Seven weeks down, 11 left to go in the NFL Regular Season. It's getting interesting out there as trades are being made and some of the postseason favorites are showing up in each division.
Here's one man's opinion on the winners and losers of all 8 divisions, and remember -- this is only one man's opinion.
AFC EAST
WINNER: The Buffalo Bills - The Bills are not the best looking team in the AFC, but they're getting the benefaction of being in a division where the other three are just getting in their own ways. New England is a former shell of what it used to be in the days Tom Brady took charge of the offense that won countless Vince Lombardi trophies. Miami is nowhere near the same without Tua under center, the injury in the first meeting against Buffalo has destroyed their hopes for this season. Then there's the New York Jets, a team who had high hopes this season ...
LOSER: The New York Jets - You can really pick the other three teams for this, but the New York Jets are a team with a healthy quarterback this season after last year's injury took them immediately out of the running. So what happened? A coaching change, a deal for a wide receiver and various other concessions later, and they're still coming apart. Injuries aren't helping, but Aaron Rodgers isn't a young quarterback. He's getting up in age and just had to spend a year away from the game due to last year's injury. Just because Tom Brady played into his 40's and was able to compete at a high level doesn't mean that will work for all quarterbacks. Rodgers has some upside, but as the days go by, that upside is diminishing rapidly.
PREDICTION: The Bills already have a 2.5 game advantage and won't have the Patriots until the end of the season. Even though it's been shaky, even this past Sunday before they came together in the second half, this division is quickly becoming the Bills' division to lose.
NFC EAST
WINNER: The Washington Commanders - It may not be them winning the division, but the Commanders have learned through the first weeks of this season that they have a promising quarterback, if he stays healthy. Jayden Daniels has emerged as one to watch in the future after not much was being said of the rookie going into the season -- at least as far as Rookie of the Year candidates. Philadelphia could have their number with both match ups coming up in the next couple months, but you have to think the future is brighter for Washington than it has been for a long time.
LOSER: The New York Giants - Losing Saquon Barkley to Philadelphia hurt, even before the Giants faithful had to watch what the former runner back did against their team on Sunday. Daniel Jones has become the fourth ranked quarterback in this division and the Giants have a lot of holes on their squad overall. The most the Giants can hope for is that the Eagles are playing for nothing come January 5th and thus Barkley can't hurt the Giants again.
PREDICTION: This division still aligns with the Philadelphia Eagles . The Cowboys aren't there and are currently surpassed by the Washington Commanders as the second best in the division.
AFC NORTH
WINNER: The Baltimore Ravens - Hear me out... take an explosive offense and add another explosive name in Derrick Henry, and watch the fireworks fly as the Ravens have picked up an incredible sound offense between receiving and passing. The best team in the AFC last year wants to get back to the Super Bowl and are working at cleaning up the problems that prevented them from getting their last January against the Chiefs.
LOSER: The Cleveland Browns - It's a loud sign when the Browns are already trading away talent by Week 6. Add the extra effect of the majority of the fans in the league rooting against you for continuing to employ Deshaun Watson as your quarterback after his Happy Ending accusations during his time in Houston. And cheering when said heavily-priced quarterback gets injured. The Browns term of relevancy was short lived as they dive back into the realm of mediocrity.
NFC NORTH
WINNER: The Minnesota Vikings - The Vikings may have just lost their first game in a hard fought effort against the Detroit Lions, but hardly anyone was expecting the Vikings to even be close to the top of the division after naming Sam Darnold ... the same Sam Darnold that was seeing ghosts as quarterback of the New York Jets .. as their starter. The career revitalization for the Vikings signal-caller is astounding, and combined with what we're seeing from the Jets with quality talent and still losing games, it's more evidence that the issues we're seeing in East Rutherford, New Jersey is not just the talent alone, but deeper than that.
LOSER: Umm.... the Chicago Bears?? - The Chicago Bears are above .500 this season which is refreshing after landing the top picks of the NFL draft for two years straight, but because the rest of the division is playing out of their mind through the first 7 weeks of the season, hardly anyone has noticed. The offense is starting to gel, which will make those divisional games in the NFC North a treat to watch ... if we get the chance to.
AFC SOUTH
WINNER: The Houston Texans - The additions to the Texans offensive core have paid dividends and are a big reason why they have emerged as the top team in the South. CJ Stroud was already shown to be a competent quarterback, but the addition of more talent in the names of Stephon Diggs and Joe Mixon have improved this team to greater lengths. And with a win over Buffalo already in its pocket, it could lead to more than one home game coming up in the playoffs this January should the success continue.
LOSER: The Jacksonville Jaguars - The team that came close to knocking off the Chiefs a couple years ago in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs have fallen off ... hard. Trevor Lawrence had some decent years, but his quality has dropped this year. The defense doesn't look as sharp as they did in the "Sacksonville" days.
NFC SOUTH
WINNER: The Atlanta Falcons - There were questions how Kirk Cousins would do with this Falcons offense. Several eyes were looking at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and only the Bucs, forgetting the Falcons have been piecing together a quality offense core with Bijan Robinson in the backfield. And the Falcons have one win over the Bucs already, and the two face again this week.
LOSER: The New Orleans Saints - Some could see Carolina taking this honor, but the Saints have been decimated by injuries, and what was a team we thought was potentially a strong team to watch after the first two weeks against Carolina and Dallas have fallen off considerably over the last five.
AFC WEST
WINNER: The Denver Broncos - Not the Chiefs. The reason why not the Chiefs is because even though they are the last undefeated squad in the NFC after knocking off San Francisco this past week, the Broncos are a team that suffered so much last season, traded away Russell Wilson to the Pittsburgh Steelers and had a lot of question marks after Bo Nix's first weeks of the season. But wins over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the New York Jets, and last week Sean Peyton got revenge against his old stomping grounds in New Orleans. The Broncos are not winning the division, let's get that straight ... this is Kansas City's to win until otherwise stated, but there's a small sight of hope emerging in the Mile High city. Granted the Chiefs look to be bringing in DeAndre Hopkins in from the Titans to help bolster the receiver corps for Patrick Mahomes, overall -- who expected the Broncos to be in the mix?
LOSER: The Las Vegas Raiders - Sending Davante Adams to the Jets is a sign that the Raiders are knowing they are cooked this season, and now get an absolutely brutal 6 game stretch where they face the Chiefs twice, a Bengals squad that slowly showing signs of their normal selves, plus a Dolphins team that could have Tua back in time. And all of this without a key quarterback under center.
NFC WEST
WINNER: The Seattle Seahawks - The Seahawks aren't holding onto the top record of the division by much, but have less reason to feel worried about the squad as a whole compared to the other teams in the division. San Francisco sustaining a big hurt with Brandon Aiyuk going out to injury this past week and was already missing Christian McCaffrey. Los Angeles is seeking to part ways with Cooper Kupp. The Seahawks won't have an easy time this week with the Buffalo Bills visiting.
LOSER: The San Francisco 49'ers - What has been a rough season for the Super Bowl runner-up was made harder with Aiyuk's injury. This team has been decimated by injuries yet again, and one has to wonder when it's going to end for the team from Santa Clara. If things don't turned around fast, that stretch against the Seahawks, Packers and Bills could become quite painful fast.
