It's a really muddled race right now in both conferences. It's almost impossible to tell who's for real and who's gonna fall apart. These are the teams stuck in the middle that I'd like to hear peoples thoughts on. I'm sure this is going to end up wrong but I'm putting Green Bay, San Diego, New England, New Orleans, and San Francisco in the playoffs. If the Detroit wasnt the Lions I'd have them there too, but gotta see to believe with that team.

AFC
Raiders
Jets
Bills
Ravens
Bengals
Steelers
Titans
Texans

Im guessing the Texans will win the South, but they are underachieving yet again. I think it's really a toss up between them and the titans. I can't believe Tennessee didn't go get someone like Lloyd or Royal to replace Britt, considering the price tag. I think the Ravens and Steelers will both get in, but I'm alot less confident about the Steelers. They need to fix their defense and their offensive line is as bad as ever. I think the Jets will fade and the Bills grab that other wild card spot. Carson Palmer is hot garbage and it should be illegal to accept a first and 2nd rounder for him. The Bengals are a year or two away.

NFC
Lions
Bears
The Entire NFC East
Buccs
Falcons

I think the Bears/Buccs game will knock one of them out of the race. I'm just not confident at all in Tampa's offense and their pass rush is also bad. I think the Giants will probably hold on to win the East. The Lions should be able to take the 5 seed pretty easily but who knows, given their history. I'll take the Cowboys to edge out the Bears for a 6 seed, but you might as well be throwing darts at the wall to pick the 6 seed in the NFC.

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great thread start. I think the Ravens are for real in the AFC (probably because I've always been a big fan of their quarterback). In the NFC I think Dallas could be really good if Romo gets it together even a little bit. I'm really impressed with the Niners and think they're better than anybody in the NFC besides the Pack. And I think they'd give 'em a game, at least defensively.

I'm not buying the Bills over the Jets.

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Nice thread. Bengals have only beaten one team with a winning record. Their defense is tops in the league, but that's against the Browns, Broncos, 49er's, Jags, Bills, and Colts.

They have some weapons on offense, but I don't see them contending with four remaining gaimes against the Steelers and Ravens.

Contenders/Pretenders from your list in the AFC:

AFC
Raiders - Contenders
Jets - Pretenders
Bills - Conenders
Ravens - Contenders
Bengals - Pretenders
Steelers - Pretenders
Titans - Pretenders
Texans - Contenders

I think the next two games against NFC opponents are play in type games for the Bears.

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Where do you see the Lions finishing? Will Ronnie Brown put them over the top?

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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i think around weeks 10 and 11 you really get an idea of who the pretenders and contenders are. once teams like the bengals and lions have to play their own division, things can change (although the lions get to play the vikings and bears and the bengals get to play the browns)...

the titans also strike me as pretenders. unfortunately, so do the bills.

The Bills defense is atrocious but I think their offense is for real and will keep them in most games. Fred Jackson is the goods. New England and Green Bay are in a class by themselves I think, and SF and SD are almost automatic playoff contenders because of their divisions, but other than that nothing would surprise me in terms of who makes it and who doesn't. Coaching will be a big factor in who gets left out.

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With the Raiders' acquisition of QB Carson Palmer yesterday from the Bengals, you'd like to think that they are now contenders for one of the AFC's 2 Wildcard spots. There are reports that head coach Hue Jackson will start Palmer Sunday vs. the Chiefs.

I'd like to think that Cincinnati is also a contender given their fast start with the Zach Zaidman-looking Andy Dalton at quarterback, but there are 2 teams that I think are better than they are. You may have heard of them, the Ravens & Steelers. That being said, the Bengals are pretenders.

The same is true of the Bills, even though they're off to a fast start as well. Even though they won ugly Monday night, I think the Jets are going to get it together and of course, the Patriots are the class of the AFC East.

On the NFC side, even before head coach Mike Shanahan benched Rex "4 Interceptions" Grossman in favor of John Beck this weekend at Carolina, I'm not sold one bit on the Redskins.

Last but not least, I realize they are coming off a big home win over the division rival Saints in Tampa Bay, but I'm not sold on the Buccaneers. No sooner do they win vs. their division rivals in New Orleans & Atlanta at home, they get their clocks clean in San Francisco by 45 points and who knows what they'll do vs. our Bears Sunday in London.

They play the Browns once and the Steelers and Ravens a total of four times.

Were these their issues against the Jags at home? Beating that team by only four was surprising. They couldn't do much in the second half and the Jaguars had their chances.

I didn't see that game, but they've been getting run over all year. Im not really sure why. Their offensive line has always been bad but Ben doesn't seem to be handling it as well this year and I'm not sure what's happened to Mendenhall. I think they will still be there at the end, but it's certainly no guarantee.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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The Steelers haven't exactly been getting a lot of giveaways so far this season...

I haven't really looked at their schedule but I think they will fade. There is a lot of talk about their defense, but it really isn't all that good. The positions at which they are good are very thin. Watch this week what a different team they are without Best.

Then you have to factor in the normal problems not particular to the Lions. Dome teams don't play well outdoors in the winter. Road games against conference competition is rough.

The Lions have been remarkably lucky. It's rare to come back from the deficits they have faced.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Lions are: ATL, @Den, @Chi, CAR, GB, @NO, MIN, @Oak, SD, @GB.

Let's say they definitely win the Denver, Carolina, and Minnesota games. They could easily go 3-4 in the other 7, and that's being conservative given how they've played so far. I dont see how they dont go at least 5-5 overall and I think most of us agree there won't be a 10 win NFC team on the outside looking in this year.

As a Packer fan I'm pretty worried about that thanksgiving day matchup.

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Listen to the river sing sweet songs
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As a fan of neither, I can't wait for the game.

Agree with you on the NFC East - all pretenders.

The Pack doesn't usually play well on Thanksgiving vs the Lions anyways. They have had close games with real shitty lions teams before. It's not Megatron that will beat them either. If they lose it will be Pettigrew running wild over the middle.

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You may think I'm being hyperbolic but I could see them losing 8 of those games with wins only against Denver and Minnesota. That stretch of @Bears, Panther, Packers and @ Saints will be telling.

The first dominoe has fallen as there is word Jahvid Best is done for the year. I thought from the beginning a second concussion in two months from a guy with a history of concussions was being taken lightly.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

2-8 is possible but I think it's highly unlikely. That would be a McDaniels-level fall from grace. The Panthers are entertaining but they are bad. I can't see Detroit losing that game 9/10 times. Similar to the Buccs/Bears matchup, this Sunday will tell us a lot of what we need to know about them and the Falcons. The Falcons look like an average team with a below average defense, but they do play well in domes. I expect big days from Megatron and Stafford and a Lions win. If Atlanta beats them handily you may be right but I don't think they need Best to be a playoff team.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

No Best makes them one dimensional. They weren't all that great at running the ball anyway and certainly not between the tackles. However, they were effective in using screens as a supplement to the run, kind of like the Eaglos. Harrison is gone with a tumor. That leaves Marice Morris, who is a pretty good receiver RB but certainly no Best.

Let's also remember this is a young team. It would not be unusual for them to fade during a run to the playoffs. If they have competition for a slot by Week 14, I see 3 losses to end the season.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The Raiders are done.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

They got their asses handed to them. Their only hope is the Packers remain undefeated until they play them and they can be spoilers.

You give Best too much credit. He was only really good against a certain team. He was average against all other teams.

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I firmly believe what I said in the chatroom. Detroit appears to have blown their load against the bears and since then they have not been nearly as good. For their sake, I hope their refractory period isn't much longer. As a bears fan, I hope it lasts the rest of the season.

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i gotta give good dolphin credit for being prophetic. i think 2-8 is very realistic now, actually.

tebow has that "it" factor that will work for him ("don't you want a balloon?") at denver...and detroit may have just enjoyed that early start a little too much. i'm seeing a very average team now, and without a running game, they will just get worse.

I firmly believe Detroit will kick Denver's ass next week. If they dont than it's a huge red flag for their playoff chances.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The second dominoe falls as Stafford is in a walking boot and about to seek a second opinion on his ankle. I imagine at the very least he sits against the Broncos.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Fearing for the worst, GD. It probably means Shaun Hill likely returns to the Lions' starting lineup with Drew Stanton moving up the depth chart if Stafford's indeed out for Sunday, a game we're getting on the "NFL on FOX" vs. Tim Tebow's Broncos at 3:05p in Denver.

The more weeks go by the more it becomes very clear that Green Bay and New England are the only two very good teams in the NFL. Every other team is a level below them and could be interchanged with a number of other teams. Once the playoffs get underway anything can happen but these two teams should and probably will be heavy favorites in either conference. In the NFC at least we pretty much know San Francisco and New Orleans will be there. I have no clue who is good in the AFC besides New England.

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I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

If Baltimore is a contender, they need to take Arizona to the woodshed Sunday at home. The Ravens had a chance to distinguish themselves vs. a clueless rookie QB in Blaine Gabbert and a Jaguars' team that's thisclose to telling head coach Jack Del Rio to get lost in one of the ugliest "Monday Night Football" games since ABC started the prime time showcase way back in 1970 and failed miserably.

I agree with this right now, but I would almost put New Orleans right there with Green Bay and I think that will be NFC Championship game.

On the AFC side, The Patriots maybe the best, but they've done well in the regular season in the past couple years and lost their first game in the playoffs. I would still but the Steelers, Ravens, and Chargers, they just don't bring it every week, Ravens lose to the Jaguars and the Chargers blew one in New York.