10. Arizona Cardinals
9. Buffalo Bills
8. Los Angeles Rams
7. Green Bay Packers
6. Tennessee Titans
5. Seattle Seahawks
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
3. Baltimore Ravens
2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have proven that they are capable of doing anything they could possibly be asked to do. After them, I honestly see a toss up of 6 teams that all are neck and neck at the top of the NFL.
The Seahawks defense finally came back to bite them, predictably. Yet, what concerns me is that this letdown at the end of SNF wasn’t at hands of an established veteran quarterback. It was to a relatively unproven Kyler Murray. This makes Seattle much more vulnerable when it comes to any postseason matchup they get – being that their division will likely prevent them from getting that first round bye.
Sean McVay is leaving me no choice but to respect the Rams. They sliced and diced a very impressive Bears defense while parking the bus in the fourth quarter. They scored 24, but the Rams could have easily put up 38 if need be. I still don’t think Jared Goff is even close to worth his long-term contract, and ultimately their offense can only be pushed so far off the gadget plays drawn up. Eventually Goff will have to carry some of the load.
This Tampa Bay team can beat you so many ways. They have a run game with Ronald Jones II that is the least talked about punishing run game. They have weapons out the wazoo in the pass game and now have added a potential X-factor with Antonio Brown’s return to the NFL.
Big Ben might be on his “Peyton Manning Denver Super Bowl” season. He has so much help on both sides of the ball, so it may not matter if he’s an above average quarterback. I think he has the experience and pocket mobility necessary to win big games.
Thankfully we get to see whether or not the Ravens are truly frauds next week. A pitiful Chiefs loss has been sandwiched between a bunch of wins against non-contending teams. The line opened for Baltimore-Pittsburgh with the Ravens favored by 5.5 points. The public hopped all over the Steelers, crashing the line immediately down to Ravens-3.5. Usually, when all of the public is on one side, watch out for the opposite result happening (see the Seahawks-Cardinals from last week).
