The league is undeniably awful at the bottom, but the top four teams through five weeks are also blatantly obvious. The NFL is not currently up for debate.
The bottom of the league is as clear as day through five weeks of the 2019 NFL season. We have such a pristine group of garbage teams in the cellar that it is hard to continue to single out the Miami Dolphins for their ineptitude. That said, the top of the sport remains muddled, non-New England department.
We both agree that the New England Patriots are clearly the best team in the NFL once again, but who is second in the AFC? Who are the best two teams in the NFC? The top 4 teams through five weeks are blatantly obvious.
Two brothers from New York, Dan Salem and Todd Salem, debate the NFL 2019 in today’s NFL Sports Debate.
Todd Salem:
The Kansas City Chiefs, many people’s likely pick as the second-best team prior to Week 5, just lost and put together their second straight shaky performance. For once, though, the offense actually failed to deliver. You could talk me into this being a blip. Once Tyreek Hill comes back and Patrick Mahomes rests his balky ankle, this will be the best offensive group again. I see that argument, and it keeps Kansas City alive in the discussion of second-best.
Everyone else in the conference has already lost at least twice except for the Buffalo Bills. Maybe Buffalo should be considered the Chiefs’ polar opposite, in that its defense is a unit good enough to carry a lacking counterpart into the postseason. I can’t get to that point just yet though.
Maybe you can, but the schedule started off super easy, and I’d oddly feel better about the Bills if they had a more boring offense. If Josh Allen wasn’t such a wild ride behind center, maybe they would breed more confidence even if the production was the same.
In the NFC, all our standard contenders have issues. Los Angeles already lost its second game; New Orleans remains without Drew Brees; Dallas is cratering as its schedule toughens. San Francisco may face a similar fate as its own schedule grows real. I don’t know who the best team in the conference is right now.
One logical pick is Green Bay, but we just saw the Packers lose at home to another NFC contender in Week 4. It feels stupid to pick them as the best team when Philadelphia is sitting right there. But the Eagles aren’t yet where we want them to be. Three straight road contests and six consecutive games against quality teams will tell us all we need to know. In a few weeks, it’s likely Philly either grabs this crown outright or disappears from the discussion altogether.
Top Two in the AFC:
1 – New England Patriots
2 – Kansas City Chiefs
Top Two in the NFC:
1 – Green Bay Packers
2a – New Orleans Saints
2b – Philadelphia Eagles
Dan Salem:
The Bills are the only team to have legitimately played New England close this season. It could be argued they were a Josh Allen injury away from winning. While the Patriots are easily the best team in the sport, filling out the top four with two per conference is no easy task. Some might call it insanity.
With New England on top of both the AFC and NFL, this leaves only three real contenders for second place in the AFC: Buffalo, Kansas City and Houston.
I must eliminate the Texans for the time being, because their two losses came against teams with winning records, while the wins are all against losing teams. They have a shot to shoot up the conference standings, but not right now.
I’m also trying very hard to talk myself into the Bills ahead of the Chiefs, but I can’t do it. The Kansas City defense is quite pathetic, but their offense is unbelievable. I also like the Colts a lot, so that loss does not really hurt them as much as other people think. The Chiefs are second fiddle in the AFC.
Over in the NFC, we have a larger cluster of pretty darn good teams. No one stands head and shoulders above anyone right now, but that makes for an exciting season. Each team with one or fewer losses has a true claim to the top spot, but I’m eliminating three right away.
While San Francisco has been impressive, the 49ers have yet to beat a good football team. I’m not buying the Buccaneers, so their undefeated record comes up short. Seattle impressed by beating the Rams, but they too fall short right now, having lost to another top team. This leaves New Orleans and Green Bay.
Since you brought them up, I’ll acknowledge the Eagles. A Thursday night victory over Green Bay does not impress me. They lost two games against sub-par opponents. Enough said.
As for the Packers, their only loss was on Thursday night. Green Bay also beat three other NFC contenders. They are second in the NFC, with the Saints holding my top spot. New Orleans beat three contenders and lost to another. They are winning with their backup quarterback and look much like the team that reached the NFC championship last year.
Top Two in the AFC:
1 – New England Patriots
2 – Kansas City Chiefs
Top Two in the NFC:
1 – New Orleans Saints
2 – Green Bay Packers