The NFL is One Wild Ride

For as long as I can remember I have always loved the NFL.  Football is the greatest game on the planet and it is also the best run sports organization in the country.  Form year to year the game changes and so do the teams.  That is what makes it great; we never know what to expect.  This year is no different and so far it has been a pleasant surprise.

There are 8 different divisions within 2 conferences in the NFL and right now there are 4 division leaders that most people wouldn't have been picked to be there before the season started.  In the NFC there are the Washington Redskins in the East and the Detroit Lions in the North that have stunned the sporting world.  Everyone knew that the Detroit Lions were going to be better than they were in years past with a much improved defense and a QB in Stafford, that if health, has shown flashes of greatness.  I don't think anyone thought that they would be undefeated and tied for the division lead with the Green Bay Packers.  The Redskins are also tied for the division lead with the New York Giants, but currently hold the tie breaker since the beat the Giants in week one.  With Rex Grossman as the QB I know I thought that he would prove that he hadn't changed from his old hot and cold self.  So far he has been steady, but I'm still not convinced that he won't revert to locking on a receiver and throw the ball into triple coverage.  Until that happens though the Redskins are looking good in the East with Dallas and Philly continually self destructing.

The AFC has produced the Buffalo Bills and Tennessee Titans.  Buffalo has had a few descent seasons over the last few years but they have never showed the ability to get over the hump.  Then this year they not only beat the New England Patriots, but did it by overcoming a 20+ point deficit.  I want to say that the road to the AFC East goes through Buffalo now, but Tom Brady threw 4 interceptions in that game to get the Bills back in it and last week they lost to the lackluster Cincinnati Bengals.  The Titans had a terrible year last year and with a new coaching staff and a new QB in Matt Hasselbeck no one thought that they would be as good as Houston.

The NFC West is a small surprise to many at this stage.  Everyone knew that this division was going to be bad again, and they are, but they have flipped the order from last year.  Coming into this season many thought that Seattle and St. Luis would be battling for the division lead since last year Seattle won the division and St. Luis had a lot of talent that was very young and performing well.  Instead, the 2 teams have one win between them and haven't looked good in any of their games.  The 49er's, however, have won 3 out of 4 games and just finished an impressive comeback win against the NFC East preseason favorite Philadelphia Eagles.

There are some great stats to go along with this exciting season.  The team with the highest point differential for the season is Baltimore.  They have manage to outscore their opponents by 62 points over the first 4 games.  Detroit is second with a 59 point differential.  on the other end of the spectrum is the St. Luis Rams.  They have been outscored by 67 points in their games and that isn't even the worst differential in the league.  Kansas City, last year's AFC West champions, have a 77 point deficit over the first 4 games.  That means that they are loosing their games by almost 20 points each week.  Arizona and Philadelphia have a -1 and 0  point differential on the season and are the only teams with a point differential of -10 or higher without a winning record. 

For the rest of the season I am interested to see how the landscape will change.  Who is going to come from the back of the pack to win a division or at least a wild card?  How many more double digit leads are going to be surrendered this season?  Who is going to establish themselves as the elite teams in both conferences?  I love this game because we are a quarter of the way through the season and there are many more questions to talk about and only opinions to answer them for weeks to come.  What do you think will happen?