year off slow but gained momentum and won four of five. Since, the Saints have lost two in a row and fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. With a not-as-good-as-he-used-to-be Drew Brees under center and a bad defense, this team doesn't have what it takes to recover and make any kind of push for a wild card.
14. Rams (4-6): Like New Orleans, this team started slow, got some momentum, but is experiencing troubles once again. At one point, St. Louis was 4-3 and right in the wild card race. Now, the Rams are 4-6 after three straight losses and things are looking down. Jeff Fisher has been called out as being a dirty coach, and having former Bountygate ringleader Gregg Williams on staff has not helped this team's perception. The Rams benched QB Nick Foles and then put Case Keenum in there, who got slammed to the turf in the loss to to Baltimore this past week and was put back in with a concussion, further throwing the organization into controversy. It has been a rough few weeks for the Rams. Oh, and they'll probably end up in Los Angles next year.
15. Lions (3-7): Things are looking up in Detroit, where the Lions have won two in a row, including at Green Bay, where they broke a string of seemingly a bazillion losses in a row playing at Lambeau Field. A win on Thanksgiving against Philly would further impress me and make me consider moving them up this list.
16. 49ers (3-7): It's been a long year, and a win in the opener against the Vikings is looking further and further away. The offense is looking better under Blaine Gabbert than it did under Colin Kaepernick. but I doubt this team is capable of any sort of late run. The promotion of Jim Tomsula to head coach was confusing to begin with, and that move is being proven to be the wrong one in San Francisco.
1. Panthers (10-0): Quick, who has more double-digit wins -- the Patriots or the Panthers? The answer is Carolina with five. New England has four. The Panthers have not had a terribly tough schedule, but did win at Seattle and was blowing out Green Bay at home for much of the game. A strong defense, running game, and a dynamic Cam Newton lead the way for a team that still isn't getting a ton of respect. Carolina's Thanksgiving matchup with Dallas is pretty much a pick 'em, meaning neither team is really a favorite. That will probably motivate the Panthers, since the Cowboys are just 3-7.
2. Cardinals (8-2): Besides a couple questionable losses to the Steelers and Rams, Arizona has looked very good. Carson Palmer is having one of his best years at QB, and the Arizona defense is playing at a high level. The Cardinals' last four games: Vikings, Eagles, Packers, Seahawks, so not the easiest of roads to close out the regular season.
3. Packers (7-3): Green Bay was slowly starting to slide down this list, but a very good performance at Minnesota has the Packers one again looking like a contender. Not sure what happened in the three straight losses to Detroit, Carolina, and Denver, but vs. the Vikes, Eddie Lacy was running hard, Aaron Rodgers looked back to his normal self, and the defense shut down Adrian Peterson.
4. Seahawks (5-5): Yeah, I still have these guys pretty high on the list despite not having beaten a team with a winning record yet. They get a little of the benefit of the doubt since they've won the NFC two straight seasons, and Seattle will always be a tough out at home. The S play Minnesota in a couple of weeks so they could flip flop with the Vikings then.
5. Vikings (7-3): They don't have a win over a team with a winning record either, but I've been very impressed with the turnaround coach Mike Zimmer has helped orchestrate. The running game is getting going with Peterson, and the defense is very solid. Teddy Bridgewater is starting to come into his own as a QB. Seattle, Arizona, the Giants, and Green Bay are teams still on the schedule so the going is about to get tough. The victory over the Chiefs is looking better and better as KC gets it together.
6. Giants (5-5): It's all about consistency with these guys and trying to improve the defense. They took the Patriots to the wire and would've won with a pick, but gave up 52 points to the Saints in a loss. No doubt they can compete with the best, but they can also lose to bad teams.
7. Buccaneers (5-5): Tampa Bay has won three of four games and I'm sure they think it should be four of five. However, they blew a chance of having a winning record at this point by losing a 24-0 lead to the Redskins a month ago. I'm sure they want that one back. More recently, they've edged the Cowboys, crushed the Eagles, and topped the Falcons, the reason I've put them ahead of Atlanta.
8. Falcons (6-4): This team is quickly sliding down the scale, having lost three in a row and four of five. Included in the stretch is a bad loss to the 49ers and a three-point win over the Titans, when they were QBed by Zach Mettenberger (not Marcus Mariota). Matt Ryan has become a turnover machine under center. Despite this, Atlanta still holds the first wild card, but it needs to get things turned around quickly. Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Carolina are the Falcons' next three games, so things aren't getting any easier.
9. Bears (4-6): Chicago has improved a lot under new coach John Fox, but is still probably not good enough to make a late run at a wild card. Injuries to Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, and Alshon Jeffery have hurt, but overall, the effort has been much better than under Marc Trestman, who was fired as head coach after last season. The Bears are close to being a winning team, having lost three games by three points or fewer.
10. Redskins (4-6): Washington has made strides in Jay Gruden's second year, but the jury is still out on whether this team can beat anyone with a winning record. The running game has been nonexistent, Kirk Cousins has been both very good and pretty poor, and the defense similarly up and down. A good microcosm of the Redskins' season has been the past two weeks: First, a 47-14 triumph over the Saints, and then a blowout loss to the Panthers, 44-16. Washington has experienced everything in between, too. Up ahead are two games against the Cowboys, and one each against the Giants, Eagles, Bears, and Bills. The team is capable of winning all of them and losing all of them. Another litmus test comes up Sunday with a home game vs. the Giants. New York beat Washington easily at home earlier in the year.
11. Cowboys (3-7): Lots of work to do, but Dallas might be headed in the right direction after a 24-14 victory over the Dolphins, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. The team is 3-0 under Tony Romo, but has a fairly tough schedule left, and it all starts on Thanksgiving with the Panthers coming to AT&T Stadium. No doubt, if the Cowboys can win and knock off the undefeated Panthers, they will then have some real momentum and start to put pressure on the NFC East teams ahead of them. A loss won't knock the Cowboys out of contention, but they will have pretty much no other option but to win out, get to 8-8, and hope for the best. That would be a tall order, even with Romo, since the schedule includes two games with the Redskins and road contests at Green Bay and Buffalo. So the game against Carolina could be a huge turning point. The frustrating thing with this team is, despite all the issues and controversies, two wins without Romo, even one, and things would be looking a lot different. I think a whole year of Romo would have this team as the clear favorite in the division after seeing how the other teams have played. But injuries are a reality of the game, and now the Cowboys need to fight to have a chance.
12. Eagles (4-6): Another NFC team that showed promise but has since showed some big cracks. The Eagles have lost three of four, and the one win was in OT over the Romo-less Cowboys, who I have to think would beat the Eagles in a rematch. Reports surfaced this week following a blowout loss to Tampa Bay that Chip Kelly has lost the team and his tactics and coaching aren't working in the NFL. It's widely speculated that he will end up back in college football after this season. Should the Eagles choose to keep trying, though, the NFC East is still wide open, and they've already beaten the Giants once.
13. Saints (4-6): New Orleans started the year off slow but gained momentum and won four of five. Since, the Saints have lost two in a row and fired defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. With a not-as-good-as-he-used-to-be Drew Brees under center and a bad defense, this team doesn't have what it takes to recover and make any kind of push for a wild card.
14. Rams (4-6): Like New Orleans, this team started slow, got some momentum, but is experiencing troubles once again. At one point, St. Louis was 4-3 and right in the wild card race. Now, the Rams are 4-6 after three straight losses and things are looking down. Jeff Fisher has been called out as being a dirty coach, and having former Bountygate ringleader Gregg Williams on staff has not helped this team's perception. The Rams benched QB Nick Foles and then put Case Keenum in there, who got slammed to the turf in the loss to to Baltimore this past week and was put back in with a concussion, further throwing the organization into controversy. It has been a rough few weeks for the Rams. Oh, and they'll probably end up in Los Angles next year.
15. Lions (3-7): Things are looking up in Detroit, where the Lions have won two in a row, including at Green Bay, where they broke a string of seemingly a bazillion losses in a row playing at Lambeau Field. A win on Thanksgiving against Philly would further impress me and make me consider moving them up this list.
16. 49ers (3-7): It's been a long year, and a win in the opener against the Vikings is looking further and further away. The offense is looking better under Blaine Gabbert than it did under Colin Kaepernick. but I doubt this team is capable of any sort of late run. The promotion of Jim Tomsula to head coach was confusing to begin with, and that move is being proven to be the wrong one in San Francisco.
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