Drelo's NFC Midseason Breakdown

by user DRE-LO

Amazingly, we are halfway through this marathon of an NFL season. Seems like yesterday it was week 1. Here is the midseason breakdown for each NFL team by division.

NY Giants- What more could you ask for if you're a Giants fan? With the brutal schedule as well as the brutal play {a la Seattle} in the first few weeks of the season, you have to be thrilled to be 5-2 and on top the NFC East. They are ensured of another victory with a gimme game against the Texans on Sunday before their eventual showdown with da Bears in 2 weeks in which will feature the 2 best NFC teams. That bye week after the Seattle debacle was the best thing that could have happened to the Giants as they have improved by leads and bounds on the defensive end.

Dallas Cowboys- Their big win vs the Panthers on Sunday night saved their season and gave them a renewed sense of hope. Bill Parcells pulled the trigger at the right time giving the reins to Romo and Romo made him look like a genius. They have a solid 1-2 punch with Julius Jones and Barber and a even better receiving corps with Terry Glenn and Mr "I love me some me". The offensive line and defense will make or break the Cowboys. They had a great game against the Panthers. But can they be consistent?

Philadelphia Eagles - Getting booed off the field after an embarassing home loss to a team with a backup QB that threw for under 100 yards is not a good win to go into a bye week. I believe this loss was the result of the aftereffects of that crushing loss at Tampa Bay a la Matt Bryant. In fact, they lost their other three games on the final play of the game. They certainly have the talent to right the ship again, but they have to stop finding ways to lose. They immediately have a divisional game coming out of the bye week. It'll be interesting to see how they react.

Washington Redskins- This team has to be one of the big disappointments of the season so far. Their crushing home loss to Tennessee led them to play a must win game against...Indy. Now they are 2-5 and must play a potenially season-saving game against the renewed Dallas Cowboys. It may be time for Gibbs to consider giving Jason Campbell a chance if the playoffs are a no-go.

Chicago Bears- The best team in the league. The class of the NFL. Most offensive points scored. Least offensive points allowed. This team is no longer one dimensional. Their offense is capable of sustaining drives that could give this dominating D even more rest. SCARY. It's their conference to lose.

Minnesota Vikings- A 31-7 loss to the Pats may have brought the Vikings back to reality. Chester Taylor has played well. But several injuries to the D may be catching up. With a relatively easy schedule outside of facing the Bears and Rams, they may have to think wild-card as the division seems to be locked. {Bears}

Green Bay Packers- A 2 game winning streak may have Favre smiling now, but with 2 road games and then the Pats and Seahawks respectively, the smile may turn upside down. The health of Ahman Green definitely help Favre s passing game and keeps the D honest. Rookie Greg Jennings has been a good target for Favre all year long

Detroit Lions- Fire Matt Millen!! Mike Martz has made this offense somewhat potent with the team he has. But this D couldn't stop my brother's junior high school football team.

New Orleans Saints- A tough and bruising day against the Ravens may have stopped the march of the Saints momentarily. But it will not override the upside that this team has. Drew Brees has earned every penny so far. Reggie Bush has been great in his role so far as he continues to pick up the NFL game. But the biggest surprise is Hofstra product Marques Colston who leads all Saints receivers in receptions, yards and TD. Their schedule won't be easy as they have a stretch in which they play the Steelers, Bengals and Falcons and they finish the season taking on the Giants and Panthers.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers- While their D is still formidable, they have been hung out to dry due to an offense that hasn't been been able to stay on the field. Gradkowski looked overwhelmed against the Giants and is still learning on the fly. Cadillac Williams has gone nowhere as a result of the inept passing game as defenses continue to stack up against their run. It's gonna be a a rough stretch for Tampa. Get a hot wet rag for Gruden because he's bound to have headaches.

Atlanta Falcons Michael Vick continues to silence his critics as he finally gets some sort of pass protection for the first time in ages. The receiving corps has stepped up and delivered as well and Warrick Dunn will keep defenses honest. With Detroit and Cleveland, NFC South teams may have to look up at Atlanta.

Carolina Panthers The Panthers have some soul searching after a loss that made their team like like a mid-level team more than an elite one. They haven't had their usual bout of injuries like in years past and it just seems as they are lacking that usual fire and swagger. The Carolina Panthers that football fans have become accustomed to wouldn't allow 25 points in the 4th quarter nor get picked apart by a QB making his first start.

Seattle Seahawks - With a missing Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander and an inexperienced Seneca Wallace, you would expect the offense to feel the hurt. Yet it was the Seahawk defense allowing Damon Huard to have a career day that ultimately cost them. Their defense really hasn't been great all year. {See Chicago vs Seattle game } If the Seahawks want to play in January, it will depend on the D showing up. Otherwise the Super Bowl runner-up curse lives on.

St Louis Rams - The Rams represent the second team in this 2-team race for the NFC West. But here is where their season will be made or broken: they face Kansas City, then on the road against Seattle in which they'll need a win because Seattle had beaten them earlier this season, then against the Carolina Panthers. This will test the metal of the Rams and may be the difference between being in the playoffs and watching the playoffs.

Arizona Cardinals- Matt Leinart will have good years ahead, but right now the only thing ahead for this team is a big iceberg. That Monday Night loss to Chicago was one of the worst choke-jobs I have ever seen. It's so bad that Edgerrin wishes he had on a Colts uniform again. And this is not from my mouth.

San Francisco 49ers- Other than Frank Gore having a pretty good year running the football, there is not much of a hope for the team this season and I'm not quite sure if the youth of this team is good enough for a team to be built around them for the future Alex Smith Chicago treated them like they were a JV team on Sunday. Guess it'll be another year watching San Fran go through the motions.