If you are a football fan who just came out of a coma from mid-July, you’d have trouble realizing the truth. Crazy things have happened. The Vikings are undefeated-with Sam Bradford. Dak Prescott, the Cowboys third-stringer, is starting, has records, and is 5-1. The Panthers-that team that went 15-1 last year- is 1-5. The Raiders are leading the AFC West-over the Chiefs and Broncos. The Bengals are 2-4, as are the Colts. The Patriots went 3-1 without Brady, even with Jacoby Brissett starting. You get the point.
So, 6 weeks through(and the TNF game in Week 7), we have some idea of where things stand. The playoff picture(with three teams below the cut line):
Note: GA means games ahead.
| Seed | NFC Team(GA/GB) | AFC Team(GA/GB) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vikings(5-0/2.5 GA) | Patriots(5-1/3 GA) |
| 2 | Cowboys(5-1/1.5 GA) | Texans(4-2/1 GA) |
| 3 | Seahawks(4-1/1.5 GA) | Steelers(4-2/1 GA) |
| 4 | Falcons(4-2/1.5 GA) | Raiders(4-2/0.5 GA) |
| 5 | Redskins(4-2/0.5 GA) | Broncos(4-2/0.5 GA) |
| 6 | Packers(4-2/0.5 GA) | Bills(4-2/0.5 GA) |
| 7 | Eagles(3-2/0.5 GB) | Chiefs(3-2/0.5 GB) |
| 8 | Rams(3-3/1 GB) | Ravens(3-3/1 GB) |
| 9 | Cardinals(3-3/1 GB) | Titans(3-3/1 GB) |
The table shows some surprises. Houston is second in the AFC(thanks to tiebreakers), as is Dallas in the NFC. The Ravens and Titans are one game out of the playoffs. Cincy is nowhere on the list. Neither are the Panthers, while the SB50 champs, the Broncos, are 5th, and the Cardinals 9th.
This scares early projectors, because consistency is out the window. I’m new to this, but it probably happens every year. So I have my too-early predictions.
| Seed | NFC Team(Record) | AFC Team(Record) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cowboys(13-3) | Patriots(14-2) |
| 2 | Vikings(13-3) | Texans(12-4) |
| 3 | Seahawks(12-4) | Steelers(12-4) |
| 4 | Falcons(11-5) | Raiders(12-4) |
| 5 | Packers(12-4) | Chiefs(11-5) |
| 6 | Redskins(12-4) | Broncos(11-5) |
Of course, things could change. Bradford could start playing like the usual Sam Bradford, the Raiders’ defense could come to hurt them, and Brady could start playing badly. Matt Ryan could go win every game from here on out, and take the No. 1 seed, but it doesn’t look that way. These predictions are not very realistic, but it can’t be-not at this stage. I’ll do this again at Weeks 10 & 13 and give scenarios at Week 15. Oh, and stop using Jason as our name in the comments. I have the emails, so use something different, please! Register/subscribe at the bottom of the sidebar(don’t know details, so figure it out), and email me for ideas, feedback, and especially compliments. See you around!