Welcome back to the Weekly, let’s take a quick tour around the elite teams in the league at (what used to be) the 3/4 mark. The marquee contest last week was the Eagles vs. the 49ers. Unfortunately, this was pretty anticlimactic, as San Francisco bounced back after a slow first quarter to completely dominate Philadelphia. They reeled off big play after big play (and went 4-4 in the red zone), averaging 8.0 yards per play (compared to 4.8 for Philly). The Eagles were doing rather well during their current run of tough games. They beat the Cowboys, Chiefs, and Bills before running into the once again dominant 49ers. Still to come are games against the Cowboys and Seahawks before a soft landing of Giants-Cardinals-Giants.
Philadelphia still has the best record in the NFL, but there are now five teams nipping at their heels. S.F. is rolling (still can’t figure out that three game losing streak), and Dallas has an opportunity to keep the Eagles losing. That point differential of +41 for the NFC East leaders is surprisingly small considering the gaudy 10-2 record, and the Cowboys are sporting a far more impressive +168 differential. Of course, the Fightin’ Jerry’s haven’t beaten a team that currently has a winning record. The Rams and Seahawks are both 6-6 and are certainly not bad teams, but that loss to the Cardinals looks pretty bad. After the Eagles, Dallas faces the Bills, the Dolphins, and the Lions before finishing up with the Commanders. They will get the chance to prove they belong near the top. We’ll see how it goes.
Speaking of the Dolphins, Miami is another team feasting on the weak. They’ve played exactly two teams who currently have winning records and lost both (Eagles and Chiefs). Against teams with even records, the results were mixed (dominated the Broncos and dominated by the Bills). The schedule gets a little for the Dolphins, with Dallas, Baltimore, and Buffalo looming. As with the Cowboys, the end of the season should be very illuminating. Baltimore is also 9-3, but they’re looking at a murderers row to finish the year. How does the Rams, the Jags, the 49ers, the Fins, and the Steelers sound? Although I think the Ravens are better than almost all those teams (especially with Trevor Lawrence’s high ankle sprain), any one of those teams can definitely beat Baltimore. That Pittsburgh game could be for all the AFC North marbles, at least according to some people.
That leaves Detroit, who found a way to win despite looking shaky after the first quarter. But the Lions stopped the Saints on 4th down on their last drive, and then got the game sealing first downs they needed on their own final drive. Great stuff, but although N.O. is no pushover, that 21-0 lead should have allowed for a far more comfortable afternoon. The last complete performance is now seven games in the rear-view mirror (against Tampa Bay). Now, the Lions are 4-2 in those “bad performances”, but they only really outclassed the Raiders. Although that 26-12 scoreline looks kinda close, it was down to turnovers and being generally bad in the red zone. They never looked like they were losing that game, but in the other five, it looked quite likely at times. I think Detroit was lucky to win three of those. There’s still a real chance of Minnesota chasing the Lions down, so the Motor City Kitties need to sharpen up. Another opportunity to do so arrives on Sunday against the Bears in Chicago. Let’s see if they can figure it out (and hope for a Raiders victory while we’re at it).
