Here’s what we know after the first 9 weeks of the season. There are no power house teams, leaving the Super Bowl as wide open as ever. This could be another year where the Super Bowl winner isn’t the best team, just the luckiest (see Top 5 Luckiest Super Bowl Winners).
Leading the list of biggest disappointments are the Carolina Panthers, Green Bay Packers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Arizona Cardinals. These teams are seriously under-performing their talent, with the Cardinals the possible exception, since Carson Palmer is officially over-the-hill. Expect to see the Pack and Bengals finally give up on their head coaches in the off-season. But lest we forget those lucky afore-mentioned Giants and Ravens teams that sneaked in to the post-season with paltry records only to take it the distance, anything can happen. The Panthers, Packers, and Bengals fit this modus operandi so don’t count them out yet.
Seattle is probably now the favorite. They have a bad O-line, but so did Denver last year, and defense does win championships. The Patriots are a close 2nd with easily the league’s best offense, but lack of talent on defense is finally catching up to them. The AFC West will produce three playoff teams, which means they’ll enter the playoffs more battle-tested. But they each have glaring weaknesses – the Raiders D, the Chiefs O, and the Broncos QB. Dallas has the best O line in possibly the last decade, but they still give up too many points against good teams, and winning in the playoffs with a rookie QB is a crap shoot.
Here’s the top 10 teams after Week 9:
- Seattle Seahawks
- New England Patriots
- Dallas Cowboys
- Oakland Raiders
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Denver Broncos
- Atlanta Falcons
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- New York Giants
- Minnesota Vikings
