John Riordan: Taking stock of a wide-open race to the Super Bowl
LONDON CALLING: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before the kick-off between Baltimore Ravens vs Tennessee Titans last week. Picture: INPHO/Laszlo Geczo
Sunday was a mini-milestone day for the NFL in that the last two undefeated teams suffered their first loss.
So it feels like as good a time as any to take stock of where the league is at and how its contenders are shaking out with one third of the regular season complete. This chapter has a true feel of being the most enjoyable in memory. There’s just no telling what happens next.
Rather than plagiarise the Power Rankings produced weekly by true NFL insiders across several quality publications, I’ve consulted the latest Super Bowl betting odds as the basis for the Riordan Rankings. It’s weak but the world is depressing and I had my COVID and flu shots on Monday so that forced alliteration is as good as it gets.
San Francisco 49ers: The first of the two previously perfect teams to go down fighting on Sunday, the 49ers have held onto their favourite tags to win it all in Las Vegas in February. Several key injuries could adjust that belief in the coming weeks.
Kansas City Chiefs: We could find ourselves in a scenario that a fully-fit Chiefs team bores their way to a third Super Bowl in five seasons by the time all is said and done. If you have the best quarterback, the best coach and the best tight end, that’s half the battle.
Philadelphia Eagles: Here’s that other team that surprisingly fell asunder on Sunday after finding themselves rattled by a vigorous New York Jets defence during an extremely entertaining clash. All NFC eyes on 49ers at Philly on December 3 for a true test of where both teams are at.
Miami Dolphins: Meanwhile, all NFL eyes are on Sunday’s showdown between the alleged second best teams in each of the AFC and the NFC when the Dolphins visit the Eagles. Miami have QB Tua Tagovailoa throwing to the hottest player of the season so far, Tyreek Hill - a man who perfectly embodies that NFL combination of talent and troubling private life.
Buffalo Bills: One week they’re blowing teams away, the next, the Bills are falling flat against inferior opposition. Their popular quarterback Josh Allen can do amazing things with his passes and then he does something extremely unwise and you remember why another generation of Buffalo talent will watch helplessly as hope flies by.
Dallas Cowboys: The Cowboys aren’t as cursed as the Bills - the Texans won three Super Bowls in the 90s as opposed to losing three - but the two teams share a sense of foreboding that this isn’t their time. Linebacker Micah Parsons is appointment viewing, striking fear into every opposing quarterback and delighting the rest of us.
Detroit Lions: I can’t think of another sport that’s watched a perennial joke like the Lions become a genuine contender in such a sudden manner. Nobody’s gotten used to this scenario quite yet but, as you'll see below, their path to NFC North dominance is smooth and lined with flowers.
Baltimore Ravens: The AFC North, on the other hand, is impossible to predict and the only reason the Ravens are slightly favoured over the Bengals and the Browns is the upside of their quarterback, Lamar Jackson.
Cincinnati Bengals: Combined with the downside of injury prone Bengals quarterback, Joe Burrows. But Cincinnati is starting to find an even keel and they can enjoy a weekend off to try and get their main man right for the business end of the season.
Jacksonville Jaguars: One of the least popular clubs in the NFL is developing much more positive PR with their run of form but it’s hard to escape the fact that they enjoy a slight lead atop the league’s least appealing division, the AFC South. Admirable is the fact that they won both of their London games.
Cleveland Browns: The best way to endear your team to the NFL is by assembling a vicious defensive core. The Browns tore strips off the formidable 49ers on Sunday in miserable conditions, a true delight for their long suffering fans who love it when their Dawg Pound gets scrappy LA Chargers: As much as the NFL can boast a slew of profitable decisions, moving the Chargers from San Diego to Los Angeles will never be justified. The Chargers should be doing better having tied down one of the best young quarterbacks in the back, Justin Herbert. And yet, nobody has any interest in them doing better, least of all anyone living in LA.
Seattle Seahawks: They were enjoying a nice run of form until the Bengals took them down this past weekend but they should have enough for a postseason berth in spite of an opening day loss to their divisional rivals, the LA Rams.
New Orleans Saints: I’m at a slight disadvantage here in that they hosted the Jaguars overnight but the Saints are a middling team in the other bad division of the pile, the NFC South. Safe to say we have firmly entered the realm of Super Bowl no-hopers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Another NFC South side that, like the Saints, seems to have become a little toxic since winning a Super Bowl. They briefly resurrected the career of Baker Mayfield who forced his way in, shamelessly, but the tide seems to be turning for the soon-to-be shipwrecked Bucs.
LA Rams: Coach Sean McVay isn’t alone in facing modern day running back conundrums but the Super Bowl winning coach needs to figure out soon how to keep his crew in contention as the aforementioned 49ers and Seahawks threaten to edge away.
Atlanta Falcons: A win over Tampa Bay this weekend would reaffirm the NFC South’s tendency to eat itself. The vagaries of the NFL system means a team with a losing record can still move to the knockout phase. Why not Atlanta?
Pittsburgh Steelers: Mike Tomlin is the second longest-serving coach in the NFL, earning a loyalty from his bosses which is almost unheard of in American sports. His high points were almost two decades ago when two Super Bowls fell his way. Now Steelers Nation wants rid of him but he always finds a way.
Green Bay Packers: Jordan Love is the long-term plan to replace Aaron Rodgers but it hasn't shown any signs of working quite yet. They’re lucky the Vikings and the Bears are regressing fast.
Tennessee Titans: For the briefest of moments a few years back, the Titans seemed like they were building up a challenge for their first ever Super Bowl. They have since been dragged back to lower middle of the pack, thanks in part to a middling QB in Ryan Tannehill.
New York Jets: Luckless but likeable after they rode through the ultimate footballing disaster on opening night, lost Rodgers to a torn achilles and then slowly picked the remaining pieces back up. Everyone hates playing against them which is as high an achievement as they can expect for now.
Minnesota Vikings: Their form guide, when including last season’s collapse, is dismal and they are only this lofty in the reckoning because the dross we’re about to wade into.
Houston Texans: There is long-term potential for the Texans because they struck gold in the draft when selecting Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud. He simply needs more around him to lift this sorry state of affairs up off its knees. Too much to ask?
Las Vegas Raiders: Great stadium and always rocking a great look. The move from Oakland has done nothing else for them just yet.
Washington Commanders: One thing at a time! New ownership, led by boyhood fan and adulthood billionaire, Josh Harris, has ended the Dan Synder nightmare but now the hard work begins.
Indianapolis Colts: Awful news this week for the Colts who lost their rookie quarterback for the season. Anthony Richardson was showing signs of something but over eagerness over worked his shoulder and he found himself shutting down for the surgeon’s knife.
New York Giants: Laughable. Some of the most impatient fans in the league have watched in horror as their quarterback, Daniel Jones, who strong armed his bosses into a eye-wateringly large contract, has been sacked over and over again and out of the starting line-up.
Denver Broncos: Also laughable. Their coach Sean Payton had a pop off his predecessor and the bad karma has choked him and his quarterback of yesteryear, Russell Wilson.
Chicago Bears: They have been going nowhere for years and just when they thought they had a young quarterback to end a long Bears hibernation, Justin Fields got mouthy, made mistakes and finally lost the rest of the season to injury. One step backwards followed by two steps backwards.
New England Patriots: You had to come a long way to find them. It sounds unimaginable but the end of Coach Bill Belichick is nigh.
Arizona Cardinals: They’re in a tough division but that tells only part of the dysfunction that has dragged them down so far.
Carolina Panthers: All the way at the end of the list is a lesson in how not to wheel and deal. The Panthers traded up to select Bryce Young number one in the draft. Maybe he’ll grow and develop but so far, he has looked like a rabbit in the headlights.
