10. Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos traveled to London immediately after their win last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, and they still looked a little jet-lagged on Sunday morning. Well, to be fair, Sean Payton and some of his staff looked jet-lagged. The Broncos’ defense put together a marvelous performance that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
The Broncos had nine sacks of Justin Fields in this particular game, giving them 30 sacks so far this season, which would put them on pace to shatter the NFL all-time record for a team.
Offensively, the Broncos seemingly had the Jets on the ropes multiple times in this one, but penalties and horrendous play-calling from Payton limited them overall. Whether or not the Broncos are a true contender remains to be seen. They need to be more consistent offensively, which might require some adjustments from Payton.
9. Washington Commanders
Commanders play Monday night vs. Bears
The Washington Commanders might not have the most impressive roster in the loaded NFC, but they are just one of those teams that is a great sum of all its parts. They play complementary football. Dan Quinn gets the most out of his guys, Kliff Kingsbury is clearly a great offensive coordinator, and this Commanders team looks like it’s going to be able to make some noise in the NFC East after the Eagles have faltered a little bit.
This is the Commanders’ chance to push for a division title. They’ve got a tough task going up against a Bears team that’s had extended rest and ample time to prepare coming off of a bye, but now is Jayden Daniels’ opportunity to prove he’s truly one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL.
The pressure is on this Washington team tremendously, and getting to 4-2 against the Bears would go a long way toward helping this team believe it can overthrow Philadelphia as NFC East champs.