Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith looks for a receiver during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Giants at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.Man, which is more confusing, the top five teams in the “we love parity” version of today’s NFL or the bottom five teams?
Let’s take a look and remember that there has never been a Super Bowl title won in October.
1. Kansas City — The NFL, more than any other league, screams the basic and undeniable truth that a team is what its record says it is. Period. And by that measure, the Chiefs — the league’s last unbeaten team because of a dynamite defense littered with former SEC stars including Eric Berry and Justin Houston — are the best. That said, here’s saying the 1972 Dolphins — the NFL’s only team to complete the regular season and the playoffs unbeaten and a group that still celebrates when the last unbeaten each year falls, protecting their place in NFL lore — already are icing the champaign.
2. Denver — Peyton Manning’s struggles in his return to Indy aside, this is still the class of the league. Plus, with linebacker Von Miller back from NFL timeout, the defense will improve dramatically.
3. Seattle — Defensively, kudos to Pete Carroll and Co. for building an elite group from back to front. Laying a foundation of the game’s best cornerback in Richard Sherman and the game’s best young safety this side of Eric Berry in Earl Thomas, the Seahawks have flipped the popular coaching cliche. How many times have we heard, “You have to establish/stop the run first” for coaches? Tons, right? Well, the Seahawks stop the pass first — an elite secondary coupled with pass-rushing demons — and dare you to run to keep up. Good luck with that.