Two weeks remain in the first 17-game regular season in the history of the NFL. At this point, four of the eight divisions have winners: Kansas City (AFC West), Green Bay (NFC North), Tampa Bay (NFC South) and Dallas (NFC East). Arizona and the Rams have also clinched playoff spots. In the AFC, six of the seven playoff spots are still up for grabs, as eight teams have records of either 9-6 or 8-7. Which teams in the playoff hunt have legitimate shots at Super Bowl contention, and which will fade quickly?
As you consider your online NFL betting options, take a look at some of our thoughts.
NFL News: Super Bowl Contenders and Pretenders after Week 16
Cincinnati Bengals: Contender
Joe Burrow has emerged as a big-time quarterback. In Cincinnati’s second matchup with the Baltimore Ravens, he threw for 525 yards – the fourth-highest passing yardage ever in an NFL game. He had four touchdown passes without a pick and a rating of 143.2. That gave him almost 1,000 passing yards in the team’s two matchups with the Ravens this season. However, it’s not just Burrow. Joe Mixon has run for 1,159 yards through 15 games. Ja’Marr Chase (1,163) and Tee Higgins (1,029) are both 1,000-yard receivers. No team has ever had a quarterback with 4,000 or more yards, two 1,000-yard wide receivers and a 1,000-yard running back all under the age of 26. This team is performing at an elite level, it has confidence, and it is not going home without a fight.
Arizona Cardinals: Pretender
The Cardinals roared out to a 7-0 start to the season; since then, they have gone 3-5, dropping three games in a row. Last week, they lost, 22-16, to an Indianapolis Colts team missing four starting offensive linemen and one of their top defensive players. This is nothing new; last year, the team started 6-3 and then went 2-5 down the stretch, finishing 8-8 and out of the playoffs. If you look at the defense, they rely too heavily on takeaways to get stops. In their ten wins, they took the ball away 21 times. In their five losses, they have only three takeaways. If they don’t get turnovers, they can’t end drives, and we saw that again in their loss to the Colts. Next up is a visit to Dallas, a game that looked like an easy win a month or so ago. Now?
Dallas Cowboys: Contender
I’ve written a lot in this space about how Dallas has developed an entitlement mentality that makes things difficult for the team when it comes to winning tough matchups. When things go poorly, the team rarely looks inward but instead blames the officiating and other external factors. However, the team’s 56-14 rout of Washington on Sunday night showed a level of play that the team has not shown in 40 years. They last scored 56 or more points in a game in 1980. Trevon Diggs has 11 interceptions on the season, a total that the Cowboys have not had a defensive back hit since…1980, when Everson Walls did it. That was a team that made it to the NFC Championship. Against Washington, Dak Prescott finally looked like the quarterback who had dominated the league before his calf injury. Both Ezekiel Elliott and Tony Pollard are running the ball explosively at the same time. The defense, led by Diggs, Micah Parsons, and DeMarcus Lawrence, pressures the passer and generates negative plays and turnovers. The kicking game generated yet another blocked kick (and a touchdown). If Dallas can keep playing this well in all three phases, this is a team that no one will want to face.
New England Patriots: Pretender
Bill Belichick took advantage of the conditions around him and coached a perfect game when the Patriots went to Buffalo and won on a blustery night, riding the running game and only asking Mac Jones to attempt three passes. However, when the series returned to New England, the Patriots did not have answers for the Bills’ passing attack, and the Patriots could not bull-rush their way through Buffalo twice. Belichick’s coaching remains elite, but his team is still a work in progress. The Pats should snag a wild card, but they are a year or two away from returning to AFC contender status.
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