NFC North
MIN:
I'm riding the Vikings train really hard right now. They're easily my favorites for NFC Champ this season. I think Bradford's performance here is truly a statement - he's a good QB and so many people have disparaged him, and these past few weeks have really proven he's just been held back a lot by his surroundings. With the Rams, it's pretty obvious how badly mismanaged that team has been during his tenure. With the Eagles, Chip Kelly's offensive scheme is obviously not going to work at the pro level. And now in Minnesota, he's surrounded by an excellent coaching staff and a flawlessly-constructed team, and has a lot of chemistry going with some normally average receivers. It's always a sign of a good QB and coach when they are elevating the play of average talent to higher levels.GB:
The Packers are still really shaky. Rodgers is still a little off his game compared to what we're used to. Then again, the Giants aren't pushovers, so maybe it's an overreaction. But I think they're going to have pretty stiff competition for a Wild Card berth this year. Them missing isn't out of the question - I've seen a lot of pessimistic Packers fans already. That said, their defense seems greatly improved over that of the past couple years. Right now it seems like it's the offense holding them back, strangely enough.DET:
This team can't catch a break. It sucks, because they're a better team than the record indicates. But the Lions are kind of hovering in the "not pushovers, but not contenders" purgatory that's plagued teams like the Eagles, Redskins, Chargers, and Bills over the past couple of years. That's not a fun place to be consistently. The Lions just, in general, are not a consistent team, and as a result aren't really in the running for the playoffs this year yet again IMO.CHI:
I feel bad for the Bears. I thought the team had a sneaky amount of promise this year, but apparently not. IIRC the defense has improved compared to last year, but like the Jags, improving but "porous as Swiss cheese" to "sometimes forces 3 & Outs" isn't much of one. While I think they're right to move on from Cutler at this point, Hoyer isn't the answer. I'm already seeing Bears fans get suckered into thinking he's a serviceable starter. Hoyer has done this every year for the past three or four seasons - he'll put up solid numbers to start with, slowly decline to slightly below-average as the season progresses, and shit the bed when it counts the most. He's nothing more than a career backup who will succeed as a stop-gap, not long-term. IMO the Bears need to go to the draft for their future franchise man. They're on course for a high pick and there's some intriguing QB prospects on the market this year.NFC East
DAL:
The Cowboys have been a big surprise so far. I did think Elliot would be good, but he might even be exceeding my expectations. Prescott certainly has. Personally, if I was Jerry Jones I'd keep riding the hot hand even after Romo returns, but he's released a statement in support of Romo as the #1 guy. The Cowboys look for real once again this year, and they're rather fun to watch to boot (I certainly enjoyed seeing them demolish the Bengals). The Eagles might give them stiff competition for the division and the Redskins aren't pushovers, but I think I slightly favor Dallas for the division to barely edge out the Eagles.PHI:
Despite their humiliation of my Steelers two weeks ago, I actually really like this Eagles team. Wentz was my favorite QB prospect during the draft and he's quickly vindicated my faith in him. I think they've built a pretty stout defense that kind of snuck up on everyone - Chip Kelly's offensive philosophy was really
holding them back. They're going to give Dallas stiff competition for the division this year, even though I give the Cowboys the slight edge in that one. Doug Pederson as a coach has completely surprised me. I thought it was a bit of a silly hire, but as the season approached I started thinking "y'know, with all the flashy hirings for teams like the Dolphins and 49ers, Pederson has been so low-key and unheralded he might be the biggest surprise of the bunch." He's certainly exceeded my expectations of him, I thought the Eagles were a cellar-dweller team this year.WAS:
The Redskins clawing back from a mediocre start really show that the NFCE is, in fact, going to be the most fiercely-competitive division this season IMO. Cousins is looking in better form and the defense is stepping up. Still, I feel they're overshadowed by their division rivals - yes, even the Giants. But this race is going to be an interesting and unpredictable one to watch.NYG:
The Giants started well but have started completely disappointing me. I picked them to win the division, but that looks very unlikely at this point. I still think the Giants are a good team, but it's starting to look as if McAdoo is a better coordinator than HC. The defense is good, but the offense is really, really holding them back. They should really be doing much better - Eli was excelling when McAdoo was just the OC, and their offensive trio of Beckham, Cruz, and Shepard is one of the more dangerous in the league. Yet they've been thoroughly mediocre on offense so far. In their defense, the Giants have faced a pretty daunting schedule so far - of their five opponents, only the Saints are a bad team, and the Saints are nevertheless always dangerous with Brees at the helm. The rest of their schedule is easier, but it's still going to be an extremely difficult uphill battle for them to recover from this early losing streak.NFC South
ATL:
Is it truly shocking that the Falcons have been really good early on? Right now they look like runaway favorites to win their division, but I remain skeptical - they did this exact same thing last year and completely dropped the ball. Then again, last year the Panthers kept pace with them, while this year their division rivals are falling apart early. While their win over the Broncos this week is really impressive, I predicted it successfully this week because Kyle Shanahan offenses always start hot early and collapse after midseason. It's like clockwork. Super eerie. But I could be wrong this time. Matt Ryan says their successes so far in a big part lend themselves to the personal rapport he's developed with Shanahan, a major 180 from his reported frustrations with the man and his scheme last year. Alex Mack has also been an immediate and extreme improvement to the Falcons O-Line as well, turning what was a terrible unit last year into one of the league's best this year. I'm going to hold my breath before crowning them kings of their division, but I could easily be wrong here.CAR:
The Panthers early season collapse here has been one of the season's biggest shockers. Their roster didn't suffer much turnover from last year, in fact getting better on paper with the return of Kelvin Benjamin. But the defense has taken a major step back so far this year. Newton hasn't been playing at the same level as last year. Did Newton just have a great year that was an outlier, similar to Dalton on the Bengals? This collapse of theirs is one of the most baffling mysteries of the season so far - the Cardinals' decline was much more predictable due to the age of many key players, but this one is rather inexplicable.TB:
I still maintain that the Bucs are a major dark horse contender. If they win tonight, it could right the ship and give them momentum for a run at the division or a Wild Card berth. Winston has been looking really good when not playing the Broncos. The defense is underperforming but I don't think they're a bad unit. If the defense does improve, I do feel they can ride Winston to success this season.NO:
Not much to say here. I thought the Saints would be a dumpster fire defense with a still-dangerous offense going into the season, and they've fulfilled that prediction to a T. They're going to have yet another bad year, and I think Payton's seat is going to get really hot as a result.NFC West
SEA:
The Seahawks might have returned to form after that shaky start, but I'm skeptical. Their O-Line remains a dumpster fire. But Wilson is still a magician, and the defense remains stout. With the Cardinals falling behind, though, they should be easy favorites to win back the division this year. I don't think they're Super Bowl contenders, however.ARI:
The Cardinals early-season collapse so far has been surprising but not unexpected. I had a hunch that this would be the last year their title window was open due to Palmer's age, and it appears that window has closed even earlier than expected. Nevertheless, Palmer chokes too much in the playoffs for the Cards to actually have a chance to win the Super Bowl. And it honestly looks like he's on his last legs here. The Cards offense has been seriously lackluster so far. And at this point, I feel the hole has become too deep too deep for them to have a real chance at winning the division over the Seahawks.LA:
No, I still don't take the Rams seriously. I won't until they fire Jeff Fisher and get a competent coach. That's really all I have to say. They aren't going to be going to the playoffs starting Case Keenum at QB.SF:
Pretty much as expected, the 49ers are a dumpster fire team. They're finally benching Gabbert in favor of Kaepernick, which I feel should have been the case in the first place. Not that I'm a fan of Kaep's, I've been watching him steadily decline every year since 2012 and figured his future as a starting QB was limited. But as much as it's easy to blame the 49ers failings on their lack of talent at many positions, it's only partly to blame - Chip's offensive system just does not work on the pro level. Traditional clock management that evenly splits time between the offense and defense will always be better. And this is coming from someone who was really excited about Kelly during his time with the Eagles.
