Five After Six

Six weeks into the 2015 season. Most teams have played six games while a few have had bye weeks and have played five. Last year at this point in the season, there was only one team that had reached week six still unbeaten. This year there are still FIVE teams that still have not lost a game yet.

History has shown that teams that reach this point in the season and are still unbeaten will nearly always make the playoffs and that one of these teams stand a REALLY good chance at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy as the champions of pro football.

Now that doesn’t mean that there still can’t be a team or two out there with a few early losses that could get hot enough to make the playoffs and be capable of running the table and winning the championship. That has happened before also. What matters the most is WHO is playing the best in the last few games and in the playoffs.

But the teams that get all of those wins under the belt early often do prove to themselves they are capable of winning when they have to. Somewhere around nine to twelve wins will usually get you into the playoffs. The earlier you obtain them, the more likely you are to practically “cinch” a spot pretty early in the season.

Five teams are still unbeaten. That is a lot. That is special.

New England Patriots – The Patriots seem like they are the best team in football. They have won all five of their games by comfortable margins and their offense seems like it can score lots of points (Tom Brady is playing as well as ever) against almost any team in the league. They also have a really easy schedule this year. Besides their conference opponents, of which the Jets and Bills at least seem like they are gonna be better than the usual AFC East patsies they seem to be every year, the Pats get the lucky opposite conference scheduling draw of the NFC East. After six games, the entire conference (the Skins, Giants, Eagles and Cowboys) are all 3 and 3 or worse. The Pats opponents this year pretty much stink. They should easily go 14 and 2. They COULD go unbeaten (during the regular season at least).

Green Bay Packers – The Pack is 6 and 0 going into their bye week this week. They have won most of their games pretty decisively. They have had an offense that seemed like it could score any time it had to score. It is, after all, led by the NFL’s one true magician at quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. They haven’t even skipped a beat on offense after losing their best wide receiver Jordy Nelson to a season ending injury, and their defense is playing surprisingly well through six games, with a much better pass rush than they have had over the last few years. The NFL has truly turned into a quarterback’s league and this Packer team has the best QB on the planet. If Rodgers doesn’t get hurt, they COULD go far.

Cincinnati Bengals – The Bengals have looked both strong and vulnerable all at the same time in going 6 and 0 through six games, though many of them have been close wins. They consistently have drafts where they seem to get really good linemen AND really good skill people, thus giving them a very solid team that at least has the potential to compete physically with anyone. For them, it comes down to their quarterback’s play. Andy Dalton is usually considered somewhere in the second ten in terms of quarterback tiers. Dalton isn’t elite or near elite, he’s usually just solid, with the potential to be less than average in big playoff games if things start to go wrong. So far this year, he has played like a top ten quarterback, which means “good enough to go all the way.” Can he hold up all year? Or in the playoffs?

Denver Broncos – The Broncos have looked pretty pathetic on offense this year and yet are still 6 and 0. That’s because they have had the BEST defense in football so far this year. Pass rush, defensive back play and linebacker play have been even better than they might have hoped for. Every week it seems, they have a pick six for a defensive touchdown that helps them win a close game where their offense has been struggling. At the start of the year, it seemed like Denver would have a great offense with Peyton Manning and running back C.J. Anderson. Anderson has lost his starting job and Manning has been throwing passes that look like a cross between wounded ducks and wobbling helicopters. But they’re still 6 and 0. In other words, if Peyton Manning is the weak link on your team, you’re in pretty good shape.

Carolina Panthers – The Panthers are also 6 and 0, thanks mostly to the play of quarterback Cam Newton and one of the best defenses in football. The Panthers have won because Newton is playing the quarterback style so expertly played the last two years by Seattle’s Russell Wilson (but which has NOT been played by Wilson himself), that being a dual threat quarterback who can RUN as well as pass. Nowhere on a football field is there more room for an elusive player to run than from the quarterback position. Drop back to pass, and as the defensive line goes crazy to try to get a sack, the planned quarterback run can be as effective an offensive weapon as there is. Football is still figuring that out. The Panthers can win a lot of games this year with their formula.

Other teams might still make some noise, but the five unbeaten teams have been this season’s biggest news splash. THEY are the five worth talking about after six weeks of the season.