More questions than answers in NFL

It's already more than halfway into the NFL season and there are many more questions than answers. Some teams started hot and have faded fast. Some seemed to be on their way to disappointment and now are positioned to make a playoff run. During the last half of the season, it's sure to be a battle to see which teams are for real.

First, let's get rid of those teams that don't fit that description. The Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Cleveland Browns, St. Louis Rams and Seattle Seahawks won't play a game that even moderately resembles a playoff game. They're toast. In a season in which the league seems to be filled with parity, these teams provide the few, pathetic exceptions.

The Washington Redskins are done too, but with the status of their coach in question and a little bit of a glimmer of hope that came with their big win against the Denver Broncos last weekend, the Skins could be in a position to play spoiler.

And then there are the top teams. The New Orleans Saints, Minnesota Vikings, Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots have established themselves as the class of their conferences. They could start resting up for the playoffs now, because they will all be there and they'll all be playing at least one home game. But 12 teams make the NFL playoffs, and the other eight spots will have teams clawing and biting at them from now until the end of the year.

In the NFC East, just about nothing has gone according to plan. The New York Giants were 12-4 last year and widely considered the best team in the NFC. This season, they played as if they were the best, but then they forgot how to win after five games. After losing four straight, the Giants are suddenly in third place in their own division.

The Dallas Cowboys lost the first two games in their new Taj Mahal of a stadium, but now sit atop the NFC East. And the Philadelphia Eagles won big games and then lost to the Raiders. They have the potential to win the East, but they've got work to do. From here on out, every game could decide who gets the playoff berth from the toughest division in the NFC.

Last year's NFC champions, the Arizona Cardinals, got off to a rocky start, but now lead the porous NFC West. But, in a seeming must-win last Thursday against the Chicago Bears, the San Francisco 49ers, who had once been 3-0, showed they were ready to give the Cardinals a run. Even though the teams in the West aren't exactly the most impressive teams in the NFC, they'll have to battle it out to get a chance to prove themselves in the playoffs.

Then there's the AFC, with the biggest surprise to many being the 7-2 Cincinnati Bengals. The former laughing-stock of the NFL has won three in a row, including back-to-back games in the AFC North against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens appeared to be one of the best teams in the NFL at season's start, but have lost four of their last six and the Steelers have already lost to Cincinnati twice. Even so, the Bengals have a lot of work left before they secure the title in a rugged North division.

Out West, the Broncos were 6-0 just a few weeks back, but now find themselves tied with the Chargers for the division lead. With the Broncos falling to the Redskins and the Chargers on a four-game winning streak, it's anybody's guess as to who's going to come away with the West division title.

Then, the fail-safe for all the teams chasing their division foes is the Wild Card. Of the non-division leaders in the NFC, the top seven other teams each have four or five wins. Two of those teams will make the playoffs, five won't. Teams like the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears have been off to less than impressive starts, but still have legitimate playoff hopes. With all of the surprising upsets so far this season, the race for the Wild Card in the NFC will be a hard-fought one.

In the AFC, the Wild Card picture is equally hazy. Pittsburgh has six wins to lead the pack for the first Wild Card spot, but six other teams sit with either four or five wins, meaning all six still think they have a shot at the playoffs. Teams like the Jets and Ravens now find themselves fighting for their lives, and teams like Jacksonville and Houston are still alive to shock the league and find a place in the playoffs. Most of the time, the picture is a lot clearer by this time of year than it is now.

Right now, the only teams that are locked into playing through mid-January are led by Drew Brees, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. No surprises there. But, as the season begins to wind down, other players will have to emerge to lead their teams toward the postseason. Only time will tell who those players will be.

Contact staff writer Reilly Moore at reilly.moore@richmond.edu