During the Seahawks-49ers game on Thursday night, CBS put up a very interesting graphic. This is the first time in NFL history that this many teams (five) are still undefeated this late in the season. With three of those five enjoying their bye this week, we're gonna hit November with at least three undefeateds.
But we also have the fewest number of teams above .500 after Week 6 since 1970. So, basically, the 2015 NFL season has been one of extremes. There are a few really good teams, some really bad teams, and a whole bunch of mediocre teams. And some where we don't know which category they fall into. I'm not sure this week will give us much clarity, either.
Thursday Night: Seattle (Win)
Bills (3-3) vs. Jaguars (1-5): Buffalo-London game No. 2, as the Jaguars play their annual "home" sellout in front of British fans who don't know any better. Eventually they'll get to see a real NFL team in London, especially now that they've extended the deal. This is also the experiment. Unless you're in Buffalo or Jacksonville, you can't watch it on TV. But everyone can watch it on Yahoo. We'll see how that works out. Again, I wish the NFL was giving this worldwide audience to a better game. Because this one will be a Bills rout. The only game in London worth watching on Sunday will be the Rugby World Cup semifinal between Australia and Argentina.
Vikings (3-2) at Lions (1-5): Detroit-We've got five undefeated teams and no winless teams thanks to the Lions finally putting a "1" in the left column last week against the Bears. Now they go for a second straight division win against the Vikings. Minnesota's two different teams. They're unbeatable at home, but are winless on the road. And they were simply average last week against the Chiefs. I've got a good feeling about the Lions here.
Falcons (5-1) at Titans (1-4): Atlanta-After that Thursday night beatdown in New Orleans, the Falcons dropped from the ranks of the unbeaten. Now they head to Nashville for a matchup with a desperate Titans team that hasn't won since the opener. I think it's safe to say that Tennessee belongs in the "not good" category. Atlanta needs to keep pace with Carolina, so winning games like this is a must.
Saints (2-4) at Colts (3-3): Indianapolis-Remember when these two met in the Super Bowl? Can you believe that was SIX years ago?! A lot has happened with both franchises since then. The Colts are still winless outside the division, but I think they took a lot away from last week's seven-point loss to New England. Most people were expecting a Patriots blowout, but the Colts made them earn it. I still don't know what to make of New Orleans. They've got two marquee wins (Dallas on a Sunday night, Atlanta on a Thursday night), but no others. Something's gotta give here. I'm encouraged by Indy's showing last week, so I'll take the Colts.
Steelers (4-2) at Chiefs (1-5): Pittsburgh-My outlook for Kansas City is growing dimmer by the week. Five losses in a row for the Chiefs. It's about to be six with the Steelers coming to town. The good news is there probably aren't many people in Kansas City who've noticed. The World Series starts across the parking lot on Tuesday night.
Browns (2-4) at Rams (2-3): St. Louis-This is a very interesting matchup. St. Louis and Cleveland have both surprised a lot of people this season, even if their records don't necessarily indicate that. But the Rams have beaten the Seahawks and Cardinals, and the Browns took Denver to overtime last week. It's St. Louis that actually has a shot at getting into the race in its division, though. Depending on what happens with the Cardinals on Monday night, the Rams could be just a half-game out in the NFC West after this week.
Texans (2-4) at Dolphins (2-3): Houston-Maybe Joe Philbin was the problem in Miami. Or maybe it was just playing the Titans after a bye that got the Dolphins back on the winning track. Either way, things should be different against a Texans team that finally snapepd its own skid last week against Jacksonville. I think they make it two in a row here.
Jets (4-1) at Patriots (5-0): New England-Sheldon Richardson has predicted a Jets win. Careful, Sheldon. You don't want to poke the bear. Yes, the Jets are very good. And yes, they'll technically be in first place if they do win here. But that's easier said than done. There's a reason why the Patriots own this division. Make it four 6-0 teams heading into November.
Buccaneers (2-3) at Redskins (2-4): Tampa Bay-I wish I had something profound to say about this game, but I don't. Washington-Tampa Bay does nothing to excite me in any way. I'm sure people in Virginia, Maryland and central Florida wish they weren't being subjected to this game, but they don't have a choice. Fortunately for the rest of us, we don't have to watch it.
Raiders (2-3) at Chargers (2-4): San Diego-With Jack Del Rio at the helm, the Oakland Raiders are a completely different team. Now they have a real test against their potential future stadium-mates (am I the only one who finds that whole thing weird?), as they battle for second place in the division. San Diego might be 2-4, but three of their losses are to Cincinnati, Pittsburgh and Green Bay. The Chargers are a good team. The Raiders aren't at that point yet.
Cowboys (2-3) at Giants (3-3): Giants-Another fascinating stat that was thrown out there during last Monday night's debacle in Philadelphia...the Giants are just 1-9 in their last 10 games against the Eagles and Cowboys. That includes a Week 1 loss in Dallas this season when they blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead. So what's going to be different this time? Easy. Dallas doesn't have Tony Romo. The Cowboys should be better under Matt Cassel than they were under Branden Weeden, but they still need to prove they can win without Romo. And Eli needs to prove he's still capable of beating the Cowboys, which used to happen so easily.
Eagles (3-3) at Panthers (5-0): Carolina-When NBC picked this for Sunday night, I don't think they were expecting to see an undefeated Panthers team. Or that this would be a battle of first-place teams. It's funny to think that Carolina had just seven wins all of last season, which was still enough to win the NFC South, and now they're looking at winning their first six of this season. Oh, how things are different from one year to the next. Five undefeated teams enter Week 7. Five undefeated teams enter Week 8.
Ravens (1-5) at Cardinals (4-2): Arizona-The good news for the Ravens is that they go home after this, and they don't play another road game for a month. If there's any team that deserves a little home cooking, it's Baltimore. Because their early schedule has been brutal. It's only Week 7, and this is already their fourth road game in either the Mountain or Pacific time zone. They stayed in San Jose during the week between their games in Denver and Oakland. It didn't work. They lost both. I'm not sure what they did this week, but a Monday night game in Phoenix is no favor for an East Coast team that wasn't just in San Francisco.
This Week: 1-0
Last Week: 10-4
Season: 64-28
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