Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo passes against the Seattle Seahawks in the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, in Seattle.
NFL logoA wise reader of my daily "5-at-10" at timesfreepress.com said about three weeks ago that you know very little about the NFL until you're six weeks in.
Well, we're six weeks in, and the divide between contenders and dreamers seems to have started to grow. There are as many as a third of the NFL's 32 teams that are fatally flawed to the point that, sadly, there seems to be very little chance for a playoff chase for any of them.
In addition to the one-win-or-worse quintet listed in the bottom five below, Atlanta, Miami, Tennessee, Minnesota and the New York Jets are so blah-tastic across the board or have such imbalance between offense and defense that any playoff chase seems as likely as Sasquatch riding into Roger Goodell's office on a unicorn and praising Goodell's leadership during the recent domestic violence issues.
Yes, the NFL is built on parity, and that generates TV ratings and gambling interest. But the steps of balanced schedules and hard salary caps cannot account for terrible management decisions -- a common trait among the bottom five and the next tier of stinkihood -- or an inferior quarterback in a quarterback-driven league.
The top five:
1. Dallas (5-1): If there's reason to hope for the teams circling the current NFL's drain, well, how 'bout these Cowboys? Dallas was terrible in week one after having a historically bad defense a year ago. From there, five straight wins and the images of Jerry Jones actually listening to others have left the league stunned by the results.
2. Denver (4-1): We know Peyton Manning is on the cusp of setting the TD pass record, and that's cool. We know the Broncos have but one goal -- winning the whole enchilada. We get all that, and it's important. Still, let's review arguably the biggest, craziest and luckiest regular-season covering-of-the-spread in recent memory. Denver was a 7.5-favorite over the New York Jets last Sunday. The Jets were down 24-17 and had the ball deep in their own territory in the final seconds and quarterback Geno Smith threw an interception to Aqib Talib because (a) he's Geno Smith and (b) Talib was wide open. Talib fell to the ground catching the ball and got up and ran for a spread-covering TD with 15 seconds left. Wow. Among those collecting was renowned gambler and boxing champ Floyd Mayweather, who cashed a betting slip worth $1.44 million because of the play.
3. San Diego (5-1): Did you realize that Philip Rivers was the best quarterback in the league so far this year? Crazy, right? OK, Rushmore of Rivers: Philip, Joan, Doc and Mississippi. Seriously, Philip Rivers has posted a quarterback rating of 120 or better in each of the Chargers' six games. Nice.
4. Philadelphia (5-1): Here's a tip of the visor to Chip Kelly, who won the NFC East last year and has the Eagles in prime position this year despite letting DeSean Jackson go and despite not getting the expected production from Shady McCoy. When you can win in the NFL when your stars are playing like average players, you have a chance to win a lot of games. Side note: The female Eagles fan who stole a fellow fan's prosthetic leg Sunday night was apprehended. It's always funny in Philadelphia. Seriously.
5. San Francisco (4-2): Man, the 49ers have drafted well. They come at you in waves, and Monday night may have been Colin Kaepernick's best game. Also, it shows some major league gumption for a team to fall behind 14-0 on the road on a Monday night and rally for a 31-17 win. There's real potential here for a legitimate "Us-against-the-world" type of rallying cry as they deal with all the Jim Harbaugh discussion and background noise.
Bottom five:
28. Washington (1-5): We blame Daniel Snyder and we credit karma for Washington's continued stinkiness. That is all.
29. St. Louis (1-4): Want to know the swing piece that is the quarterback, look at the mess that is St. Louis right now. There are a lot of pieces to like -- Side note: If you are a fantasy football player, pick up Tre Mason right now and thank us later -- but the inadequacies at quarterback become a hurdle too great to clear.
30. Tampa Bay (1-5): Only Jacksonville has a worse points differential, and that's in large part because when things go bad for these Buccaneers, they go so far south so quickly that the NFL should consider a running clock in the second half. So far this year, the Bucs have trailed 42-0 at halftime against a flawed Falcons team and 35-0 a minute into the second quarter against Joe Flacco.
31. Oakland (0-5): It's of little consolation for a proud franchise that has been invisible since Rich Gannon was involved, but these Raiders play hard. And there is some young hope. Derek Carr could be a legit quarterback in the league.
32. Jacksonville (0-6): Well, there's something to be said for consistency, right? Hey, you stay classy, Jacksonville. Think of it this way, there's a real chance you are going to get to add some serious weapons around quarterback Blake Bortles in the next draft. And, yes, they may be better than receiver Cecil Shorts. (If you were Shorts' parents, what would be the other name options besides Cecil III: There's Gene Shorts, which is awesome in its awesomeness, Bermuda Shorts, Short Shorts and maybe a Kenneth Shorts, who could grow up to be a writer with the byline By Kennie Shorts .... Wait for it ... Thank you.)
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter at @jgreesontfp. Listen to Jay and David Paschall on Press Row every weekday from 3-6 on ESPN 105.1 FM and timesfreepress.com.