Which NFL teams are good this year? I was going to do another power rankings, but I could make a case for about 12 teams to be in the top-5, and only the Chiefs and Eagles came to mind when I questioned which teams absolutely deserved top-5 status. Then there’s the rest of the group. Patriots, Broncos, Cowboys, Vikings, Texans, Steelers, Jaguars, Falcons, Panthers, Seahawks, Rams, Redskins and so on.
There’s 11 teams right there that I could honestly make a case for each team being better than the others. Parity has reared its ugly head once again in the NFL, and while the league likes to frame it in a positive light, I personally hate it. Allow me to elaborate.
I don’t hate the idea of parity. Parity by itself is great. It means more fan bases stay more intrigued for longer as playoff races come down to the final weeks of the season, and any team can beat any other team on any given Sunday. We’ve heard that phrase thousands of times. But parity doesn’t exist in a vacuum, there has to be a root cause.
By my estimation, there really are only two reasons for parity: Everybody is good, or everybody is bad. If every team were good, parity in the NFL would be the greatest thing in sports. The problem is that the exact opposite is true, every team in this year’s NFL stinks.
Start with this statistic: we’re only six weeks into the season and 30 out of 32 teams have two losses or more. Only the Eagles and Chiefs stand at 5-1 and there are no undefeated teams. So they must be the two good teams this year, right? And maybe they are, but do we really believe we’ll be watching Alex Smith and Carson Wentz in Super Bowl LII? I know I don’t.
So who’s next after those two teams? Naturally you’d go to the Steelers, who just ended the Chiefs’ winning streak, but then you have to look at their two losses. They got dismantled by the Jaguars 30-9 and lost to Mike Glennon (who has since been benched) and the Chicago Bears in week 3.
The Falcons as the reigning NFC champs and returning almost their whole roster, or the New England Patriots as their AFC equivalent, would be teams that come to mind when you think of the NFL’s elite this year. Yet the Falcons have lost back-to-back home games to the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins, while the Patriots were blown out by the Chiefs, beaten by the Panthers, and narrowly squeaked past the Jets.
The Broncos dominated Dallas before losing in Buffalo and getting blown out at home by the 0-5 Giants. The Vikings are a solid 4-2 team, but were held to single-digit point totals in their losses to the Steelers and Lions. The Panthers have looked good at times, but they have two home losses, including a spanking at the hands of the Saints. The Rams are a nice surprise at 4-2, but they too have two home losses to the Redskins and Seahawks.
What about the Legion of Boom and those Seattle Seahawks? Oh yea, they’ve already lost to the Packers and Titans, and narrowly slipped past the lowly 49ers with a score of 12-9. The Raiders were preseason darlings, but they’ve fallen to 2-4 and are in serious danger of missing the playoffs given how tough their division is. I could continue for just about every team in the NFL, except for Cleveland, San Francisco and the New York Giants, but 9 examples of teams that should be good but aren’t seems to be enough to prove my point. Everybody is mediocre.
There is one team I would like to make a special shout out to, as they might be the most confusing team in league history. The Jacksonville Jaguars are 3-3, and it really feels like they field two different teams, one that is 3-0 and the other that is 0-3. So far, there’s been no way of knowing which team will come out to play, other than looking at what they did last week and expecting them to do the complete opposite.
They opened the season with a beat down of the Texans so bad that it ended Tom Savage’s run as Houston’s starting quarterback after just one half. They followed up that win in Houston with a blowout loss at home to the Titans. That was the moment when we all agreed the Jaguars are still the Jaguars and week one was a fluke.
But then they flew to London in week three and jackhammered the Ravens 44-7. After London they went to New York and lost in overtime to the Jets before going on the road and intercepting Ben Roethlisberger FIVE times en route to a 30-9 victory. After that performance against a good* team like the Steelers, I actually started to believe that they were going to be something this year, but then they stayed true to their pattern and lost 27-17 at home to the Rams on Sunday. Who is this team?
Power Rankings
Now that I’m done complaining about how bad everyone is I’ll take a crack at actually naming the top five teams in the league through 6 weeks.
- Philadelphia Eagles (5-1)
Carson Wentz looks like he’s ready to be a legitimate NFL superstar and I’m excited to bear witness to it. Couple him with a frightening front-seven on defense and the Eagles have a pretty strong recipe for success.
2.) Kansas City Chiefs (5-1)
One ugly loss to the Steelers is not enough to undo the truly impressive 5-0 start against a relatively tough schedule. If they still have a good record after their next three games which are against the Raiders, Broncos and Cowboys, we’ll know for sure that they’re a legitimate contender.
3.) Minnesota Vikings (4-2)
The Vikings have quietly been one of the league’s most impressive teams this season. They’ve been fielding third string quarterback Case Keenum for 5 straight games since Sam Bradford was injured in week one and Teddy Bridgewater continues to rehab from his catastrophic knee injury suffered well over a year ago. In addition, star rookie running back Dalvin Cook tore his ACL in week four and they’ve won both games since his injury. They can thank their defense for that, and when Bridgewater comes back (or even Sam Bradford) look for this team to dominate the NFC North in Aaron Rodgers’ absence.
4.) New England Patriots (4-2)
The Patriots defense is historically bad. I’m not exaggerating either. Through six weeks they’re still on pace through to give up more yards per play than any team in league history. Luckily 40-year-old Tom Brady is still performing at an elite level, on track to have one of the best seasons of his career. While the defense lacks talent in some spots, most of their issues are fixable. They’ve been leaving receivers WIDE open, which can be resolved. When they stop doing that (they will stop doing that, won’t they?) the defense will look about average, which should be good enough for Brady to outscore the opponent.
5.) Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2)
The last spot was a total toss up so I went with the 4-2 team with the most talent, and who also just happened to knock off the NFL’s last remaining undefeated team. With Antonio Brown, Le’Veon Bell, Martavis Bryant and Ben Roethlisberger, this team should be putting up way more points than they are. I expect this offense to get going at some point soon, and when they do, look out.
Patriots-Falcons Prediction
Here’s a bonus pick for the Pats game on Sunday Night Football. Part of me believes Matt Ryan and Julio Jones will have their way all night en route to a 500-yard passing performance and a blowout win. But the other part of me saw them blow a 17-0 halftime lead at home to Jay “I’m Just Here For The Paycheck” Cutler and the Miami Dolphins. They’re clearly still haunted by their infamous Super Bowl collapse, and they won’t be able to come to Foxborough and beat the Patriots until they can put those demons behind them. I’m taking the Patriots 38-34.
Conrad's Corner Sports 