Before the season, the Miami Dolphins and Arizona Cardinals were popular sleeper picks by the “experts” to be Super Bowl teams this season. They are a combined 3-13 through week nine. Pittsburgh, last year’s Super Bowl champion, is 2-6. Spontaneity is what makes sports exciting, and the NFL’s parity gives it an anything-can-happen atmosphere that has made it the most popular professional league in our country – but also wildly unpredictable. Just this past Sunday the one-win Miami Dolphins shocked the previously undefeated Chicago Bears. It seems like a better idea to bet the sky will be green tomorrow than to bet on any certain team winning the Vince Lombardi trophy. With that in mind, here are some teams to watch.So the Bears lost a game to a crappy team? They still have the best record in the NFC at 7-1. Well, before writing this off, take a closer look. Six of their games were against teams with losing records (we’re talking a combined 14-34). The other two were 4-4 Minnesota and 5-3 Seattle, and the Seahawks were playing without last year’s MVP Shaun Alexander. Rex Grossman needs to show he can win a big game, starting this Sunday.
The 6-2 New York Giants have big names at every skill position on offense, and a solid defense headlined by Pro-Bowlers Michael Strahan and LaVar Arrington. Tiki Barber, currently the NFL’s leading rusher, has already declared his intention to retire at the end of the season. We all saw what this did for the Steelers last year.
It may not even matter who wins the NFC. Glance quickly at the AFC standings and you will find five teams who are 6-2 or better (Indianapolis, Denver, New England, San Diego, Baltimore). With Jacksonville and Kansas City sitting at 5-3 and looking stronger in recent weeks, it’s tough to count them out as well. Yes, the Indianapolis Colts are undefeated again and coming off back-to-back thrilling victories over the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots. They still have to prove they can win in January, however. The San Diego Chargers have arguably the league’s best player in LaDainian Tomlinson and a strong defense. However, they still have to prove Marty Schottenheimer can win in January. The Baltimore Ravens have the top scoring defense in the league, and in this instance it does not mean just preventing other teams from scoring. This defense goes ahead and scores on its own and does so more reliably than some other teams’ offenses. The offense has not looked bad since Brian Billick took over the play-calling duties two weeks ago.
Before we go and hand the trophy to an AFC team, let’s not forget that everyone said an American league team would win the World Series. Remember how that turned out?
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