As the second half of the NFL season is now upon us it is time to examine how the AFC and NFC will look at the 3 quarters mark of the season.
AFC
- New England: Tom Brady is just getting better at age 39 I don’t know how that’s possible. LeGarrette Blount provides the ground and pound that will keep the line and Brady from getting hurt and as long as injuries don’t grip this team no one in the AFC is going to stop them.
- Oakland Raiders: A good team but nowhere close to the Patriots who are in a class of their own. They get this spot by besting the Broncos next week. Derek Carr is just as good as Matt Ryan or any franchise QB in the league. He will need to keep the raiders afloat until playoff time and win some games in January to move into the Elite tier of QBs in this league.
- Baltimore Ravens: Big Ben is out, the Bengals are not good, and the Browns are so transfixed watching the world series they’ve just said screw it were done with football. So Joe Flacco has a chance to step up as he does every year in the second half of the season and lead the Ravens back to the playoffs.
- Tennessee Titans: Hear me out, yes they have to play the Chargers and Packers during this stretch but if they can win one of those games I have supreme confidence they can beat the Bears and the Colts. Demarco Murray looks like 2014 Demarco Murray offensive player of the year. Plus (I’m borrowing from the Around The NFL Podcast here) the AFC South is Butt.
- Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith gets the job done. This team doesn’t make game changing plays but they do enough to win consistently.
- Denver Broncos: Winning with defense. They’ve had this formula for the past year and a half maybe it’s time to put some stock into the statement defense wins championships.
NFC
- Dallas Cowboys: Maybe Romo come back in, maybe he doesn’t, doesn’t matter. The Cowboys have two Pro Bowl Caliber QBs and the next big thing at running back with Ezekiel Elliot. The defense isn’t half bad either Orlando Scandrick leads a pretty good secondary that allows a mediocre front seven to get to the QB.
- Green Bay Packers: The Vikings are falling apart in this division and Aaron Rodgers is heating up.
- Atlanta Falcons: Matt Ryan is the NFC’s answer to Tom Brady. Ya there’s a big gulp in QB class there but Ryan is making plays and the Falcons are headed to the NFC south division title.
- Seattle Seahawks: Lucky the NFC west is taking an off year, this offense has some serious problems.
- Philadelphia Eagles: Don’t press the panic button on Carson Wentz just because he lost in prime time. The Eagles offense is Awe inspiring but their defense doesn’t get enough credit they schooled Minnesota’s weak offensive line one week and then did the exact same thing to the best line in the league in Dallas a week later.
- Minnesota Vikings: Barely holding of the surging Carolina Panthers.
