The San Francisco 49ers and New England Patriots continue to lead the pack. How long will that last?
Eventually, one of them's going to have to come down to earth. Two undefeated teams in a season would be unprecedented and I'm not ready to forecast it, at all.
With the Niners going to Washington and the Pats visiting the Jets this week, I'm not willing to say either undefeated team will lose just yet. The Panthers and Cardinals could be tricky for San Francisco in the coming weeks, while New England's biggest likely test in the next month comes in Week 9, at Baltimore.
On the other hand, Sam Darnold is back for the Jets, whose ratings largely reflect the play of a backup quarterback who was cut as soon as Darnold was ready to return. My gut says this should be a closer game than the computer ratings all are saying.
Elsewhere, the final projected standings don't completely reflect the FredRank ratings. How can this be explained?
In other words, why are the New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and Oakland Raiders rated so highly, while the Los Angeles Rams, Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars are the ones with the playoff bids?
First of all, it's important to remember the "best" teams, as far as computer ratings go, don't always make the playoffs. That could very well end up being the case. But I can also get into each of the three teams in that first group and whether they're poised to make a run or not.
Seattle Seahawks: On the bright side, the Seahawks won in Pittsburgh and at home against the Rams, whose early wins keep them high in the ratings. (Expect a bad showing against the Falcons to change that.)
On the other hand, the 'Hawks almost lost to the lowly Bengals and did fall at home to the Saints.
But I think Russell Wilson's MVP-caliber play should continue, and this team will turn out to be contenders for a wild card bid, at least.
Oakland Raiders: These guys struggled some early in the season, but things seem to be on track now. After a couple tough matchups coming up in Green Bay and Houston, I expect the Raiders to roll.
Expect them to be looking to possibly secure a winning season and a playoff berth by the time they face the Jaguars in Week 15; Jacksonville is projected to get a win here as of now, but I bet that changes soon.
New Orleans Saints: The NFC South is looking like a 3-team race. With Carolina and Tampa Bay on bye for Week 7, don't expect them to decline much. But the Saints playing in Chicago this weekend is very much a big deal.
I think the Saints should beat out the Bucs for second in the division, but it's hard to say now if that will translate to a spot in the playoffs.
Games to watch this week (if you have a choice):
Oakland @ Green Bay
LA Rams @ Atlanta
Baltimore @ Seattle
New Orleans @ Chicago
Philadelphia @ Dallas
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