Five weeks into the season, we are getting a good idea which teams are legit (not necessarily great) and who will likely be out of playoff contention early. By no means are any losing teams guaranteed to clinch high draft picks or winning teams guaranteed to clinch playoff berths, so let's not go crazy here. The picture will get clearer in a few weeks but now is not too early to start seeing teams separate themselves from the rest in both directions.

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IMO AFC south is still wide open. Jags are the favs right now

I don't thing the Jets can hold on but Bills may very well be a wildcard team. Pats will get it together I am sure.

The other divisions look a bit more clear at least who the winner will be.

3 more weeks and we will really know.

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Jaguars | Pacers | Purdue | Team USA

 

 

 

I don't see the Jets holding on either. Buffalo is definitely a team to watch. I would not be surprised if this is the year they finally end the NFL's longest playoff drought.

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There are a few teams pulling away from the pack but I still think it will take until the halfway mark to really get a good idea of where teams sit. There really has been some inconsistency around the league. This year more than ever you can see that parity the NFL exclaims it strives for.

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Eagles could definitely be pretenders. They have played 1 good team and lost to them. They beat the Giants (0-5) Chargers (1-4 with their 1 win being against the Giants) Redskins (2-2) and the Cardinals (2-3). None of those wins were comfortable wins except the Cardinals really. Big test against Carolina tonight

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Eagles could definitely be pretenders. They have played 1 good team and lost to them. They beat the Giants (0-5) Chargers (1-4 with their 1 win being against the Giants) Redskins (2-2) and the Cardinals (2-3). None of those wins were comfortable wins except the Cardinals really. Big test against Carolina tonight.

Tell that to Thomas Davis, who had this to say about the game tonight:

"It's really cool to be a part of a competitive game," Davis said Tuesday of the upcoming matchup. "As a team you want to face a team when they're at their best and I feel that's what Philly is right now. They're playing some really good football and like you said this is a fight essentially [for] the No. 1 seed right now in the NFC and we understand that and I'm pretty sure they understand that. So we've got to make sure we go out and protect our home."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-no-1-seed

Hmmm, so he thinks it does not matter who lost to Philadelphia.

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Eagles could definitely be pretenders. They have played 1 good team and lost to them. They beat the Giants (0-5) Chargers (1-4 with their 1 win being against the Giants) Redskins (2-2) and the Cardinals (2-3). None of those wins were comfortable wins except the Cardinals really. Big test against Carolina tonight.

Tell that to Thomas Davis, who had this to say about the game tonight:

"It's really cool to be a part of a competitive game," Davis said Tuesday of the upcoming matchup. "As a team you want to face a team when they're at their best and I feel that's what Philly is right now. They're playing some really good football and like you said this is a fight essentially [for] the No. 1 seed right now in the NFC and we understand that and I'm pretty sure they understand that. So we've got to make sure we go out and protect our home."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...-no-1-seed

Hmmm, so he thinks it does not matter who lost to Philadelphia.

What do you expect him to say? "They've beaten a bunch of really terrible teams, I don't respect them and I expect to steamroll them"? He's not going to disrespect anyone, its typical politically correct speak

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What do you expect him to say? "They've beaten a bunch of really terrible teams, I don't respect them and I expect to steamroll them"? He's not going to disrespect anyone, its typical politically correct speak

I don't expect a player to say in Week 6 the game will be for the NFC's top seed. He should back off on that part.

The NFC South is interesting with the Panthers bouncing back, Buccaneers being a couple field goals away from beating the Patriots, and Falcons losing to the Bills.

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FWIW here are the current standings:

http://www.nfl.com/standings?&sort=OVERA...c&colSel=3

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So Eagles looked legit. Looks like they are not pretenders after all. Needed to see it against a good team

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So Eagles looked legit. Looks like they are not pretenders after all. Needed to see it against a good team

They certainly did. I was most impressed with their run defense because they bottled up every runner except Cam Newton. Carson Wentz can move the chains against elite LBs.

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The Week 9 edition of the Schein Nine is a list of contenders and pretenders in random order. Jacksonville is in the contenders category.

When you play defense and run the ball like this -- and are this well-coached -- you are for real.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000...alcons-off

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